I'm cheating on Cook's Illustrated. With Cook's Country.
I've been a member of the Cook's Illustrated website for years, and in 2015, I finally bought a magazine subscription in addition to my website subscription.
Because sometimes getting a physical magazine helps to make recipe-choosing a little less overwhelming.
The website is great when you want to look something specific up, or when you want to research kitchen equipment, but I do love getting a small bi-monthly dose of recipes and in-depth articles.
Anyway.
I got a sample issue of Cook's Country when I subscribed to the print version of Cook's Illustrated, and I really liked it! So I put it on my Christmas list, and my kids bought me a subscription this year.
I still like the Cook's Illustrated magazine, of course, but I'm starting to think that I like the Cook's Country just slightly better!
Why?
There are lots of color photos.
This is one thing that bums me out about Cook's Illustrated. They do have a color photo spread at the end of each magazine, but the individual recipe pages are just black and white photos and illustrations.
Cook's Country is all color, and that makes me happy.
The quick recipe cards are great.
Inside each issue, there are 8 little recipe cards with 30 minute supper meals on them. Not all of them appeal to me, but in each issue so far, there have been one or two recipes to add to our evening meal rotation.
The recipes are a little simpler.
Cook's Illustrated does have some easy recipes, certainly, but I'd say the average complication level of Cook's Country recipes is lower than Cook's Illustrated recipes.
So, if Cook's Illustrated has felt off-putting because the meals are too exotic or complicated, I think Cook's Country would be a good option for you.
The 5 Easy Recipes feature is awesome.
In each issue, there's a page with 5 easy recipes, which are variations on a theme. For instance, you might get 5 tuna salad variations, or 5 oatmeal variations.
There are no ads. None at all.
I got a complimentary subscription to Better Homes and Gardens recently and oh my gosh, the ad to article ratio was terrible. Both Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated are 100% content, which is most excellent.
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So. Why would you subscribe to this when there are lots of recipes available for free on the internet?
Well, I find that the recipes put out by the ATK/CI/CC people are far more reliable and consistent than what I've found anywhere else.
I hate it when I go to the work of trying a new recipe only to discover that it doesn't work properly, so I use ATK-family recipes probably 99% of the time.
The ATK recipes are thoroughly tested, clearly written, and easy to use. As long as you follow the directions and use the ingredients they specify, you should have no problem turning out a great meal.
And that is very, very worth $25. You can drop $25 on one night of takeout, right? So if this magazine saves you from even two nights of takeout over the course of a year, you'll be money ahead.
There are two ways to subscribe to Cook's Country:
Print Magazine Subscription
If you find that printed recipes work better for you than online recipes, and you find it helpful to get a small number of them in front of you each month, the print magazine is for you!
A subscription costs $24.95 and gets you a year's worth of issues, delivered every other month.
I like a hard copy better for cooking, but if you'd like, you can get the Cook's Country Kindle Edition for $20.
(I find that every other month is perfect, because that gives me time to work through one issue before another hits my mailbox.)
Online Cook's Country Subscription
This is definitely the way to get the most bang for your buck, as you'll get access to all of the recipes that Cook's Country has ever published.
So, if you are the sort of person who will remember to go look at recipes on the site, the online version of Cook's Country
is perfect for you.
You also get access to all of their taste tests, which are pretty handy (did you know Argo baking powder outperforms other brands??) and all the equipment reviews, which can save you so much money and headache when you go to buy kitchen equipment.
If you want to give it a test drive, try Cook's Country online with a free trial period.
(Just cancel before the trial period is over if you decide it's not helpful for you.)
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I'm curious. Do you find that hard copy recipes work better for you (cookbooks, magazines), or do you use electronic recipes more (Kindle, websites)?
(Me? Even when I find my recipes online, I print them out. So, yeah...I'm on Team Hard Copy.)
