Some grocery items I can't bear to economise on....

I've been talking to my sister, the chef, about some posts she has written for the blog on food and equipment, and where to spend money, and where to save it.  (And we've been done some baking in my kitchen and she's been horrified at my lack of a set of digital scales; I have some beautiful, old-fashioned ones, but they are not terribly precise. They may have to be supplemented with something more precise.)

Her posts will follow soon, but in the meantime, here are my own thoughts on food and drink items where economising would be painful and, for me, not worthwhile except in a dire emergency.

Tea and coffee

I like English Breakfast, Earl Grey, and Ceylon, preferably leaf tea.  I have drunk economy tea in the past, but now would find it very hard to adjust back to it.

Coffee

I now dislike the taste of instant coffee, and like ground coffee made using a cafetiere or espresso machine.

Butter

Time was, I would make cakes using margarine, but now only butter will do.

Eggs 

I think I might, once or twice in my life, have bought non-free range eggs when nothing else was available, but buying non-free-range eggs is not an option as far as I'm concerned.  

Sausages 

We used to eat economy sausages, and J would still use them for toad-in-the hole or in a pasta sauce, but I have definitely grown out of the idea....The taste of the more expensive sausages is so much better, leaving aside the thought of the ingredients cheaper sausages may contain..