Conference turris::cooks

    Many years ago I subscribed to Gourmet; I cancelled it after a year.
    I found many of the recipes too complicated, too elaborate, too
    expensive, too time comsuming, and too flamboyant in their ingredients.
    (re the last:  one recipe called for a cup of veal stock.  I mean,
    really, *veal* stock?!?)
    
    Although I don't currently subscribe, I'd suggest Bon Apetit magazine.
    
    					andrew 

    I used to subscribe, but don't anymore.  While the name may suggest
    the very extravagant, most of the recipes aren't so involved.  The
    reason I quit subscribing is that I accumulated tons of wonderful
    recipes that I never got around to trying.
    
    I now only buy when an issue tickles my fancy.  BON APETIT and GOOD
    FOODS are also great.  If I were ever to subscribe to a food magazine
    again, I believe it would be the WEIGHT WATCHERS quarterly, mostly because
    they have a variety of great everyday type things.
    
    Between my backissues of GOURMET and my impulse purchases of others,
    [not to mention a cookbook collections that spontaneously reproduces]
    I have a superfluous abundance of special occasion fare ideas.
    
    Annie J

  COOKS isn't a bad magazine. It comes out only once every two months,
  and it used to be less trendy, but it's not bad. 

  Trendiness seems to be the real problem with the popular magazines.
  Just look at the ads for Rolex watches and BMWs! They seem to be
  competing with who can get the scoop on the latest Yuppie fashion,
  whether it be "blackish reddish fish", cooking with oak leaves, the
  cuisine of northern Botswana, or the latest microwave food processor.
  What I object to most, though, is a problem they all share with most
  cookbooks: recipes that just don't work. Sometimes it's because the
  list of ingredients is inaccurate, and sometimes it's the procedure,
  but a large majority of recipes don't work. You can often tell just by
  reading it that it can't possibly work as written, but sometimes you
  think it might and then you go ahead and try it and waste time and
  ingredients. Lots of recipes are reasonably correct, but lack the
  critical hints which make the difference between elegant success and
  disaster.

  We shouldn't be surprised that this is the case, though, because just
  think: when you walk into a bookstore and browse through the
  cookbooks, what catches your attention is the title, the jacket
  picture, and a few dozen words in the jacket, table of contents, and
  maybe, if you have time, one or two recipes. To sell a cookbook or a
  food magazine, most publishers rely on visual appeal, not word of
  mouth advertising, which is the only way you could know if the recipes
  really work.

    I've been getting Bon Appetit for about 5 years now and I love it.
    I must admit that there are thousands of recipies that I haven't
    tried but the ones that I have tried are very well thought out and
    have wonderful illustrations of what they should look like when
    they are finished. The instructions are clear and consise and there
    are many helpful hints to help the first timer. Food & Wine is alos
    a good magazine.
    
    							Geoff

    I like Bon Appetit; I've been subscribing to it for several years
    now.  Though I must admit that some of their dinner party menus
    are overly ambitious even for me, you can still get some good ideas
    to incorporate into simpler menus.  I like their column on foods
    that can be cooked quickly, too.  I suppose I am a bit of a
    gadget-freak cook, anyhow: someone at our last big party was amazed
    that I actually USE my food-processor (to chop onions and shred
    potatoes for latkes, this being a Chanukah party - about the only
    time we eat potatoes around our house since I'm allergic to them!),
    and even more amazed when I told her that I use it several times
    a week.  I use my microwave oven, too...  I buy a lot of the Bon
    Appetit cookbooks, although they tend to be somrt of "california
    oriented" -- for example, the fish book has a lot of recipes for
    "salmon trout", which are almost never available at the fish stores
    around here (central Mass.).
    
    I buy Gourmet when I am looking for something to read, say on an
    airplane or something.  It always seems to have more space devoted
    to restaurants than to recipes, though.

I vote for Good Food magazine. It's at grocery checkouts or you can subscribe.
It's only $1 per issue. It is mostly simple recipes because it is intended for
those who want quick and delicious meals. There are alot of recipes for
complete meals, complete with wine suggestions, degree of difficulty, prep
time, cooking time, nutritional content, and calorie content. 

I am calling today to cancel my subscription to Food and Wine. One of my New
Years resolutions is to spend more wisely so maybe someday I can afford to live
someplace that has a real kitchen. I do enjoy Food & Wine, but hardly ever use
the recipes. It has alot of restaurant stuff. Unfortunately, I don't
anticipicate dining in Tokoyo in the near future. I *will* miss Robert B.
Parker's (yes, of Spenser fame) wine column (sigh). 

The address for Good Food subscriptions is

Good Food
Box 175
Radnor, PA 19088
1-800-345-8500

$11.97 for 12 issues ($18.00 in Canada, $20.00 elsewhere)

Happy Cooking,
Patti

    I'm another fan of Bon Apetit.  I've been a subscriber for two years.
    Since I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, except on weekends,
    I haven't tried too many of the recipes.  The ones I have tried
    have been universally good.
    
    I use cooking magazines the same way I use cookbooks.  I follow
    the recipes sometimes, but I use them mostly to shop for ideas:
    flavor combinations, cooking techniques, serving suggestions.
    
