How often do you hear the phrase ‘we’re all living busy lives now…’? Constantly if you ask me. Working, commuting, looking after children, doing housework, socialising, date nights with partner, watching Prison Break box set because you’re 6 years behind everyone else (ok, last one’s just me). Hear constantly that we’re busy. Think we are all busy. Maybe this is nothing new. Many of books published over last 50 years have similar theme: cook nice things quickly. This one’s no exception. Introduction says ‘no longer does the busy housewife have to spend hours whisking and beating. These exhausting and tedious tasks can now be done by her electric mixer or blender a fraction of the time.’ It goes on, ‘the busy mother with a small baby can now make up her own nourishing baby foods as they are a simple matter to prepare and her baby will certainly thrive on the number of foods which can be made in to a variety of baby foods…’ Did women ever have time for cooking?!

Love buying cake out. Expensive though. One slice or cupcake can easily be £2+. Feeling frugal. Already have something in common with Marguerite Patten.

Week 10 / 500 Recipes Electric Mixers & Blenders by Marguerite Patten / Recipe 10 / Economical Cut and Come Again Cake

Have an interesting relationship with mixers and blenders. Three months ago got butter stuck in hand blender whilst making custard creams. Used finger to scoop it out. Blended finger. Still have finger. Very lucky. Have also managed to break one of sticks on hand mixer. Decide to buy new mixer. Aspire to have cream-coloured-large-posh-multi-functional one from department store. But not at £400. Cake would not be very economical. Buy £4 one from supermarket instead.

Sieve dry ingredients. Add butter. Love tip ‘where mixers have a high speed you must use a very large bowl so that flour doesn’t fly in all directions’. This is very true. Manage to get flour everywhere due to bowl being too small. Add everything else. Mix by hand. Very easy. Put in tin. Crossing fingers. Cakes baked recently seem to stick to pans. Wait. Remove cake. Cake comes out ok! Has risen nicely. Looks like the kind of cake relative might have in storage for when you pop round. Cool cake. Husband tastes tests cake. He likes it. Nice, moist, fruity, simple, very good. Recipe said cake was a ‘one-stage cake’ and is prepared in 2-3 minutes once ingredients are weighed. Agree, very quick. Even for those who live busy lives.

Admit I’m slacking. Since cleaning microwave and implementing savvy shopping have re-discovered joys of making food quickly. Know this is not meant to happen. But can’t resist a sparkling appliance. Have also discovered 8pm-9pm is optimum time for finding reduced items in supermarket. Everyone’s watching Holby City. Apart from shift workers and other ready-meal-seeking-bargain-hunters. Must re-focus. Hoping next book will be full of extravagant, complicated, satisfying recipes.

It isn’t. In fact, it doesn’t have a single recipe. Oh dear. Fearing next week will be full of microwaveable quick cook creamy mushroom pasta.

Week 9 / An Illustrated Cook’s Notebook by Juliette Clarke

Book is lovely. Is a notebook to write recipes in. With pictures. And inspirational quotes. Slightly disappointed to discover pages have nothing written in. May have given more clues to owner of books. Only know so far that owner:

1. Liked Sainsbury’s

2. Cooked for 2 people

Look through book. Quotes make me smile.

‘No matter where I take my guests, it seems they like my kitchen best’ Pennsylvania Dutch Saying. This is true. No matter how small your kitchen. Had halloween party in 2004. Decorated everywhere. Apart from kitchen. Everyone spent all night in 4ft x 8ft kitchen squished up against cupboards.

‘In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection’ Curnonsky. Maybe. Sometimes things look simple. Like croissants. Or brandy snaps. Or steak. Getting them just right – not v.simple.

‘If a man be sensible and one fine morning, while he is lying in bed, count at the tips of his fingers how many things in this life truly will give him enjoyment, invariably he will find food is the first one’ Lin Yutang. Hmmm. Man case study aka husband is not in house. If I asked him top three hope he will answer 1) me 2) cat Hiro 3) steak. Will ask later and report back. Need other men. Ask twitter followers. Here is selection of answers: socialising, food and drink, holidays, learning something new, Guinness, shouting ’180′ during re-runs of ‘Bullseye’, Luton Town FC, beer, sight of a beautiful woman smiling at you, family, work, motorbike, daughter, photography, days off exploring England. Hmmm not sure when quote is from. Common theme is drink. And family. Maybe drink would be followed by food. Am sure quote is correct.

