I recently bought this book in an effort to start cooking more interesting food for my 1 1/2 year old son, also food that my husband and I could also get excited about.  I find the recipes fairly quick and very easy and the end result delicious - even to a fussy toddler!

The minestrone is a huge favourite of my husband’s and mine - I just don’t seem to be able to make enough!  Some of the portions seem to be huge but so far everything I have made has frozen wonderfully.  My only comment would be that the with the recipe for Pork, Lamb and Apple Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Sauce I would make three or four times the quantity of sauce - there was not nearly enough.

 I really do recommend this book highly to anyone with a family - it is hugely inspiring!

The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I refer to this book time and time again.  It is brimming with ideas for those odd cuts of meat that you are not sure what to do with, and if you are a fan of buying half a pig or half a lamb, as I am, you often come accross joints or cuts that baffle you!  

It is a definitive guide to the preperation and cooking of meat and I find Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Meat Roasting Table invaluable and using his methods you do get the perfect result every time.

My favourtie recipe is the Slow Cooked Shoulder of Pork “Donnie Brasco” - it melts off the bone and has the most superb flavour.

Visit www.amazon.co.uk for more information.

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The Essentials of Classical Italian Cookery by Marcella Hazan

“This book is my Italian cookery bible” says Louise Lee who works in the Gonalston Farm Shop office “recipes are simple, clear and delicious creating traditional authentic Italian dishes”.

You can buy this fantastic book at www.amazon.co.uk