Need some essential cookery book recommendations-getting jaded with what's on my shelf.

[MilaMae]

Need some inspiration.

I have quite a few but I'm all cooked out at the moment.

I had Nigel Slater's Tender for Xmas and use his Kitchen Diary's and a Real Fast Cooking

Use Nigella's Express

Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food has been good

dip into Cranks, a few Good Food books and a few others

I have 1 fussy twin ds 6 but the rest of us the other dtwin 6,dd,dp and I love anything and everything. We eat meat but eat a lot of veggie food too.

What other essential books am I missing?

DD is 5.

We like (42,36,5,and 2yo!) avoca books

The Kilkenny cafe book is nice too. Slightly different stuff, being Irish. Also good for coeliacs - there is a higher incidence in Ireland (I don't know why!)

ooohh I LOVE tha avoca books, love the place more though

what about Rachael Allen's books, she has some nice stuff too

I got given this, it looks good but haven't actually cooked from it yet. Only £5 too!

A couple of Delias. A Madhur Jaffery. Supper Won't be Long and Just One Pot by Lindsey Bareham.

And Celebrations by Nigella. You won't ever cook anything out of it, but it's a wonderful read!

Dp has all the Jamie Olivers and cooks wonderful things out of them but his style irritates me so much I can't use them!

Rachel Allen website here

I bought a new one with all the recipes from the delicious mag in it and it looks lovely

do you use the goodfood website for recipes? and the MN recipe section is great too

sorry, should have looked more carefully (these are nice, but also unavailable - helpful not!)

waterstones

And if you're ever in Dublin (or Kilmacanogue, very near where I used to live) - the cafes and shops are just loverly. Possibly the thing I miss about Ireland the most, after all my friends there and the whole of the west coast

Rachel Allen's book on sale on WHSmith site too - I have Bake, Food for Living and bought Home cooking for my MIL who has previously pinched recipes from my other ones.

another one I love is 'apples for Jam' and here and anything else by Tessa Kiron really

that goodhousekeeping one looks good freakoid - am sorely tempted by its bargainousness (bad sticky must stay away from book selling websites...)

stickylittlefingers, my friend lives just south of Dublin and everytime we're over I make her take me to the Avoca places and when she comes over she knows not to come empty handed either

Amazon has Rachel Allen cheaper than WHSmiths and some of the AVOCA books too

sticky - I've just ordered it too - fingers crossed it arrives when DH is out as I already pillaged our closing down Borders for a TONNE of new cookery books

quite right dizzy! It's like all the food I love in one place, with serious kitchen porn and lovely woollies too.

Am going to have to have a lie down to stop hyperventilating

I was bought this last year

I made some dishes out of this for our New Year's Eve party and they were delicious - really authentic tasting, and not difficult (once you've got hold of all the ingredients!) I even made some indian roti, which was delicious.

I only recently discovered the one at Ashford one of the times we were over last year. They've now got a shop in Belfast, am trying to guilt them into coming to Scotland too - its not that far now!!!

I love anything of Nigel's.
Elizabeth David and Claudia Roden good for inspiration.

The Australian Women's Weekly series, whilst not particulalry glamorous, are excellent.

MilaMae - as much as I hate to admit it, I was gifted Tana Ramsay's book and it has some nice stuff in it too

dizzy It's been my Other Career Plan to open an Avoca look-a-like in Durham. It's so full of people who would just lurrve that sort of thing. And I could make soup, bread, cakes and dinky salads to my heart's content. And imagine being a buyer for them...

Jaysus, I am actually salivating here...

sticky - am actually in the midsts of trying to get a cafe up and running up here although I doubt VERY much it will be anywhere near an Avoca- like- effort

I shall however visit Durham and be your biggest fan from North of the border when you do

for the benefit of all others on the thread avoca here is what Sticky and I are ranting inapatheticneedyfoodiegroupiekindofway on about

needyfoodiegroupie is a perfect description of me, I think!!

Am I allowed to be nosey - can you tell me about your cafe setting up? (elsewhere as we're starting to be naughty thread hijackers)

of course I've previously started a thread, will see if I can find it

Cookery books are so hard because they rarely reflect what you do day-in day-out.

Nigel Slater is fab, and Nigella is great too. Hopefully, they give you permission to swap ingredients and basically experiment.

I quite like Tana Ramsay (wife of Gordon). Her recipes are very family friendly and very wholesome, and they use quite a lot of fairly inexpensive ingredients. They are also not too fussy, so there is very little frantic rushing around. You can prepare things in advance and just have a final garnish to finish them off.

sticky - can't find it and have to feed abandoned kids, will have another look later on if thats ok

mvemjsup thank goodness for another Tana Ramsay fan

yep, better do that!

The recipe section on the ocado website is excellent. I have made a good few of their recipes and they have been very good.