Notting Hill, Cookbooks and a Giveaway

Original painting by Selina Snow, Books for Cooks

Last week, I met up with three lovely ladies for lunch
at Books for Cooks, a wonderful little bookshop tucked away in Notting Hill. 

I admit I was a tad late, and perhaps it was not wise to stop and take
photos along the way, but you know what it is like... 
it was raining and well...London in the rain... how could I not?






  Distractions aside, I turned my attention to the bookshop.


 They say it is 'crammed with thousands of tasty titles and equipped with a squashy sofa for cookbook junkies in need of a long read'.  It certainly is! If you love cookbooks, this is the place for you.

We were some of the lucky few who managed to grab a table for lunch. The tables are squeezed into the shop during lunch and in my mind this is the best way to take it all in. I admit it is a bit distracting, as we could not take our eyes off all the bookshelves...filled with every cookbook imaginable. Recipes are tested and served from the cookbooks on the shelves. The goal is to serve all the food until it runs out and it does. Nestled into our corner on this rainy afternoon, we were quickly served deliciously hot bowls of soup. I wish I could tell you what we had but the distraction of all those cookbooks overwhelmed me. Soup was followed by a Beef and Guinness Pie and a heavenly Flourless Chocolate Cake topped off with a cafe latte on the side. Bliss.

Books for Cooks sells a series of cookbooks filled with their tried and true recipes. They feature the best-tasting dishes from the cookbooks tested throughout the year. There are nine cookbooks in total.

Front and back covers

I grabbed a few for me and a few for you.
I am happy to offer you Books 1, 2, and 3 (above) in the form of a Giveaway. 
I have two to Giveaway and plan to carry on with more at a later date. 
The cookbook offers recipes for soups, main courses, salads & sides, cakes & tarts,
pavlovas & meringues, basics, menus, food in season, food finds in Notting Hill and a recipe list.
I have cooked three meals in the last two days and they have all been delicious.

Spicy Beef Salad, 
Roast Tomato Bruschetta with Red Onion & Basil Vinaigrette
Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Green Olives.

All you have to do is leave a comment. 

I will select two winners 
on Wednesday, March 21 at 6:00pm (UK time).

In the meantime, I picked up a dozen postcards of the image at the top of this post. :)
I am a bit behind on my postcard writing...and hope to get caught up this week.
If you would like one, you can write to me 
jeannecollageoflife@gmail.com

I promise, it will get to you one day! :)


 Images around Notting Hill~me
all other images via Books for Cooks


Comments

  1. We popped in the other day and it smelled heavenly!! We didn't stop for lunch but vowed to return before we leave Notting Hill. It is a gorgeous place and I can't wait to go back!!! So glad to see it featured. Great post!!

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  2. Nirvana. I will track this shop down next visit to London. I keep lists...
    Thank you.

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  3. Bonjour. I am a fairly new reader of your blog's. Very happy I stopped by today. I was in London last summer and spent a whole afternoon walking around Notting Hill. What a charming neighborhood. Even though the weather was rainy that day too, I had a wonderful time there. I wish I had known then about that cute store. Thank you for taking me back today. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

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  4. I have the postcard that you sent me awhile back and it is in a wire rack on display with a few other very dear ones...I think of you often!
    Your photo's of London are such a delight...

    While you have rain we have gale force winds...
    so nice that you were tucked away in a cozy book shop enjoying lunch with friends.

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  5. Rainy day, cookbooks, squashy sofas and cosy lunch...you are speaking my language. The photos Jeanne! They're magazine quality. Thanks for this sneak peek into your beautiful day. Good decision to take photos and run late:) Meredy xo

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  6. Oooo Jeanne,
    A postcard pleeeeaaase. I am building quite a Jeanne collection now and, even though I do go to Notting Hill a few times a year, it wouldn't be the same if I bought one myself !! haha.....but, don't worry if there are people from other countries who want them. I'm lucky enough to be able to go to London whenever I want so, they should come first.
    ....and, you were unlucky to have been in the rain as we haven't seen much in months and are about to have a hose pipe ban !!
    Those recipes that you have cooked from the cook book sound delicious and right up my culinary street. A wonderful giveaway Jeanne. XXXX

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  7. I wish that I had known about this place when my daughter, son-in-law, and 2 babies lived in London for 14 months and we visited every two months and just wandered the City. We love cookbooks and I work at the cookbook table for 3 days as a volunteer each Autumn to raise money for our favorite community center. It would have been so much fun!

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  8. Oh, this is going on my list for my next London visit. However, I'm afraid I'll never leave. Fingers crossed - and like Jacqueline I would love to get one more card for my Jeanne collection:-)

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  9. What a wonderful place to visit on a cold rainy day! Your lunch sounded delicious! And the book...yes, I would love a copy! :)

    XO,
    Jane

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  10. What a generous offer - can't believe you don't have 100+ comments. The rain photos are so peaceful. I just kept looking for Julia Roberts to dash out of one of the doors.

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  11. I love cookbooks ... and Notting Hill! I wish I had known about this bookshop. I'll file it away just in case I have another opportunity to return to the UK.

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  12. Sounds the perfect way to spend an afternoon. What a gem of a bookshop. I can't help but think of the bookshop in the movie 'Nottingham Hill'.

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  13. I am making a list of place to go AND eat when we come to visit Christy. This bookshop and that lunch ... oh my. A lovely giveaway.

    Fondly,
    glenda

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  14. Oh Jeanne! What a visual treat this is. Thanks so much for sharing these images of soggy London with us - they are bursting with life. Just fabulous. Are those old-style 'medicine balls' in that basket? They remind me of Physical Education at school ☺. It sounds like you had such a delightful time - just what you need before all the frazzle of moving starts. J x

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  15. Oh, yes please. Thank you, thank you.