Ok. Feeling inspired using words of wisdom to create moments of enjoyment. Will ask family to come over for simple beer in tiny kitchen.

Have had microwave longer than have had husband. Is fairly basic. Microwave not husband. Is 8 years old. Mum’s been trying to convince me to get new one which grills and bakes. Says I could cook a whole chicken, or bake a cake in new ones. Hmmm, nice. Not convinced. Microwaves are for re-heating and de-frosting stuff. Scared of book. Was published in 1997. May have been written for ultra-busy-high-powered-sex-and-the-city types who’s un-used cookers may sparkle due to eating out and occasionally popping home to re-heat food.

Discover book is not 101 recipes, but 101 tips for using microwave. Breathe sigh of relief. Love tip 4, ‘don’t dry socks in the oven’. Seems obvious? Quiz husband about this. Says on adventure weekend as teenager he tried to dry tea towels in actual cooker. Came out smoky and crunchy. Recommend book for 13 year olds about to embark on outward bound courses.

Tip 11 ‘convert cooking times’ talks about adjusting times for 500, 600 and 700W microwaves. Mine is 800W. Think most now are 1000W. Wonder if microwaves of future will cook food in seconds not minutes. Like in Back to the Future part 2 where Marty’s daughter puts pizza on ‘hydrate level 4′ and it’s done in 3 seconds. That was set in 2015. Not sure microwaves will be that souped up in 4 years time. Shame.

Book gives much detail on times needed for cooking vegetables, pods and seeds, roots and tubers, fruits, pulses, grains and cereals, pasta, fish, beef, lamb, pork, poultry, veal and offal. Veritable feast of uses for microwave. How exciting.

Decide I’m not feel brave. Pick useful tip instead.

Week 8 / 101 Essential Tips Cooking with a Microwave / Deodorize your microwave

Here’s my defence. I do regularly clean microwave. Genuinely I do. Just not in some time. Look in microwave. Is splattered with colourful dots. Tip says to wipe inside with bicarbonate of soda dissolved in warm water. Looking forward to this. Have seen ‘Kim and Aggie’ on tv doing similar stuff. Have never made DIY cleaning fluid before. Seems very straight forward. Wipe microwave. Is coming up clean. Very pleased. Wonder if there’s market for new product, ‘bicarb-cleaner’. Decide to hold off applying to Dragon’s Den. Will check labels of products in supermarket to see if others have realised power of revolutionary ingredient. Add mixed spice to jug of water and heat on high for 3 minutes. Ask husband to smell microwave. Expecting fabulous response. ‘Nothing’ he says ‘it smells of nothing’ Still feeling positive. Nothing is better than something horrible.

Delighted. Second book in series aimed at busy office worker. Am v.busy at the moment. Book is also from 1976. Learn in introduction that ‘the English are renowned for reducing them (vegetables) to an inedible ‘mush’ by soaking them in advance and then cooking them in excess water for a prolonged time.’ Have to admit some relatives used to be like this. Have childhood memories of floppy beans boiled in heavily salted water. Don’t know anyone who does this now. Suspect government sent out subliminal messages (along with the 5 a day thing) to the nation during the 90s calling for vegetables everywhere to no longer be floppy.

Buy lots of vegetables since don’t eat meat. Tends to be pre-packed cool ones like mange tout, mini sweetcorn and broccoli. Decide to challenge myself. Pick 80s style veg and childhood meal.

By Anne Ager

Week 7 / 100 Ways with Vegetables by Anne Ager / Recipe 9 / First day Bubble and Squeak

Remember eating bubble and squeak in days after Christmas. Was only way mum could get me to eat brussell sprouts (still detest them). Used to have it with leftover turkey (did used to eat meat, stopped during teenage phase in 1996, phase didn’t stop). Start to shred cabbage. Cabbage has got brown stuff in. Convinced cabbage hasn’t gone off. Remove brown stuff. Have read recently we throw too much food away. Determined to eat cabbage. Husband isn’t back until later. Won’t tell husband. Can’t tell him he has to be on cabbage-watch as well as milk monitor. Is husband’s birthday soon. May suggest he might like new fridge. Big American-style one.

