Many Australians are making cutbacks as the cost of living crisis continues to bite. Recent studies suggest that dining out is one of the luxuries on the chopping block for many, as are shopping expeditions and holidays. With this reality in mind, contributing chef Lennox Hastie has reached into the history books to present two austerity era-inspired recipes that hark back to times when home cooks had to be both frugal and inventive. Lennox offers his own modern take on two traditional recipes: beef olives and junket. Scroll through to see how to make simple ingredients satisfy the family.

Also offering satisfying family meals this week is Nicole Maguire, whose The Simple Dinner Edit has been a big-selling cookbook this year. In our extract, Nicole's recipes focus on cooking with noodles, an economical, delicious and fun ingredient. Try her Singapore noodles and red curry noodles, recipes she promises all the family will enjoy, and which won't break the bank. Happy (affordable) cooking.

This week's great deal sees our cellar director John Lehmann select some wonderful bottles from the western Margaret River region at a “super six” price that will save you $140. Click the link to see the deal. Details here.

Further, this year marks the 60th anniversary of The Australian newspaper. To honour this significant milestone, The Australian Wine Club in partnership with The Australian is releasing a first-of-its-kind 60th Anniversary Issue Barossa Shiraz. Hurry to secure your piece of wine and political history – order now.

What can you expect to eat for dessert on the new direct, non-stop flights between Perth and Paris? The flights, which launched with much fanfare this week, will deposit travellers from city to city in 17 hours. On the menu in business class, according to The Australian's intrepid correspondent, Susan Kurosawa, are French dishes including confit duck, vol au vent, coq au vin and bouillabaisse. But it's the "surprisingly uninspiring dessert offering of an ice cream sandwich or fruit, plus the French touch of rum savarin with chantilly cream and strawberries" that surprises Susan the most. Read what the veteran travel correspondent thought of this and the rest of the flight here.