Poor Cook

At Christmas my parents were both delighted – and possibly slightly amused – to see me draw down this recipe book from the shelf. It was theirs originally, and at some point at university I nicked it. I’ve used it as my default recipe book ever since.

Poor Cook Caroline Conran

Poor Cook is a classic. Published in 1971, it’s all about eating well from good but cheap ingredients. It was written by Susan Campbell and Caroline Conran, one of whom had lived in Sicily. The other one was married to Habitat founder and ‘the man who invented France’, Terence. A European influence is obvious, but there is nothing exotic about the book – except recipes rendered exotic by time. Tripe and Onions anyone? Three different recipes for rabbit?

Poor Cook recipes

I use it for simple classic recipes  – it’s great for all the things I ought to know how to cook by now, but don’t. At Christmas I turned to it for making the bread sauce. And I always get distracted with the book’s homely oddities, like dandelion salad, ‘Pretend cream’ (bananas, egg white and sugar, of course) and this excellent entry:

“Babies’ Rusks

Cut stale bread into fingers and dry in the oven. Babies will never guess they didn’t come out of a packet.”

Well that sums up a 70s childhood, don’t you think? The book is sadly out of print, but you can read more about it here. Someone is selling a copy on Amazon for £144. And no Mum, you can’t have it back.



Wee room with a view

Around a year ago, we brought news of a competition commissioned by Living Architecture, to design a pop-up bedroom on the South Bank. Well, tomorrow you can get in line to book your night in the winning design… Yes it’s a wee boat. Designed by architect David Kohn and artist Fiona Banner, A Room for London […]

Golden Globes outfits 2012

Golden Globes outfit review

Normally an interiors blogger, this time of year Jenny over at MyFavouriteAndMyBest gives the moodboards a rest to bring readers succinct and snarky outfit reviews for the big US award dos. I rarely agree with her favourite outfits, but she’s usually spot on about the worst ones. I cheered when I mentally described one as […]

Designer mantelpieces

Admittedly this is an exhibition we have all missed – finishing last November – but I still enjoyed seeing the images from The Mantelpiece exhibition, which took place at the Bath school of Art & Design. Kerry Curtis, Head of Fashion, Textiles, and Three Dimensional Design at the school, curated the show asking 24 designers, […]