Cook's Country did not ask me to write this post, and my family paid for my subscription when they bought it as a gift for me. This post does contain affiliate links, which means that if you sign up for Cook's Country through these links, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. I only use affiliate links for products I love, and as you know, I've written about ATK-family products for years and years. My enthusiasm, it is authentic. And I really, really think you'll love Cook's Country. 😉
I actually find that I don't cook from recipes very often anymore - most of my cooking starts from 'what's in the fridge?'
I'll flick through a few trusty blogs for inspiration most weeks (mostly flavour combinations I want to try, or ingredients that have stumped me), but even baking these days tends to start from my head.
Much of my cooking also starts with "What do I have/need to use up?" but then I might hit the recipes. For example, I found a great CI recipe for slow-roasted pork shoulder, because I had a pork shoulder to use up.
Yep, that's what I do when I peruse my fridge. I find out what I have and then I search for recipes that will use those ingredients.
I do the same thing. I start with what food I need to use up or what I bought on sale/great deal, THEN look for a recipe or way to cook it! It works for me and keeps my food budget lower to buy what's on sale first.
I'm not a big baker. That is the only time I really use a recipe. I use Pinterest a lot. I actually like the variation of recipes because I can look at a few and then tailor the recipe to the ingredients I have on hand. What turns me off of using recipes is the need for certain ingredients. I am terrible at using a shopping list, so I aways forget to look at it, thus I end up not purchasing an ingredient I need. I think if you are someone who really likes consistency in your food, recipes are important. I don't mind my chicken salad or enchiladas, for example, to always be the same.
I like a good cookbook but I am out of space to keep them. Now I subscribe to all three Cooks Illustrated publications in a bundle and have access to everything. I use my tablet while preparing the recipe or I will print out the recipe if it's a keeper to put in the family meals folder.
@Anne Weber-Falk, nice
Team Hard Copy! I do use online recipes occasionally, but it never fails that the screen will go to sleep as SOON as I get food all over my hands. I've actually stopped in the middle of a recipe to go print it out because nothing is as frustrating as having to decide between washing your hands or getting egg on your phone!
I am so with you on this one. I basically need a life proof case for my phone just to use it while cooking!
Me too. I use the back of the paper for scratch pads if it doesn't work or put it in the binder if I will make it again.
I go back and forth on whether I like digital or hard copy. All of my hard copy recipes get messy--I have a habit of putting them on the counter and spilling tomato sauce on them. At the same time, I think they're easier to read.
My husband and I now have a Google Doc that we use to compile recipes, so whoever gets home from work first can make dinner. Because of this, the digital version is much more convenient for us.
There are ways to protect your recipes. For a book, use a cookbook holder with a splatter shield. For single pages, use a sheet protector.
The funny thing is, a big reason I print my recipes is so that I don't get food on my phone or laptop! I'm more afraid of getting those messy than I am of getting a printed page messy.
I enjoy holding a magazine and looking through it. . . especially when it's not 90% ads. I call it education. It gives me ideas to store up in my head.
Then, when supper time is right now and I need a recipe, I can recall something I read about. But if I can't find that recipe right now, I do a quick search online (and print it out).
Gosh, I totally forgot to mention that...Cook's Country has NO ads. Editing the post now to add that little tidbit!
I hate magazines where the ads basically obscure the content. It's like visiting those websites on your phone where there are so many ads, you can barely see the article you came for!
Team Hard Copy all the way!! And I agree about the quality of recipes. If I'm looking for a specific recipe I start with ATK, then I check Julia Child (Mastering 1&2), and Alton Brown. All three test their recipes well and if you use the ingredients they call for I've never had a recipe fail.
That's a good point. Having a great recipe isn't enough; if you substitute a bunch of ingredients and don't read the directions, you're way more likely to have a fail.
(Unless you're a really experienced cook and know what works and what doesn't.)
Funnily enough, the best way to get good at substituting is to do it - but only one ingredient at a time!
Yes! Subbing half of the ingredients out is usually going to be a disaster.
Hard Copy all the way, baby!