    One of the reasons I prefer Bon Apetit to Gourmet is that there
    are more pictures, not only of finished dishes, but of the preparation
    process.   The recipes are presented in a simple, step-by-step format
    -- it's easy to read, which is extremely important when you want
    to concentrate on the food, not the recipe.
    
    Susie
    

My favorite magazines are:

Bon Apetite - great recipes

Cooking Light - new, but really nice for anyone concerned with sugar, fat
contents of food and I've enjoyed the recipes I've tried.  As usual, some
of the recipes are a little "far out"...expected from diet magazines or
cookbooks as they try to "be all" and if you're going to eat light,
you can't eat everything.

Cooks - bi-monthly, but really worth it for the experienced cook.  Great
adds for supplies, etc.  Recipes can be complicated, but worth it.

I get Gourmet and Bon Apetit, and love to browse them both.  I rarely use
recipies from either, but use them both for ideas.  Gourmet uses 50% of the
magazine for the travelling eater. So, if you are more interested in recipies
that in finding out where to go to get a great $100 meal the next time you are
in Stockholm, you can skip Gourmet. 

						     
							- JP

    I agree with .1 and .5 as far as "gourmet" magazine goes.  I had
    a subscription to gourmet that I cancelled because I found the recipes
    to be too elaborate and terribly expensive to make.  But like .5
    said, there are a lot of good articles to read.
    
    Like a lot of other people here I am a fan of "Bon Appetit".  Recipes
    are much easier to make and much less expensive.  

    I've been a Gourmet Magazine reader and subscriber for many years,
    and I LOVE it!  I read the travel, restaurant and miscellaneous
    articles as soon as the magazine arrives in the mail, and I've made
    several dishes that came out just like the pictures.  The format
    for the recipes changed a couple of years ago, and now they're much
    easier to follow.
    
    My favorite sections for recipes are Gastronomie Sans Argent (for
    dishes affordable to us in the general population) and Cuisine Courante
    (for quick and/or "light" dishes).
    
    I hav also tried some of the restaurants (West Coast) and have not
    yet been disappointed.
    
    I feel that reading and using Gourmet is my window on "the Good
    Life", and, as such, is a pretty cheap thrill.
    
    Lynn Terashita @LAO

    I subscribe to Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Cooks.  Of all three I
    prefer Bon Appetit only because it seems to have more of the
    recipes I'm looking for, and also more pictures so you can see 
    what things are supposed to look like when finished.  Gourmet
    magazine has lots of good recipes also, and alot of travel tips.
    They feature wonderfull places to vacation each month and rec-
    ommend restaurants and other fine points of interest.  I was
    disappointed in Cooks magazine, it now comes out monthly, but it's
    very small compared to the other two and it costs more ($3),
    I've only found a few issues I've enjoyed reading.  I've found
    that all three tend to have their complicated recipes, but your
    getting what you pay for, most chefs don't cook simple meals!
    All in all I would recommend Bon Appetit or go out and buy one of
    the Frugal Gourmet cookbooks, he's wonderfull! 
    

>    I subscribe to Bon Appetit, Gourmet, and Cooks.  Of all three I
>    prefer Bon Appetit only because it seems to have more of the
>    recipes I'm looking for, and also more pictures so you can see 
>    what things are supposed to look like when finished.

I disagree.  I've never subscribed to Gourmet, but have received both Cooks
and Bon Appetit for many years.  While Bon Appetit is certainly a wonderful
magazine, I've found a large percentage of its contents is (a) ethnic foods
outside of the normal realm (a complete Armenian menu for example -- not my
usual Wednesday night fare), and (b) complicated recipes that would require
a day of cooking to make and lots of exotic ingredients. 

When I'm having a dinner party and plan to devote lots of time and energy 
and money to having the *perfect* meal,  I tend to go to Bon Appetit.  But 
when I'm looking for something new and different to fix on Wednesday night 
when I get home from work at 6:30, Cooks is the place I go.

Both are really good magazines, however, and I highly recommend both of 
them.

							Pat

    
    
    I also read both Bon Appetit and Cooks (and a few others...) and
    I enjoy Bon Appetit more, but the one I USE most often is Cooks.
    
    Sometimes Bon Appetit give me ideas of how to do things, and I use
    alot of their desserts when I'm trying to impress others.  But every
    month Cooks offers a "cooking lesson" in things that I've been cooking
    for years...and every month I learn how to cook those things better!
    
    DMH

I have discovered COOKING LIGHT magazine and find it a truly useful
kitchen tool....with the recognition of cholesterol and other problems in
our diet, this magazine is stuffed with tasty recipes and cooking methods
to keep me healthy....and not bored to death with my diet.  Hunt one up 
and check it out.

RE: .-1
    I also subscribe to Cooking Light and have found it very helpful.
    Not only do they feature all sorts of delicious light recipes, I've
    learned to "lighten" up many of my old favorites just by reading
    the magazine regularly.  We're losing weight right now, and that's
    why I started reading it, but I expect to continue using it once
    we get into "maintenance" mode.  There's no reason not to -- light
    cooking the way Cooking Light does it is just as delicious as it
    is healthful!
    
    							Pat