This month’s cookbook selection for the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club is big on taste, but won’t break the bank in the lead up to Christmas!
Welcome to October my dearest cookbook addicts, and welcome to a new Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club selection for the month, “$10 Meals with Chelsea”.
We’re enjoying another first this month – this will be the first time I’ve featured a budget cookbook. However, with Christmas looming, I think we could do with some help stretching our dollars, as December is usually a pretty expensive month for most of us.
Chelsea Goodwin’s cookbook is going to surprise most of you. She’s a single mother, used to the slog of putting a delicious meal on the table each night for her family, so there’s no dull tasteless meals in here. It’s full of plenty of flavour (in fact, she’s even got a chapter called “Flavour Bombs”), along with comfort food, some international favourites, a chapter on doubling up to make future-you happy, and two different indices to make searching out a quick, budget friendly meal extra simple.
Each chapter in this month’s cookbook selection is prefaced by a “week at a glance” section, with the serves for the week numbered and costed, and some extra tips and advice for each day’s selection. Plus there’s heaps of information and cooking tips in the beginning of the book, including equipment and pantry lists and recipe rescuing tips, making dinner that much easier.
And to make it even more cost-effective, I’ve dowloaded the eBook version. I use it on my tablet, where each page is rendered as clearly and colourfully as in the book – and it’s easier to clean any accidental spills from the screen.
No budgetary excuse this month my lovelies – let’s get cooking!
What did we cook in September?
Like true cookbook addicts, we all enjoyed the challenge of our special September cookbook “A Plant-Based Farmhouse” by Cherie Hausler. There was plenty to love in this book, and the flavour combinations were absolutely spot-on. I know there’s a couple of dishes that will find a regular spot in my repertoire, but here’s some of what our clever cookbook club members shared with everyone during the month.
Karyn Hearn’s Tamari mushrooms with dill looks divine!
Baked pasta shells stuffed with almond ricotta and roasted tomatoes from Carolyn Miles
Preserved lemon hummus from Sherry Mackay
Just to prove that I actually do cook from our selected cookbooks, this is my version of the roasted parsnip and pear salad that was seriously more than the sum of it’s parts!
So – What’s happening in November?
Things often start getting busy by November, and many of us have school commitments with and for our kids, and plenty of happy shared times with family and friends coming up.
With all of that in mind, I’ve selected Sophie Hansen’s “What Can I Bring?’ as our November cookbook selection. I don’t know about you, but those are usually the first words past my lips when we are invited to any sort of of get-together, and at this busy time of the year some days the actual thinking-up of what to take is all but beyond me.
That’s why I just know that my fellow cookbook addicts will be leaning heavily on this volume. The easiest and most fun gatherings are when everyone shares the load, and Sophie takes all the hard work out of arriving with an appropriate dish. She’ll fill you all with inspiration – always coming up with the exactly right thing to take for the right occasion . This book has been out for a while now, so will be easy to find in book shops, your local library (if we don’t use our libraries we will lose them), and it’s also available as an eBook. Start hunting it down now!
But for October, let’s fill the family’s bellies without breaking the bank, with “$10 Meals with Chelsea”.
So far, 2024 is looking a little like this –
The whole year cookbook is The Food Saver’s A-Z – The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion by Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards
October – $10 Meals with Chelsea by Chelsea Goodwin
September – A Plant-Based Farmhouse by Cherie Hausler
August – Now & Then by Tessa Kiros
July – The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook by Samuel Goldsmith
June – The Naked Chef and any other Jamie Oliver cookbook
May – Easy Wins by Anna Jones
April – Your choice from any ONE book you have
March – Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez with Libby Travers
February – Any recipes from the late Bill Granger, either from his books or online
January – Kindred by Maria and Eva Konescny
Details for last year in the cookbook club are all here.
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