Fantastic Recipes From My Favourite People by Poppy Fraser

About the book: "Without doubt, the worst cook I have ever come across" - Henry Hughes, the author's husband, 2004.

Discovering that she was expecting her first baby, Poppy Fraser decided that it was time to learn how to cook. Having no idea where to begin, she wrote to all the people she could think of, asking them to provide her with their favourite (and most foolproof) recipes. 

The response was staggering, and prompted her to collect the replies together for those of her friends who found themselves in a similar predicament.

Fantastic Recipes from my Favourite People (2006) is the result. From breakfast to lunch, tea-time to dinner, with an extensive section on puddings, the book provides pretty much every recipe one could ever need. There is no pretence at helping you lose weight or being trendy; the food described is simple, fattening, and delicious.

With introductions to the various characters who supplied the recipes, and charming illustrations by Leonora Grosvenor, Fantastic Recipes from my Favourite People could well become the only cookbook you will ever need!

About the author: Since writing her first book, Fantastic Recipes from my Favourite People, in 2006, a lot has changed for Poppy, both inside and outside the kitchen. Things have been busy: Poppy moved with her two elder children out of London to Dorset, settling in a beautiful little village beneath the Downs. She won two gold stars from the Great Taste Awards for her chocolate biscuit cake, which she sells each week locally. 

Poppy’s second cookbook, 10 Minute Suppers for Children, is a celebration of natural, unprocessed ingredients, ideal for whisking up a delectable supper for your brood and for any grown-up who happens to be in the kitchen. And all in just ten minutes. No one understands the pressures of a kitchen full of tired, hungry children better than Poppy, who has four of her own, two of them Irish twins.

Poppy’s first book, Fantastic Recipes from my Favourite People, was published by Foxcote Books. Its director, Rob Huntington, is tragically no longer alive, but is remembered and missed all the time by his many devoted friends.