Hi there,

My 18 yr old son has been in a university hostel for the past year and is now preparing to go flatting next year. His birthday is coming up in the next week and instead of giving him money I thought I might get him a cookbook for next year as he has expressed worry at his lack of cooking skills!!
I see that someone has recommended "Basic but brilliant" in an earlier thread and I see that there is "Food for flatters"
I haven't got down to the bookshops yet and wondered if anyone else had got basic cookbooks for their kids

shea

I wonder if the Destitute Gourmet books would suit as well?
cheers, Irene

Food for Flatters is great. It was my husband's standby as a flatter 30 years ago and he still uses it when he cooks. Lots of practical advice as well as recipes. It has been updated since his version so should still be relevant. I would also recomend Alison Holst's More for Less Cookbook. It is a compilation of 3 of her small recipe books - mince, sausages and soups. Given student budgets, mince and sausages feature frequently so it is good to have some ideas to vary these staples and a hearty soup makes a good meal in the winter.

Thanks for your suggestions - I will go to the shops tomorrow and browse. I hadn't thought of Sophie Grey - I have all of her books so I will be able to lend these to him as well.

shea

Simon Holst's "Dish it Up" might be worth a look too.

Its blurb says : "If you're a busy cook, this could be the book for you. It contains a wide variety of delicious recipes, all with a common theme, preparation times of 30 minutes or less and using as few as possible dishes".

Edmonds have a great book for flatters which my son uses all the time, plus the girls in his flat are constantly trying new things out of it which is neat to see.

Helen Bell.

What about the Holst`s Dollars and sense ( not sure if this is the correct title), but that is really quite good with a whole range of meat and veggie options.

"His Turn" by Malcom Bailey = Cooking for NZ men
"Men living alone, men who flat with others, innovative men who want to impress their girlfriend or wife, men who are bored with eating out, all will find this book can bring out the latent chef"!
jen

I wouldn't recomend His Turn as a basic cookbook for flatters. I bought it for my husband but he has only used it a couple of times. There is one menu for feeding the flatmates but many of the other dishes are aimed to impress rather than feed cheaply.

I highly recommend The Family Circle Recipe Encyclopedia. I've got a bookshelf dedicated to cookbooks and I'm suggesting this because it's literally got everything in it from old Irish classics to Indian curries. Not only recipes in here but each page has information on ingredients, history etc.

Not sure where you'd get one from, you might try Trademe or Amazon.com.

I compiled some easy foods recently for some desperate flatters. I'll PM you the entire compilation, as I still have it on my computer. It contains lots of Foodlovers advice such as Sharon's Pie, Stephanie's Ideas for Fried Rice and Lynley's Stirfry Ideas, as well as the easiest, tastiest recipes I could find in cookbooks from the library, etc. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, I've edited most recipes so they make enough food for one person - but flatmates vary from two to six so it's reasonably easy to multiply the food for one to whatever.... I also simplified their instructions as much as possible and set it all out in really easy to read step-by-step instructions. The setout probably won't PM at all but you'll have the recipes anyway. Hope they help. Kind regards, Jennifer1.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2006 09:18AM by Jennifer1.

Thanks Jennifer - the recipes sound really good and thanks very much for everyone's suggestions. Given me lots of food for thought!!!

Shea

Three of my children have gone flatting in recent years, so before they left i wrote out their favourite recipes and put them all into a folder, along with a page with basic instructions, such as white sauce, gravy, oven conversions, measurements etc. They have all been well used and if i see any recipes in magazines or books that i think they might like , i write them out and send to them and they can just keep adding to the folder. Simon Holsts "Dish it up" is very good also.

I gave all my girls the Edmonds Cook Book when they went to University and they found it great. Students cant afford fancy ingredients and the good old Edmonds Book basically teaches them how to cook the most simple foods to the wee treats.