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  16. Jeanne these cookbooks sound wonderful!! I always love your images!! The way you capture light and shadow!

    Xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  17. I love this shop and the area of Notting Hill that you find it in. I've spent a few very happy weekends wandering and browsing and can't wait to visit again. I don't have any of the cook books but they look beautiful as do the postcards, Janex

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  18. Thank you for wanting to share a delightful giveaway!

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  19. I'm always ready to expand my kitchen repertoire with new recipes to try! This looks like a delightful little book shop.

    Regards, Judy

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  20. you are so generous :):):)
    this is one of those times when i really wish i was there...this place looks so adorable and cute..piles and piles of books...my kind of place...it is on mu list to visit when i go to London next year!
    Maria

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  21. Wonderful place to visit on a cold rainy day.. And the book...yes, I would love a copy, thanks!!!!! :-)

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  22. I was loving the london photos and then WOW! what a delightful place and giveaway. Jeanne - you are amazing!

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  23. So could use the cookbook Jeanne. Just brought hubby home from the hospital - minus his gallbladder (taken out the old fashioned way)...so now it's nourishing foods to get his health and strength back.
    And should your travels in London take you to Bryanston Square in Marleybone...#30 on the first floor, is where we used to live!

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  24. I love Notting Hill! I've only traveled there through pictures and movies, but it is charming and just my kind of place. Being a foodie and cookbook collector makes the giveaway perfect for....a great birthday present....3/23. Love your blog! Thanks!

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  25. What a lovely, lovely post and it looks like you had such a fun day. I've been to London a few times and somehow I always think of London as being grey. Your photos have shown me a different London. I need to make it to Notting Hill next time for sure. The cook book giveaway sounds like fun. My postcard is on its way. Hope you receive it soon.

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  26. Please count me in. This was one of my fav haunts when I lived in the UK. Did you see the famous "blue door" from the film Notting Hill; It's very near Books for Cooks ;-)

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  27. count me in cook books and quilt books are my life

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  28. Jeanne,

    This sounds like the perfect day! Friends, books, good food and great sights. I must put this bookshop/food cafe on my list for the next time I visit London. Hopefully this year on my way to Scotland.

    I love cookbooks so count me in on the giveaway!

    Take care my dear, Elizabeth

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  29. Jeanne, this post is perfection! I love London and so of course adored your photos. The little cookbook cafe you had lunch in would make me very happy. And the cookbook looks delightful! Please enter me in your giveaway. Have a wonderful weekend!
    xx Sunday

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  30. Love the wet streets!!! I would never think to shoot in the rain, smart girl...so many nice planes of water in your photographs...nice reflections. Hey, put me up for a cookbook...I could definitely use one.

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  31. Hello Jeanne,

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend planned. I love this post, I said that in my first comments. I must be going into the spam file.

    In any case this is my kind of day, a walk in th rain, a bookshop, friends and great food.

    Take care, Elizabeth

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  32. What a wonderful place to visit on a rainy day. Friends, food, and books - all of my favorites! I dream of visiting London one day and have been living through you for some time now. I am excitied to see where life takes you along your new adventure!

    Danielle xo

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  33. If the giveaway is international I would sure love to put my ticket in for the drawing :)
    Thank you!

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  34. Dear Jeanne
    What a super place to meet up for lunch!
    I relate to being late because you're taking photos - I do it all the time!
    My friends give me that understanding look now.......

    Ooh I would so love to add one of those books to my collection - one can never have too many fabulous cook books can one?!!
    xox
    Shane
    ps I have a fairly big birthday on Monday and I'm lunching with friends at La Cigale - does that take you back???

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  35. Dear Jeanne
    What a super place to meet up for lunch!
    I relate to being late because you're taking photos - I do it all the time!
    My friends give me that understanding look now.......

    Ooh I would so love to add one of those books to my collection - one can never have too many fabulous cook books can one?!!
    xox
    Shane
    ps I have a fairly big birthday on Monday and I'm lunching with friends at La Cigale - does that take you back???

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  36. That shop looks like a place to love. The idea of serving lunch in a cookbook shop is fabulous! Hope to go there someday. :D

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  37. What fantastic cookbooks--I'd love them! Now, I must make plans to get back to Notting Hill someday soon. It's been way too long and I adore walking the streets there (and doing a bit of shopping too, of course!)

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  38. Oh Jeanne am I too late? This bookstore sounds like the most perfect spot for a rainy day. I read cookbooks like novels. You can tell so much about the authors by the recipes and how they present them. Your pictures are wonderful. I am struck with how vibrant the colors. Hugs, Bonnie

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  39. From Sue...

    Love your blog and would love to win the cookbook...it would delight me to no end knowing it came from Notting Hill; where I wish to visit someday. Thank you for the opportunity. Cheers,
    Sue

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  40. I'd love to see the Moroccan Chicken recipe. Sounds wonderful.

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  41. Hi Jeanne,
    I tried so hard to leave a comment so I could try and win the cookbook. It kept telling me to choose a profile and none of them fit me. I don’t have an acct. at any of them. L As you know, I’m coming to England in September and would love to win the cookbook AND visit the shop. Can I please be included in the drawing? Thanks so much, Brenda USA

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  42. love you and thanks again for the postcard

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  43. The books sound delicious. I hope to visit Notting Hill Someday!

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  44. Oh my! What a precious place! Don't think I'll ever get to visit, but I can dream! Glad I've found you. Have enjoyed your blogspot:)

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Can I just say....that I so enjoy what YOU have to say. If you would like to write to me directly, I would love to hear from you... jeannecollageoflife@gmail.com

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