My favourites I'll share with you today and they're kitchen orientated.
I paid about £2 for this sturdy double-bladed Victorinox herb chopper, which is pretty darned good since they sell for over £30. Yes, the varnish on the handles has come away - I suspect someone's done what we often do in this house and put something inappropriate in the dishwasher! I had picked it up thinking I'd re-paint the handles, but actually I quite like the faded shabby look of it.
The cook book you can see in the background I also picked up for £2. It's a weighty tome of a £25 recipe book and I'll fully admit that I am that shallow person who buys a book purely on the look of the cover.
I had no real idea what it was like but I was drawn to the cover image and the subtitle "over 200 recipes that will not cost the earth".
When I got it home, I spent a good hour leafing through it, and I have to say it's a fabulous book, I'm so glad I spotted it. 'The New English Table' by Rose Prince is crammed with simple but stunning photographs. Each chapter focuses on a different ingredient - whether it's pork; rice or potatoes, or more exotic ingredients such as pomegranate; oysters or quince. There's a lot of wild game and ingredients that can be foraged such as cobnuts, rose petals and elderflowers. Not only are the recipes featured easy on the purse - they include lots of cheaper cuts of meat and each chapter offers a few suggested recipes and then some suggestions for leftovers - but the book concentrates on sustainability too. There are pointers on how to shop ethically for foods, information on fish quotas and free range produce.
It's a book I've already fallen in love with and I can't wait to try some of the recipes.
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Love that chopper, and you're right, it's perfect as it is!
ReplyDeleteI love the herb chopper .... and its distressed look gives it a shabby chic air!
ReplyDeleteOoh fab finds, I love a good mooch round junk shops, keep going back to mine to covet a Globe cocktail cabinet that I have nowhere to put!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how you get on with the herb chopper thingy, I've been considering one for AGES!
ReplyDeleteLove the herb chopper. I am on a spend free February. So the only thing I have bought is white shoelaces that the boys needed as I had tied their other ones together so many times that they are too short
ReplyDeleteOh I love the look of that book - I bought some cobnuts last year and didn't have a clue what to make! Totally with you on buying based on the cover ;) xx
ReplyDeleteI love finding things like these at charity shops. I once found a gorgeous crushed crimson velvet blazer for a fiver. I never took it off - it was such good quality. I can see why you opted for that book though, it does look striking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. What foods are in your last photo of this post? Pumpkin? Sunflower seeds? What kind of cheese? Linda@Wetcreek Blog
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, its one of the photos from the book, it's roasted quince. Looks delicious doesn't it?
DeleteThose herb choppers are just great. Good find! xx
ReplyDeleteLovely book!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that cover is enough to draw anyone in. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteOooo what a lucky find, that chopper is fab!
ReplyDeletewhat beautiful buys, I'm always in our local charity shops and never get anything as beautiful x
ReplyDeleteWow, great finds!! That herb chopper is lovely, and I'm totally with you on judging books by their covers :) Awesome cover on that one, and it sounds like it's just as good on the inside. Perfection!
ReplyDeleteLove your herb chopper, so handy, and really like the worn handle look! Book sounds fab too x
ReplyDeleteI got some lush vintage china this week for £3 but hesitated and lost out in an amazing vintage picture in a gilt frame, still kicking myself... Love the herb chopper <3
ReplyDeletethanks for hosting love the chopper super cute
ReplyDeleteOooh Liz, that herb chopper is super!!! What a find! I must admit I'm the same about recipe books! X
ReplyDeleteLove the herb chopper, too! Thanks for hosting. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOoh GREAT find!
ReplyDeleteThis is so lovely.
ReplyDeleteCan we go back to talking about your wine?
You did have some good finds didn't you! Love the chopper, and to be honest you are right, it looks better rustic and ussed than pristine and clean!
ReplyDeleteOh I agree! Shabby handles are part of its charm!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that chopper and it's used look too, you are inspiring me to visit my local charity shops now ...
ReplyDeleteI would have snatched up both of those - especially the herb chopper!
ReplyDelete