I’ve had a new recipe book to preview from The English Kitchen.
I’m originally from England, moved here to Canada in 1956 with my parents. We came across the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth and entered through Ellis Island, New York, USA and then took the train to Canada. My Canadian husband has English connections as his mother was from England and was a War Bride to his Canadian army father. During our married life we have lived both sides of the ocean, and two of our three daughters were born in England. We are a family of dual citizenship.
I’m a plain English cook, nothing fancy, usually meat, veggies and potatoes for dinner. I rarely used prepared food for meals and always watch the amount of seasoning, especially salt, that goes into our meals. The English Kitchen shares many of the recipes that we love. Marie is a Canadian living in England and she has a love of cooking. Her blog shares delicious recipes, cookery booklets, and now her very own recipe book.
The first thing that I noticed was the weight of the book. When it arrived and it was handed to me I wondered how big this book was. I had only seen the cover up till then. There are a total of 710 pages of well laid out recipes, over 500, explanations and information.
I really enjoyed looking through this book and found the recipes were laid out differently, instead of alphabetical, they are listed by meals, holidays, and occasions. And of course English terms are used .. Elevenses, Tea Time, The Full English. There is a section that explains them and gives the equivalent terms.
Throughout the book are photos of the various recipes, not each recipe, but quite a few. It is always nice to see how the recipe is supposed to turn out.
The recipe I shared for parsnip and apple soup is in this book as well as being on Marie’s website. (My photo) I love this soup, but find you have to be a parsnip lover to really enjoy it, but the added taste of the apple gives it a nice sweet taste. This soup stores well in the freezer too.
It didn’t take me long to pick out some recipes to try and I’ve got them all marked with sticky notes. I found variations on some of my recipes, like instead of using bread with the centre cut out and fried with an egg for Egg in the Hole, Marie uses a bagel. I’ll be trying that one for sure.
Eggs benedict is one of our favourites and the recipe in this book using scrambled eggs instead of poached eggs. I recently tried this out, and used 3 eggs whites and 1 whole egg to make it a bit healthier. I also added my version of home fries done in the oven and a few baked beans. We love having breakfast for dinner.
I found recipes I haven’t made for ages, like a variation of toad in the hole and baked ham hash. And there are desserts of all kinds.
You can follow The English Kitchen on her blog, her Facebook page or her Instagram page. I’m sure you will find a recipe you will want to try.
Jackie
I was born in Ireland and emigrated to Canada with my parents in 1957! I also have dual citizenship and feel very at home in the British Isles.
While I like many ethnic foods and enjoy cooking them, I am drawn to the meals my mother made us growing up.
Parsnip and apple soup sounds perfect. I am adding the book to my TBR list.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
Be sure to check out Marie’s website as there are lots of fabulous British recipes there. We have lots in common, both coming from The British Isles at about the same time. We came across on the Queen Elizabeth and came in through Ellis Island in New York and then took the train to Toronto. Thanks for stopping by today.
Jackie
We flew from Shannon to Montreal where I grew up. I then moved to Toronto in 1991 and love it.
Mae
Thank you for sharing your own history. I remember your parsnip apple soup from a couple months ago, and it’s interesting to see how your background affects your tastes.
Best… mae
Esme
The book loves lovely. It has an old feel to it. Where in Canada are you? I grew up in Ottawa and am now in LA.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
We live between Toronto and Kingson by the Bay of Quinte. Ottawa is one of our favourite cities to visit. Do you miss living there?
Judee@gluten free A-Z Blog
My family is from Eastern Europe and my husband’s family from the Middle East. I love Mediterranean cooking but have to say I am not that familiar with English cooking. Thanks for the interesting review and info about your background. I’ll have to pop over and take a look at Marie’s blog
jama
Thanks for featuring this book! You had me at the title. Didn’t know about Marie’s blog so thanks for the heads up!
Vicki
As soon as I saw the title I knew I wanted to read this book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Beth F
Oh I bet I’d love this. I lived in the UK while studying for my PhD and miss some the family meals I ate there
Robin
Another great book to put on my wish list! Thanks for sharing this Linda.