Even if it's an online recipe, I write it out on a scrap of paper (I have an abbreviated way of writing recipes so this doesn't take long) and clip it to my cookbook holder.
I use CI online as a de facto index for my print edition. Darn CI won't publish an index unless you buy the annual version so I find the recipe title & date onsite and pull out the magazine.
I like searching for recipes on-line and I read several food blogs, but I find I need a hard copy at hand when I make the recipe. The computer never seems to be free when I need it and while it is close to the kitchen, running bake and forth to make sure I didn't forget something, doesn't work super well. But---my copies of recipes are really unorganized, so I offer find myself searching on-line for recipes I know I have, but cannot find.
Ha. I could have written this comment. 🙂
I like to print out my recipes because I tend to write in comments for recipe tweaks. Also, we have a desktop PC which doesn't work well for recipes--I suspect younger cooks have more electronics and are more comfortable with using them during cooking.
We switched from illustrated to country a couple years after country debuted. But then we let both subscriptions lapse. It's all new American and started to get boring and repetitive, especially since we have a few of their big cookbooks. We do still make some of the recipes we got from cook's country, like angel biscuits which really are lighter and fluffier than the standard kind.
CC is *very* US'an, I agree. CI's research found that it's readers shied away from foreign-titled (i.e., not US or Western European) recipes but liked the recipes themselves. Since then it's been including the occasional foreign recipe - maybe every or every other issue. I hope this trend continues - CI's gotten pretty good at Asian food after an inital rocky start.
Yes, Cook's Country is heavily American (which I'd expect, based on the title). I feel like the ATK/CI cookbooks have a lot more ethnic fare than Cook's Country. But I guess I have a soft spot for American food, because I do still love Cook's Country. 😉
Our current favorite is actually the penzeys spice catalog.
I love to cook - my hubby and I do catering and the recipes that people rave about are from ATK. I have tried hundreds of recipes from blogs, etc. and they are hit and miss. That is why I love trying the recipes you have, because you usually post recipes from ATK. I'll have to look into Cooks country.
Yes! And hit and miss is super frustrating when you've put time and energy into choosing a recipe, buying ingredients, and following directions for the first time.
I want to have mostly hits when I put forth the effort of cooking.
Epicurious', Alton Brown's, and King Arthur's sites are also reliable sources. Some of the other popular ones - *cough*AllRecipes*cough* - are so scattered I wonder why anyone bothers.
Oh man, yes to the All Recipes comment. And then you read the recipe comments there and some people say, "This recipe is garbage." and then some people are like, "This recipe is great! I changed every single ingredient, and it was fantastic!"
(Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea.)
I don't use recipes that much, so I'm not an expert but I have found some very solid basic recipes by scouring the comments of AR recipes with four or more stars. You can get a pretty good flavor (pun intended) for whether the recipe will work if you read the "Most helpful negative comment". If it's something like "way too much salt" or "my family didn't like it", well, adjust accordingly. If it says "these flavors don't meld" or "this bread recipe won't rise" you know it's not for you and to keep searching. I don't really know why, but I prefer screen recipes to paper ones. Probably because I'm messy and spend half my prep time looking for the recipe card! 🙂
I worked for a caterer too and brought her many ATK recipes, most from CI and everything was a huge hit. I have so many of their recipes on my regular rotation. Baked ziti, focaccia, chicken fajitas( for the grill), red chili chicken enchilada's, teriyaki pork tenderloin( crock pot cookbook) meatballs and marinara( crock pot), tall and fluffy buttermilk biscuits( CI), yellow cake( CI). Oh lord, stop me because I can go on and on.
@Randi MacDonald,
No Lord please continue
I got a great subscription deal on these two magazines. First, on your advise, I bought the ATK Quick Family Cookbook for $10 on their website plus $3.95 shipping. Love the book. Then I was emailed an offer to get both magazine subscriptions for $24.95! I jumped on that. Thanks!