Slice potato and put in pan. Add water. Doesn’t seem like much water. Simmer. Wasn’t enough water. Pan burns a bit. Add more water. Am sure mum used to mash up potato rather than slice. Fry onion. Add cabbage and potato. Fry. Doesn’t seem very crispy. Too much oil? Serve. Tastes ok. Makes change from mashed potato. Wouldn’t make effort to cook on ‘first day’ though. Good way of using up left over veg. Even the ones with brown bits in.

Very excited about book. Read blurb on back, says ‘recipes in these books show how the simplest and most inexpensive foods available everywhere can be easily prepared by the busy housewife, or the office worker, in interesting, delicious and nutritious ways’. Love it. Am very busy office worker on a budget but still have to do the housewife thing too. Although I let milk go off again this week. V.embarrassing. Fabulous zumba-going-friend from Coventry came over at weekend. Made tea, asked if she wanted sugar, went to put milk in, was lumpy. Had to make cappaccino using Dolce Gusto machine bought from auction for £5. Thankfully she liked it. Advised I buy smaller bottles of milk to minimize risk of milk-gate happening again.

Week 6 / 100 Ways with Cheese / Recipe 8 / Cheese Scones

Bear in mind book is from 1976. Introduction makes specific reference to cheese being suitable for pensioners, ’most hard or semi-hard cheeses can be stored for a week in any cool place. Cheese can thus be a boon, especially for disabled or elderly people if they find shopping a problem.’ Google ‘boon’. Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick. Google ‘boon definition’. Means ‘beneficial’. Makes more sense. Am loving watching ‘The Great British Bake Off’ at the moment. Feel a need to bake (something quick, given that I’m a busy office worker).

Recipe is very simple. Need mustard powder though. Never bought mustard powder before. Supermarket on way home doesn’t sell it. Frustrated. Ask twitter followers for help in tracking down elusive mustard powder. Seems it’s not so elusive after all. Larger version of same supermarket sells it (next to actual mustard in case you can’t find it either). Everything is in old measurements. Look back at introduction. Author Maggie Black states ‘when converting large quantities (to metric) one obtains slightly less of the finished product than when using ounces and pounds’. Interesting. Sift dry ingredients, rub in butter. Butter has shot up in price! Used to be £1 for a pack, is now £1.20. Have no idea why. Maybe demand for baking ingredients is pushing up price. Add cheese. Use red leicester. Don’t ask, cheddar had gone off too. Mix with milk to make dough, pat and cut. Nice. Put in oven. Take out. Lovely. Allowed to cool briefly. Husband wants one. Gets the thumbs up. Basic scone recipe, very easy, cheese on top adds flavour. Doesn’t make many though. Good if you need quick baking fix (and have cheese that isn’t green) 6 out of 10. There are no pictures to compare them to. Convinced this is how they’re meant to look.

Next week: 100 Ways with Vegetables.

I like tuna. Chunks not flakes though. The most creative thing I make is tuna and pasta bake with a packet mix. Husband’s not keen on tuna. Ask him to pick recipe. Looks through book. Doesn’t like anything. Oh dear. Ask him to pick a page between 8 and 62. Crossing fingers for page 18 – devilled vol-au-vents. Quite fancy 80s revival. Imagining meeting up with very lovely yummy mummy cupcake baking friend. Me to them, ‘have you been doing any cooking recently?’ Them to me, ‘yes have made some fabulous cupcakes… what have you been cooking?’ Me to them ‘Well it just so happens I’ve made some devilled vol-au-vents…’ Them to me ‘wow that sounds impressive, tell me more…’ This is not how the conversation will go. Instead, page 23 – mediterranean eggs. Erm, ok.

Week 5 / Recipes for Tuna / Recipe 7 / Mediterranean Eggs

Feeling positive. Recipe gives me chance to use up ingredients in fridge. Don’t need to buy anything spesh. Dice onion. Eyes seem to water much less than when I originally peeled onion. Dice pepper. Chuck in pan. Says to peel and de-seed tomatoes. Really? Decide not to do this – life’s too short. Add tuna (not Mediterranean at all, appears to be from Seychelles). Then eggs. Have got lots of eggs at the moment. Farmer neighbour has chickens. I’d quite like chickens in garden. Am aspiring to this one day. Not sure it’s economical at the moment. Eggs cook very quickly. Discover I still have lovely flavoured bread to toast. Will go fabulous with eggs. Go to slice. Don’t get very far. Bread is green. Sigh. Have to use remnants of other bread. Season, dish up. Taste. Not bad. Very quick snack. Cheap. Seems to make lots. 6 out of 10.

