Instant Search

Navigation
October 18, 2014

Giveaway & review #29 – Lorraine Pascale’s How to be a Better Cook

Giveaways 129 Replies

I like Lorraine Pascale. Okay, I’ve never met her and we’re not friends (though Lorraine, I am totally open to cocktails some time in London or even Leicester if you fancy a little jaunt on the Midland Mainline) but I think we could be. She seems like a girl’s girl. The type who would never ditch you for a bloke. Oh no. Lorraine is made of better moral stuff. A proper girlfriend.

So I was very pleased to be asked to review her latest book that accompanies her TV series, How to be a Better Cook. The book isn’t a Good Housekeeping style tome with details of how to fillet a seabass or indeed make a sourdough starter. It’s a book jam packed full with recipes that you might find really rather useful. It’s hard to ignore the fact that there’s a heavy slant on the healthier end of cooking. A lot of the recipes are low carb. There’s a high proportion dedicated to meat centric dishes. This for me is a bonus as frankly I need to eat a little low carb to deal with the last of the baby weight, plus if this is the food that makes LP look so utterly stunning then bring it on.

The book is very much of the moment. There are kale crisps for example. There’s pulled pork, a fair amount of pumpkin and Moroccan influence. And there’s a bit of novelty, which always appeals to me. Meringue ghosts, spider cupcakes, mummy wrapped sausages (I am publishing a recipe for this next week! See, we’re kindred cooking spirits I tell you!) and peanut shots. I like the book but if you are expecting a lot of classic LP baking recipes then this isn’t for you. It’s majority savoury. It’s food to eat every day, not just on high days and holidays.

Lorraine’s books are always strewn with motivational quotes. I follow her on Instagram and there’s a definite vulnerability to her. I don’t feel she posts these quotes for her followers, more for herself. A little reminder if you will. I like the quotes but I know some people won’t. They’re marmite in that way. Photo wise the shots are very crisp, very clear and almost masculine in the colour palette chosen for backgrounds. It’s not the Jamie Oliver style we’ve all become very accustomed to of late. There isn’t a lot of crumbs thrown casually across the table, there’s no messy chocolate shards lying in wait on the bench. The shots have been styled. They’re grown up.

All in all? A beautiful book that is genuinely useful. I like.

I have 3 signed copies of Lorraine Pascale’s How to be a Better Cook worth £25 (RRP) each to giveaway to three person. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 12th December 2014. How to enter:

  • Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
  • This giveaway will close on 12th December 2014.
  • Please read the rules below.
  • Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
  • First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
  • If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
  • Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
  • Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
  • Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
  • If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

  • Open to anyone over the age of 18, all of Europe. Sorry to anyone younger or further afield.
  • There is 3 x signed copies of LP’s How to be a Better Cook RRP £25 to giveaway to three people.  There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
  • Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
  • I am running this giveaway on behalf of Harper Collins who will be responsible for sending the prize to you by post should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Get the monthly newsletter...


and subscribe to get all recipes straight to your inbox!


Tags:
Older Post Newer Post

Suggested Posts

Giveaway #13 – Great British Bakeware muffin tins
Giveaway #21 – bake me I’m yours… chocolate book
Giveaway & review #30 – Gousto meals

129 comments

  7. I like watching her on UK food (I think that’s the right channel) she makes it look relaxed and easy.

  11. Love Lorraine’s cooking, she was on this morning yesterday and her food looked amazing :) x

  17. Boy do I need this book, my lads won’t eat my food so I don’t cook that often! I love watching Lorraine make food, she makes it look so easy

  20. me and my hubby love watching her shows and i love cooking so would be brill to read her book and learn more :) fingers crossed

  73. I would personally love this for myself, consider it an early birthday or Xmas pressie

  86. Am sat here reading your blog and it’s like you are reading my Xmas list, lol. Along with your book your lat 2 book giveaways are on my Xmas list. Would be lovely to win xxx

  106. Wonderful competition, always looking for new recipes and ideas to improve my cooking

  110. I would love to win her cookbook. She always seems so pleasant and practical, she might help me cook properly.

  120. I think Lorraine is a really talented cook; sweet, savoury, fine dining and comfort food, she’s able to cover it all. xx

  121. I wonder how much she is still involved in what used to be Ella’s bakehouse? She does seem like a lovely lady.

Comments are closed.

Holly Bell
I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off. I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them... [Read more]

Subscribe

Get the monthly newsletter...


and subscribe to get all recipes
straight to your inbox!

Have you seen my book?

Recipes from a Normal Mum

Recipes from a normal mum

Never miss a recipe again!

Just sign up to receive my latest blog posts straight to your inbox: Simply click here.

P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to.

Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.