Ten Talents by Frank and Rosalie Hurd

I have moved around a lot in my life. For the first 16 years of my sons' lives we lived in 20 different houses in a few different countries. For those 16 years (and, for me, several years before I had children) we were strict vegetarians. No meat, no eggs, no alcohol. I know the alcohol part has nothing to do with vegetarianism but I was very strict with what went into my body. Needless to say, I have been rebelling somewhat since I gave up being a vego, but occasionally I will have a few months of clean eating and then Ten Talents comes off the cookbook shelf and becomes my cooking bible.

Oh, I lost my train of thought then, didn't I? As I was saying, I have moved around the world a lot and have packed up many households in the past 30 years. Most things from my first house are lost, destroyed, eaten by mice or living happy lives in someone else's house. There are few things that I always packed first as precious belongings and have carried with me no matter where I have laid my head – my Grandma's wedding ring, my Granny's silver dish that she received as a wedding present in 1901 (she gave it to me when I was 16) and my guitar. Last but not least – my copy of Ten Talents which I bought in 1977.

Ten Talents is a independently published vegetarian cookbook that you can still buy over 40 years of its first printing in 1968. My copy no longer has a cover, is stained, torn and ragged but I still love it. I still cook from it. I still read it. This book taught me about nutrition and how to feed my family and keep them healthy. Ten Talents taught me how to make bread (we especially love the sprouted wheat bread). I made healthy organic baby food for my kids from the recipes in this book. I made 'foreign food' (tofu) and lima bean loaf regularly. I made every Christmas dinner from this book for 20 years. It's big and has lots of recipes so I never get bored cooking from it.

Most of all, Ten Talents taught me to be mindful and grateful around food. It taught me to cook from a place of love. It taught me simplicity is most often the best course. It taught me to expand my own talents, especially in the area of food, with confidence, reverence and respect.

I have strayed from my first cooking principals since the kids left home. Most evening after work I open a can of tuna or turn to cheese on toast. Writing this blog post has inspired me to make a start to get back to those simple, healthy roots and eat more vegetarian meals. Ten Talents is coming off the shelf and returning to active duty.