Aggie's Family Cookbook: review

You may be thinking 'not another celebrity cookbook' and, if so, I don't blame you. If I didn't know Aggie MacKenzie I'd probably be thinking that too.

But it may surprise you to learn her background is in food rather than hygiene - I used to work for her on Sainsbury's magazine and Good Housekeeping before she became famous for How Clean is Your House. So the cooking thing is not just made up to trade in on her fame.

And this is a real family cookbook. Of things she cooks, her sons cook, her mother cooks and even, her ex and her late mother-in-law cooked (now that is saintly!). It's as if your best friend who's a fantastic cook just handed over all her favourite recipes.

There's lots of fun stuff that's suitable for kids too like 'My take on chicken twizzlers' and Clissold Fried Chicken (a Stoke Newington version of KFC) and tips on how to get your kids cooking. The baking section is particularly good - I'll be posting a recipe later this week, hopefully - but love the sound of Tear-and-share Cheesy Rolls, Scottish Morning Rolls and her 'legendary' Granny's Scones.

The reason why I'm reviewing it on this blog is that - unusually for a celeb - she keeps the cost of food very much in mind, witness the Baked Chicken Casserole she makes "when I need to see off those lonesome bits at the bottom of the fridge", A Great Veg Dish for Leftover Cheese and Eggy Bread with Fudgey Plums "dead quick when you haven't planned a pud." And there are loads of useful tips on meal planning and saving money when you're food shopping.

This is a brilliantly down to earth cookbook that you'll use again and again. You can currently buy it for just over £11 on Amazon but even at the full price of £20 it's well worth the money. One for the Christmas list, defo.

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A taste of The Frugal Cook

If you want a taster of The Frugal Cook you can find excerpts in this month's Vegetarian Living and Fabulous Food both of which carry recipe features on the book.


Fabulous Food has my caramelised cauliflower soup, seared salmon with creamed leeks and chives and peach and blueberry cobbler while Vegetarian Living went for the pizza giardiniera, spicy cashew and mushroom rice and carrot, oat and cinnamon muffins.

And while I'm in bragging mode if you know anyone who's off to uni this autumn my Ultimate Student Cookbook has just been listed in the Independent's top 10 student cookery books.


Actually all this is just an excuse to use the 'Grab' function on my Macbook which enables you to take a shot of any window you have open. Fun.

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Making your own drinks

In all the time I've been writing about frugal food I've never thought of making my own drinks. Actually, I lie. I did post this idea for an apple lemonade a couple of years ago and very delicious it was too which makes my lack of interest in the subject even more lame.

If I'd had Susy Atkins new book 'How to make your own drinks' before now I might have been better motivated because it's full of brilliant ideas for cheap healthy, mainly non-alcoholic drinks you can make from seasonal gluts of fruit and vegetables. Or even - and as a townie without a garden this appeals to me - by bartering with others who have gardens or allotments in return for bottles of your finished potion. (You may get the better deal out of this.)

For those of you who feel nervous about the idea - and frankly I was a little too - the book is packed with clear and reassuring instructions about sterilising and sealing bottles and troubleshooting tips. Maybe start with drinks that can be made and drunk almost immediately like lavender lemonade (lovely for this time of year) and fruity ginger ale then progress to ones that need a bit more skill and patience like nettle beer, plum wine and mead.

Many drinks can be made for free from hedgerow ingredients - sloe and damson gin being the obvious examples - but I also love the sound of Susy's Crème de Mure (blackberry liqueur) and homemade rosehip syrup which apparently has higher levels of vitamin C than citrus fruit. ('Kids adore it' she says.) You can also make perfectly good drinks from frozen fruit which can sometimes be cheaper than fresh.

All in all this book a is good investment - with the added bonus of being a fun way to create your own delicious drinks. A great diversion, I'd have thought, for the forthcoming school holidays . . .

Have you ever made your own drinks and if so which ones?

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