Margy
I do use the Internet to find recipes, but love having a cookbook in my hands to review. My go-to favourite it Fannie Farmer’s but I’ve found a lot of good ones at the thrift store. It appears many people are getting rid of lovely old cookbooks these days. – Margy
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
I like cookery books too Margy, have about 4 favourites and they all have sticky notes or written out recipes inserted. Plus lots of the pages have drip marks and finger marks on them. I also use a lot of little pictures that the girls drew when little as bookmarks.
Jennifer Jilks
My dad’s parents were from England, he loved cooking!
Some good recipes there!
Molly
This looks like a lovely (and comprehensive) book. I would love to visit the Cotswolds sometime and see a few of the quaint English kitchens for myself. In the meantime, I look forward to reading her blog 🙂
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
I’m sure you will enjoy Marie’s blog and find lots of great recipes. Thanks for visiting today.
Diane (@bookchickdi)
Wow, 710 pages, that is a big book!
Margie
I bet you can try a new recipe every day for 2 years from this 710-page cookbook. Naturally, I’m intrigued by the “Tea Time” section.
Deb in Hawaii
it looks like a great cookbook. Thanks for sharing it and your Apple-Parsnip soup at Souper Sundays this week.
Elaine
My sister was born in England but I and my brother were born here in Canada but my parents may they both RIP were born and raised in England and my father was a British soldier in the second world war . When the war was over my mum and my sister came over here on the Queen Elizabeth to Toronto in the early 50s then my dad followed a few months later . My family is mainly of British decent with the odd Scots thrown in and because of my brother and I Canadian to lol ! My husband was born here to but has a British father and relatives his mum is Canadian . I was raised with British foods and traditions and to this day love me a good Brit dish lol ! I follow The English Kitchen Facebook and love the recipes as they bring back lots of good family memories . I really miss my mum’s home made Christmas cake with the Royal icing we would all joke about it being hard as a rock with the icing like using as a door stop or a brick lol but we all gobbled it up every year . I miss things like her home made Cornish Pasties , treacle pie , home made scones and all that good stuff and of course tea many cups and post of tea always lol ! When I was a kid I was teased for I had a bit of an accent being raised with British parents and I spoke and pronounced my words differently then other Canadian kids and spelled words differently as well like mum not mom and so on lol ! I last went back to England when I was very young and haven’t been back since hubs never has been , it is in our bucket list of things to do visit jolly old England and Scotland as I have relatives there to . . My mum also used the original Mrs Beeton recipe books back in the day . Great post . Thanks for sharing , Have a good week !
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
We have lots in common Elaine. Wouldn’t that be something if both our families were on the Queen Elizabeth at the same time. I research our family on Ancestry and was able to find the passenger lists with our family names listed on it. We would love to go to Scotland too, as husbands family on his Dad’s side is originally from there. I’ve got a cookery book that my mom had when I was born, still got some recipes in there that I use. I really enjoy Marie’s blog, Facebook page and Instagram account.
Elaine
That’s pots of tea not posts lol silly me !
Monique
Love your review! We have been to Picton♥ and Sandbanks:) Prince Edward County is lovely.
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
Prince Edward County sure is beautiful, we are so lucky living just a few minutes drive away. We do lots of daycations in the county. Thanks for stopping by today.
Marie
Oh Linda, thank you so much for your lovely review of my book. I am so pleased that you like it. I did put my whole soul and heart into it. I have really loved reading about how you came to Canada as well! I crossed the Atlantic on a Cunard Liner back in 1959 when my family moved back to Canada after having lived in Germany for a few years. It was a very eventful journey doing the crossing in November. Very cold and very rocky once we it the mid Atantic! I was only four so it was very exciting, but my poor mom spent most of the crossing with her head in the loo! Once again very many thanks for your wonderful words about my book. They mean the world to me! xo
Linda aka Crafty Gardener
So many similarities in our past history. Hope the sales of your cookery book are fantastic. I have tried your dill carrots a few times, recipe from you blog, and they are delicious also. Have a great day.
Marie
Thanks Linda! Happy that you are happy! xo
Plowing Through Life (Martha)
This sounds like a great cookbook, definitely something I’d enjoy. I will check out the link you provided. Thanks for sharing it!
Lavender Dreamer
It’s been a long time since I had a new cookbook…this one looks interesting! You did a great review my friend. Made us all hungry! heehee! Hugs! PS And how nice that the author commented! WOW! What an honor!