| Product: |
Easy Cook |
| Date: |
08/01/07 (817 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Simple, easy to make recipes that take no time at all.
Disadvantages: You might develop a sweet tooth if you haven't one already.
Introduction
Looking back on my school years I can remember thinking that food technology was going to be an easy GCSE option. I thought nothing could be simpler than chucking a few ingredients together and mixing them up to create a masterpiece. I was very naive, as my jam Swiss roll ended up being a giant sandwich, my pizza was cremated and you could break your teeth on my scones.
Fast forward ten years, and it will come as no shock to you that I stayed well clear of the kitchen. It was only when one day mum came home from the paper shop and threw this food magazine at me, that I had hope I could cook even the simplest of dishes. As I turned the pages and scanned over the recipes, I realized that cooking really doesn’t have to be complicated and that possibly I could be the next Delia Smith (0.k not quite).
Overall Design
To entice anybody to consider buying a magazine, the front page clearly has to catch your eye and reel you in. Looking over all the previous editions of the magazine what strikes me first, is the mouth watering recipes on the front and already I want to learn how to recreate them. The sharp photos bring the food to life, and you can almost smell and taste the food, just by the sight of them.
For those of you where time is of the essence, you’ll be pleased to know that in bolds letters at the top it says “Real food for busy people”. On the front and to the side are highlights of what’s featured and by those alone it was enough for me to settle down and have a peek.
At just over 80 pages in length, this magazine is perfect just to flick through on a lazy afternoon and to give you some fresh and exciting ideas. As I said just now the photos are almost bring the food to live by having a somewhat 3D effect to them. The writing is kept to a minimum, making each page an easy read and also keeping each recipe very simple that even I can follow them.
While flicking through a previous edition here, it is clear to me that great care has been taken to make this magazine all about the fun of cooking. While to some people I’m sure that they see it more as a task that needs to be got on with, these magazines by keeping it easy (hence the title) and full of bold bright colours, I personally can’t wait to get out in the kitchen.
Features
As with most magazines the contents page is your gate way to immediate access of the areas you want to cover.
Each section is also colour coordinated which makes it easier still to head straight for your desired area of the magazine. It’s split up by two headings “easy everyday food” and “easy weekend food”. Under these headings can be found the following:
Meals In Minutes
As the title suggests here you can find various recipes to be made in 20 minutes or less. One of my favourite was the bacon and potato pan fry which was very simple to make and very filling to eat. This section usually contains at least 10 meals to make that need very little ingredients.
Feeding The Kids
Here you will find many healthy filling recipes such as mini muffin pizzas (sure to go down a treat), and the family classic macaroni cheese. Again all of the meals featured are quick and simple to make, and something your children can easily get involved with.
From Your Store Cupboard
This section is a favourite of mine, as the recipes involve ingredients most of us would have at home. As somebody who loves eggs it was interesting to see how many different concoctions you can come up with. Baked eggs with spinach and Parmesan were one of the highlights for me, and it only took 25 minutes to make. Warming Vegetable soup is another recipe I’ll be tackling soon and is perfect for this time of year.
Cooking For Friends
This section features lots of meals that look like you’ve taken ages to prepare them, so all your friends will be well impressed. In reality as with all the meals in the magazine none of them take long to put together at all, but will leave you stomach very satisfied. There are many meals and puddings to tackle, and in particular the rich chocolate pudding is something to get the taste buds excited.
Easy Baking
For someone who was brought up on a lot of home baked food, the easy baking section was also a hit with me. There is a simple step by step guide on how to make an apple cake, as well as a chicken and mushroom pie and peanut butter and chocolate cookies to name but a few.
Other Features
When buying magazines what annoys me the most is the amount of adverts that they contain. A quick skim over these magazines and I have counted on average 15/80 adverts featured. This is quite low in my experience of magazines, and they do relate to food and drink.
The summer and autumn 2006 editions also featured a gift of a pull out Ready Steady Cook magazine. I really liked these as they contain useful things such as a guide to herbs, as well as 10 minutes quickies which I can assure is food related and not something else,lol.
There is also a ‘spot the difference’ and crosswords to be found, although personally I would have preferred those few pages to contain more recipes or cooking tips.
At the back of the magazine you can find the recipe index which is easy to scan down and find recipes that are of interest to you.
Overall opinion
Since purchasing the magazine back in the summer of 2005, I have been waiting in anticipation for the each subsequent edition. While some of the features have been tweaked about and some removed, the magazine continues to be a useful resource that I refer to when cooking time and time again. Since its first outing the price has increased from £1.99 to £2.40 which some of you may think is steep, I still find it great value for money as no other book/magazine has been able to make recipes so fun and easy and make me attempt them myself. Each edition is packed with easy to follow mouth watering recipes as well as guides to ingredients and which are the best to use. Now I really do enjoy cooking and don’t fear killing anyone with my creations.
If I could improve the magazines in any way it would be to have a frequently asked question section, where readers could pose a question to a panel of chefs or a resident one, and they then provide the answer in the next edition.
These magazines are available at WH Smith stores and many Newsagents and it’s still possible to get hold of previous editions.
Back Issue Hotline 01795 414746 – UK £ 3.07 Overseas £3.25 per issue including P&P.
Subscription Hotline 0870 44294210 – Quote ref ECP0906
Although I haven’t yet subscribed to these magazines, I would advise you to do so. Currently you can get the next 6 issues for £1.65 each, that’s a generous saving of £4.50 for the lot, and 30% saving off each one separately.
Summary: Cooking is made fun and simple again.
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