That’s the last of Sainsbury’s ’50 recipes for…’ books. Think I’m glad. Need some variety now. Have emailed supermarket asking how many more books there were in series. Seem good value for 75p. Have lots of ideas. Will probably return to them (still need to make vol-au-vents).

Next week: 100 ways with cheese

Quick and easy

Finding ’50 recipes’ series v.hit and miss. Wondering how many books Sainsbury’s made like these. Maybe they stopped after many people experienced French onion soup / gravy-gate like me. Think I’ll email them and ask. Look at next book. It’s potatoes. My potatoes always go green and sprout alternative life forms. Back in 1989 book says Sainsbury’s sold 40 varieties. Will ask them about situation now.

Learn valuable tips. Must store pots in cool dark place, as light makes them develop ‘solanine’ which can give belly upsets. Quickly remove pots from fridge. Need bigger kitchen for storage purposes. Cupboards full of dusty gadgets (for future ref, gadgets don’t include remoska – bit concerned about that) so leave in carrier bag hanging on cupboard for time being. Husband not a big fan of pots, thinks they’re stodgy. Decide to manipulate husband into being open minded. Pick something he associates with good times. San Francisco, 2008, Pier 39, chowder.

Week 4 / 50 Recipes for Potatoes / Recipe 6 / Smoked Haddock Chowder

Pick Desiree potatoes. Says they’re good for mashing. Is third time recipes have required fresh parsley. Buy plant. Vow to keep it alive at least until next book. Halve ingredients listed. All going well, celery and onion simmer nicely. Add flour and water, boil. All ok. Check recipe. Add smoked haddock. Re-read. Oh no. Must have gone round supermarket in daze. Haddock’s not smoked. Is white, not yellow. Chop it up anyway. Must be similar. Cook fish (much longer than 5 minutes that smoked would have needed). Husband comes home. Says something smells good. Great! Feel like domestic goddess like in 1950s adverts. Should be wearing apron and puffball dress with hair perfectly coiffed, (make do with scraped back ponytail, work clothes + comfy top and slippers) will try to remember next time to wear pink Harrods apron with cakes on that mum bought me two Christmases ago.

Chowder is rocking. Add a little bit of flour for luck and super fast thickening. Season and add parsley. Nice. Not pretty. But it’s not meant to be looking at pic in book. Dish up. Husband’s verdict: it’s lovely! (says this twice) Parsley could have been chopped more finely, but is filling, good consistency, tasty, wants more, recalls eating chowder in San Francisco. Mark out of 10? 9 he says. Brilliant.

What it should look like

Parsley needed to be chopped more finely

Not very pretty

Husband is home. V.pleased. He’s been away for 11 days involved in international sporting event. Hoping he can be milk monitor and ensure next bottle doesn’t go off. Will use him. Ask him to choose recipe. Spend much time hinting I should make ‘fluffy tart’. Ignores hints. Picks most similar dish to his favourite meal in Cafe Rouge (we sometimes go there with Tesco vouchers).

The book

Week 3 / 50 Recipes for Cheddar Cheese / Recipe 5 / Rich Onion Soup.

Ask husband to get ingredients. Need beef stock and stout. Comes back with Oxo reduced salt beef stock granules and Guinness. Hope this is ok. Recipe doesn’t suggest otherwise.

Onions take ages to cook. Suspect I need bigger pan. They’re not going brown. Split onions between two pans. They cook. Add flour. Add stock. Seems like gravy. Discover we have can of Guinness from 2005 in beer fridge. Husband drinks that one (it’s ok). Use new one in recipe. Soup looks really brown. Simmer. Slice up baguette. Add cheese. Grill. Serve.

First recipe I’m not trying myself. Relying on husband. Verdict… onions were cooked well, bread and cheese were nice, but it’s gravy. Looks like gravy. Tastes like gravy. It’s nice gravy, but would have been better with roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. Gutted.

