Periodicals: Elegance vs. Simplicity in the Home Kitchen

The cooking magazine with the highest circulation in 2003 was A Taste of Home, a modest, unsophisticated collection of recipes reminiscent of a national community cookbook. Signed recipes are solicited from readers and supplemented by a volunteer group of one thousand “field editors” and a small in-house staff. To describe its content, the magazine uses words like “down-home” and “country favorites”; recipes come from “editors, readers—and their moms.” Pictures of the contributors often appear with their recipes, and regular features include “Men Who Run the Range” and “Touring Country Kitchens”; a family grace is included in each issue. Readers’ favorite feature is “My Mom’s Best Meal.” Typical recipes have included cheesy mashed potatoes, Swiss pot roast, peanut butter chocolate cake, hot cross buns, and “Mom’s bean medley.”