I most often cook from what's in the fridge/freezer and experience, but I love to try new recipes and learn new techniques from cookbooks. I'll also look up recipes on the net and set my iPad on a stand, made for that purpose, to read while I cook. Love to cook!
Oh, awesome! A cookbook and two great magazines at a bargain price.
I hope the book and magazines provide you with lots of delicious meals.
I'm hard copy all the way -- I print out online recipes, too.
I use recipes less for cooking main dishes, but almost always use them for baking (except biscuits and cornbread -- got those babies memorized), which is more persnickety about amounts. I don't have favorite go-to place for recipes -- I look in lots of different places, from my 1976 version of that trusty red plaid cookbook to the internet.
I also figured out and wrote down recipes for meals for which I never use a recipe, like my grandmother's chicken and dumplings and my mom's meatloaf, so my grown daughters will know to make it just like their mama, their grandmother, and their great-grandmother made it. They were so glad to get them!
@JD, meatloaf recipes are so different. I have many but can’t find the right one
Can you share yours
Several have made comments I would have made. To protect printed copy, I've also used blue painters tape to tape the copy to a cabinet near prep/cooking area to keep it spatter-free. Can always make another copy.... After years of subscribing, it's so much easier to look up a recipe to get issue date online rather than scanning all those issues. I also keep a recipe file box (2 actually) of index cards with recipe name, issue date or cookbook name, ingredients needed and servings it makes (to use when making menus or grocery list)--easier than AGAIN digging out books or magazines. Obvious I'm also TEAM HARD COPY. Love when you try something I haven't tried, Kristen. Makes me go back and give them a try. I tried Shrimp & Grits recently, hubby said I've now spoiled him for all the places he's tried them while traveling for work! High compliments for that one.
Totally forgot, the "Find the Rooster" contest in each issue is also fun, and for kids. But boy do they make it hard to find! I have to resort to go back and reread the issue upside down and from back to front so I'm not distracted by the recipes on the first read-through.
I love getting magazines in the mail, but then they just sit on the counter since I never seem to find time to read them. If I do and find a recipe that I really like, I usually snap a picture of the recipe with my phone so I don't lose it. If my kids love the recipe it gets a recipe card, but if the kids say no, I just delete the photo.
I am afraid that Pinterest has spoiled so many of us, hardcopy recipes are becoming a thing of the past. When I am trying to find something to make from what is in my pantry, I just hop online and find a recipe that uses what I already have.
Team Hard Copy for sure - although in a pinch, I absolutely use my phone - especially for recipes from Budget Bytes, although I've been debating buying the cookbook, because every recipe I have made from the website has been a hit. Even if I screw it up a bit, the recipes are very forgiving. 🙂
I'm definitely a hard copy girl. I have a number of printed off recipes myself. 😉
Team Hardcopy here. Especially since I share cooking duties with my husband. Our favorite recipes are all in the same binder/cookbook. Plus on a hardcopy, we can more consistently track our notes as far as ingredient swaps or what we'd do differently next time. Plus it's annoying when the computer screen switches to the screensaver right when you need to read a critical direction. And I'm a messy cook - I'd rather spill on a piece of paper that can be re-printed than get goop gummed up on my keyboard.
That is exactly how I feel about my laptop. It costs way more than a piece of paper, so I hate to have liquids/sticky stuff around it at all. I keep it out of the kitchen!
@Jill, Before I start cooking I open settings on my phone, tap display and brightness then auto lock. change it to never and the screen will stay on. Easy to change it back later!
@B A Bush, Awesome.. another recent poster to this great yet old conversation!
Thank you B A Bush!
I am so engaged reading each one of these because I too have several years of CI & CC but never the online I also super enjoyed Kris Kimble (sp) his intro nostalgic stories got me in a calming way actually all f the chefs were great writers!
Team hard copy, I hate the screensaver back and forth thing.
I always like a hard copy of a recipe! When we try a new one, if it is a hit, we put the recipe into a clear plastic page in our 3-ring recipe notebook so that we can easily find it and repeat.