What it should look like

The bread and cheese were nice

It's all gravy

Next week: 50 Recipes for Potatoes: Hot Lightning (whatever that is)

Am shattered. Have started new job (love it, but adjusting to different hours). Admit to eating pizza and buying frozen chips. And ready meals. And pre-made desserts in ramakins I can wash up and use afterwards. Milk went off a week ago. Must re-focus. Back to canned tomatoes, still have half a tin left over.

Week 2 / 50 Recipes for Canned Tomatoes / Recipe 4 / Stuffed Courgettes

    I like courgettes. Have cooked Jamie Oliver’s courgette carbonara a number of times before (without bacon for me, with bacon for husband). Have picked recipe as it’s something owner of book made, probably - pencil marks in margin. Scoop out courgettes. Feels satisfying. Says I need to blanch. Think blanch means to boil quickly. Google ‘blanch’. Get distracted looking at ’blanch house’ a boutique hotel in Brighton. Looks nice. Think I could do with mini-break. Was nearly correct with blanching, must plunge in to cold water asap. Cook rice in microwave rice cooker. Check me out with gadgets, much easier than boiling in pan - always seems sticky that way. Use left over walnuts and parsley from last recipe. Impressed at multi-useable ingredients. Mix everything. Lots of it (even for 2). Have already halved courgettes as couldn’t fit in pan earlier. Put in casserole dish. Seems odd using parmesan cheese on top – think something like feta would be better. Never mind.

Says to put courgettes on top of tomatoes and water. Ignore this. Think it will make courgettes sloppy. Wait. Watch tv. See ‘Great British Bake Off’ is back on tv. Brilliant. Think last year’s winner Edd Kimber is super cool. And has lovely blog.

Remove courgettes. Was right. There’s water in bottom of casserole dish. Unsure whether this is from tomatoes or courgettes. Look’s good though despite filling over-spilling. Taste’s nice. Is substantial, healthy and has good flavour. Ask for feedback from neighbours Mick and Ann. Overall verdict: nice texture, good combo of ingredients. But cheese is wrong. Cheese that melts better would be nice (cheddar please), as well as more cheese and more seasoning. Gets 6 out of 10. I agree. Mick says he wants to be first on list for chocolate cake. Tell him it’s 50 recipes for cheese next. Then potatoes, then tuna, then cheese, then vegetables…. May have long wait.

Eat cheesecake from ramakin I can wash up and use again. Accept can not be fabulous all the time.

Picture taken from the book

Photographed on my garden table (better lighting outside)

Grew up with canned tomatoes. Mum served them (whole ones) with fry-ups. Now I mostly use chopped ones in bolognese. This book’s by Betty Jakens. Google her. Can’t find much. Google asks me if I meant ‘Betty Jenkins’. Discover she also wrote book called ‘Mixer and Blender Cooking’. Introduction is promising, says ‘canned chopped tomatoes can turn an ordinary meal into something that looks exotic, and tastes tangy and definitely Mediterranean’. Looking forward to exoticness.

Very excited. Now know two things about the owner of these books.

1. They liked Sainsburys

2. They once cooked for two people. In margin of stuffed courgettes recipe there are pencil marks which halve all ingredients. Recipe is meant for four people.

Week 2 / 50 Recipes for Tomatoes / Recipe 3 / Fish Plaki

Like fish very much but rarely bake it in anything. Usually just wrap salmon in foil.

Recipe says fresh or frozen cod or haddock. Have small freezer. Go for fresh haddock. No cod. Cod much less available since book was written. Very straight forward. Worry about parsley (didn’t buy whole plant, my

Recipe from book

herbs usually die) seems to wilt very much when cooking. Wonder if I was meant to just use leaves not stalks as well.

Neighbour Rob comes back with casserole dish. Is cleaner than when he borrowed it. Take advantage and immediately use casserole dish for fish. Pour mixture over fish. Wait.

Careful not to over cook. Forget to add lemon slices half way through.

Serve with broccoli. Decide it looks modern without lemon slices. Add lemon slices for effect. Looks retro. Tastes lovely. Fish moist, tomatoes tasty, very healthy. Would cook again. Compare mine to original photograph from book. Decide food can be made to look much more fabulous from arty angle. Also suspect my plates are from 1990.

This is what it looks like in the book

Forgot the lemon slices

Think my plates must be from 1990

 Next recipe: Keeping with tomatoes. 50 recipes for canned tomatoes / Week 2 / Recipe 4 / Stuffed Courgettes