"Cooks Illustrated" - recommended?

[tinlizzie]

I had a CI subscription for one year and liked it a lot. However the old cost/benefit analysis put it out of reach for my fixed-income budget.

I think it would be very useful to someone who is interested in becoming a 'serious cook,' insofar as using their interesting scientific explanations to build a sound foundation for more complicated cookery. I enjoyed the tips and ideas found in each issue. The arrival in my mailbox of the latest issue was occasion to take it to my comfy chair with a cuppa and devour it on the spot. And the covers are as scrumptious as any of the recipes.

My daughter gave me a year's subscription for Mother's Day -- I'm looking forward to my first issue.

 

[Kayelle]

I agree with everything just said. I think your money would be well spent purchasing the cookbook instead of the magazine however. Fourteen seasons of recipes is a real bargain and well worth the money.
America's Test Kitchen: The Complete TV Show Cookbook (including 2014 season)

Well, I finally put my money where my mouth is, and ordered the cookbook. It arrived yesterday. It's true to the advertizing, as it indeed has all the recipes from 2001-2014. The problem is, it weighs as much as my 6 month old grand daughter, and the font is so small even my reading glasses aren't enough. I'm so disappointed it's unusable for me.
I'll put it in my gift closet and give it to my son on some occasion.

 

[Dawgluver]

Well, I finally put my money where my mouth is, and ordered the cookbook. It arrived yesterday. It's true to the advertizing, as it indeed has all the recipes from 2001-2014. The problem is, it weighs as much as my 6 month old grand daughter, and the font is so small even my reading glasses aren't enough. I'm so disappointed it's unusable for me.
I'll put it in my gift closet and give it to my son on some occasion.

Well that just sux, Kayelle. Do they have an edition for your Nook? That way you can increase the print size.

 

[Kayelle]

Actually they DO Dawg!!

What a great idea!!

 

[Dawgluver]

Yay!!!

 

[Addie]

Well, I finally put my money where my mouth is, and ordered the cookbook. It arrived yesterday. It's true to the advertizing, as it indeed has all the recipes from 2001-2014. The problem is, it weighs as much as my 6 month old grand daughter, and the font is so small even my reading glasses aren't enough. I'm so disappointed it's unusable for me.
I'll put it in my gift closet and give it to my son on some occasion.

Kayelle, when I go for my eye exam, I bring an empty can or some other object that has the tiniest printing you can imagine. Then if I can read that print, that is the lens I need. It save a lot of arguing with the doctor as to what I want. Every time I for an eye exam, I can just hear my doctor thinking, "Oh dear, she is here again."

 

[Kayelle]

Kayelle, when I go for my eye exam, I bring an empty can or some other object that has the tiniest printing you can imagine. Then if I can read that print, that is the lens I need. It save a lot of arguing with the doctor as to what I want. Every time I for an eye exam, I can just hear my doctor thinking, "Oh dear, she is here again."

Now that's a great tip Addie! I think I'll take just the label and not the can though.

 

[Addie]

Now that's a great tip Addie! I think I'll take just the label and not the can though.

Remember Kayelle, if you can't read what is on that label, don't settle for anything less. Pick out the smallest lettering on the label. Mine is a label from a "As Seen On TV" product that my daughter bought. At the very bottom in faint ink is a disclaimer. I keep it in my medical file. I defy anyone with perfect vision to be able to read that without some sort of aid. You need a giant Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass to read it.

The first time I insisted that I needed to be able to read tiny print because I had developed some serious allergies and was forced to become an avid label reader. Of course I didn't tell him what the allergy was. I didn't develop it until I got home. It is called something a lot of us suffer from. Fatonmythighsitis. You have to say it fast.

 

[Kayelle]

By the way, all of the recipes in the cookbook start off with "what makes this recipe work" and that's one of the features I enjoy so much about ATK......the reason behind it all.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I just want to know how many of you actually get out a tablespoon and measure out exactly two tablespoons of oil before you begin to sauté a food? One small "glug" does it for me.

I just love the amount of bowls they use for a recipe. Five small bowls for seasonings and four of them get dumped into the largest. I don't have a paid dishwasher. Not even an electric one. Take the top of the jar off, stick the spoon in and measure. Does it for me.

Yep. Like a TV show. Other people do the dishes so who cares!

I like the magazine, but its fairly expensive. I could get three years of Miami Dolphin Digest for what they charge for one year.

 

[Addie]

Yep. Like a TV show. Other people do the dishes so who cares!

I like the magazine, but its fairly expensive. I could get three years of Miami Dolphin Digest for what they charge for one year.

Yup, you could. And it would probably be thicker with more pages. And those pages would have more ads than article on them.