I agree with you; Cook's Country is SO much better!
I have started moving all my recipes to my Ipad, including my Cook's Illustrated subscription. Also, another selling point to these magazines is the equipment testing. I have been trying very hard to buy things only once, and while I can't always afford their "best" item, (All-Clad, I want you!), it definitely influences my buying decisions.
I know this has nothing to do with your post, but ...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
(And before you think I have a super awesome memory, I only remembered because we share the same bday.)
Hope you day is/was great!!
Ohh, happy birthday to you too, then!
More importantly, Happy Birthday! I hope you had a wonderful day and a marvy fab year.
I did have a great day! Thank you. 🙂
I just found a box of old issues that I packed up when we moved. I am so happy to look at them again. I am going to buy myself a subscription for Mothers Day for myself. Mothers work hard and deserve little treats. Happy Birthday , you inspire me in so many ways.
I definitely need recipes since I'm not so great at improvising yet. I usually find recipes on blogs. I think I would prefer a hard copy, but since I dont have a printer I'll usually screenshot recipes on my phone and use that. It's convenient because then I basically have a grocery list on my phone and I won't lose the recipe or have to wait for it to load again and again. It's not a perfec system though, I often forget to include the name of the recipe in the screenshot so I have to reread the recipe to figure out what it is hahaha
How timely! I just wrote about being a "fantasy cook and baker" on the blog on Monday because of all the recipe books and recipes I collect without using 😮
I am a recipe person and I definitely prefer a hard copy. I prefer magazines and cook books to the internet, although I make PLENTY of recipes I find online. Sometimes I print them out, sometimes I use the Chef Tap app on my tablet, which keeps the screen active so your device doesn't go to sleep just when your hands are draped in bread dough or something. And sometimes, if the recipe is simple, I just jot down the ingredients and main directions and do the rest from memory and/or common sense.
I love the ATK family and watch the shows and have many of the cookbooks, though not a magazine or website subscription. I also use Cooking Light a lot. I recently misplaced a favorite Cooking Light recipe and when I Googled it, found they had changed it. I think it might have been updated to fit their most recent definition of "healthy." I was bummed since they had changed the seasonings and that was the part I was trying to remember. But thanks to my paper habit, I knew I at least one printed version somewhere. Which I found in a stack. I admit that organizing paper recipes is harder when you have as many as I do.
I'm in the process of making CC's tex mex cheese enchilada's. I've made them 5x already, my wife loves them. I usually wait until the end of the year and buy the annual book. Just got 2015 on amazon for 14.00( used). Cheaper than the subscription. CC has a lot of past years on sale too. Mostly everything has been a winner, except for the magic cookie bars. A lot of extra steps and I did not notice much of a difference. I love the heritage recipes too.
Cookbooks all the way.
Have you found a good magazine holder for Cook's Countrys? Their large format make them difficult to store and I don't want my husband tossing them out!
I haven't...I just keep them in the cabinet with my cookbooks, on a shelf.
I am thoroughly confused. I watch on TV: America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, and sent in a card which came in the mail for a year to Cook's Illustrated. The last of May I ordered the 20-Year Cookbook for America's Test Kitchen TV episodes. When watching tonight, saw the Hawaiian fried chicken and Macaroni salad. When I looked in the new book I just received, They were not in it. Both ATK & CC offer 14 weeks free trial cooking lessons. I haven't taken them yet for my ATK NEW book. I don't want to duplicate. I don't know whether I am coming or going!
Have you found a book that holds the odd sized Cook’s Country recipe cards?
Thank you so much!
I haven't! I have an online membership to their site, so I usually just go on and print the ones I like on letter size paper, and I file them in a three-ring binder.
I, too, used to get Cook’s Illustrated. Ok reading but never really found the recipes to my liking or ones I’d make. Got my first issue of Cook’s Country a week ago, and am already on my second recipe with plans to make more on the next few weeks. A great magazine and I highly recommend it!!