In this topic, I will be discussing my own experiences and what I have witnessed. Everyone is encouraged to add their own experiences, especially members living outside of the US. I would love to know if this is a similar phenomenon elsewhere.
1. Magnolia Table -a collection of recipes for gathering-
~While we were gone~ Peachy has been going through a period of increased interest in interior design. Like the basic millennial I am, I fell into Joanna Gaine's trap. After I found a few good recipes in Magnolia Journal that we liked, Alice gifted me the Magnolia Table cookbook last year. (1) For context, the recipes in the Journal were real recipes; lists of ingredients with cooking instructions. They were what I expected from a recipe. Everything was interesting and kinda boujee too (shout out to caramelized pears with shallots and greyure 🤤) I love that Alice got me Magnolia Table bc it was a wonderful sweet gift, but I find myself rarely using it due to the quality of the recipes inside. The book relies heavily on prepackaged ingredients.
Paradoxically, in the introduction to the book she describes the first meal she cooked for her husband- after rejecting the recipes gifted to her by his family (bc she was scared to try something new) she made him pasta from a jar and he didn't like it. After a few more heartfelt paragraphs about adapting recipes to ways they both like and them having a bunch of kids, then she states "I really appreciate cookbooks that made things easy for a busy mom. Simple ingredients, minimal prep, time.... Life is busier these days and it can be hard to find the time to cook meals from scratch, but it's important enough to me to prioritize it." (2) The final paragraphs are more details about how she loves to cook from scratch, but she often cooks store-bought because it is more convenient.
The pages after this intro are recipes calling for "Jimmy Dean Sausage Patties", "shredded meat from 1 store-bought rotisserie chicken", and " Two 0.7 oz envelopes of Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix"
There is a "Mayonnaise recipe" that calls for blending salt and spices into a cup of Hellman's Mayonnaise. (Mayonnaise is only 3 ingredients and takes 3 minutes to make).
To be fair, many recipes in this book are from scratch, but the Dinners section is disappointingly a primary offender. In my opinion the best recipes happen to be those with the stamp stating they are served at the public Magnolia restaurant on the ranch.
Final thoughts: I want to make it clear i don't think there is anything wrong with using prepackaged ingredients, and I don't think this is a bad cookbook. I think this is a useful tool for beginners, or busy families, but I do feel misled based on the recipes the brand publishes in the magazine compared to the recipes in the cookbook. I was expecting a book full of the types of bougie recipes that are printed every quarter in the journal. That said, I did make the chicken pot pie from the book. I used a cream of chicken recipe I found online instead of canned, but I did get a store-bought rotisserie chicken. It was good.
2. Church Recipies of the American South: Bacon, Butter, and Mayonnaise.
My grandma's church had everyone put their best recipes into a group cookbook, and grandma gave me a copy. Y'all. This book could be the sole piece of evidence in an investigation into the obesity epidemic. This cookbook is fucking cursed. These people do not know how to eat a vegetable without drowning it in fat. The first entry of the "Vegetable" section is "Stuffing" consisting of 2 celery stalks, 1 cup onion, 2 lbs pork sausage, and a half cup of butter. Other "vegetables" include macaroni and cheese, green beans cooked with bacon, asparagus with bacon, eggplant with a cup of butter and 3 cups of cheese... Its all like this.
The "Salad" section is WORSE. EVERY SINGLE ENTRY is filled with Mayonnaise. And I don't mean like chicken salad, tuna salad etc. "Tomato Olive salad: 1/3 tomatoes, olives, almonds, onion, and lettuce. 1/3 mayo, 1/3 cream cheese.
The amount of butter in these recipes is a crime. Cooking this way is abuse to your loved ones. There is nothing in this book Alice can eat without it showing up in her bloodwork. I haven't made anything from this book but I'm considering trying a casserole that seems borderline edible, but I just won't pour the half cup of melted butter over the top at the end.
Final Thoughts: people in the south are all enabling each other's obesity, and making it pretty impossible for those who may want to lose weight to do so, without alienating themselves at social food gatherings.
3. Few Ingredient Recipes- a Wonder Book find
This summer at Wonder book i found a cute little cookbook with a picture of a peach on the front. I got it mostly just for the aesthetic, it's a little book with 100 recipes that each take 5 or fewer ingredients. A lot of these recipes seem very "southern comfort food." Bacon wrapped chicken, country chicken with gravy, etc.
Not really a shock for a collection of recipes intended to have as few ingredients as possible, most of the recipes call for prepackaged ingredients. (Upon further inspection, the copyright at the bottom of each page seems to imply these recipes actually originated from the brands they are advertising. This is like somebody made a cookbook by collecting all their soup labels and food boxes for the bonus recipes on the back)
Final Thoughts: the front cover is pretty and this will maintain its current display space. I may make the honey lime chili chicken with a side of 12OZ. Can DEL MONTE shredded green beans.
Conclusion: Due to my own preferences, I aquire most of my recipes from the internet. The examples I've given above are what have come into my possession as an average person who cooks living in America. Most people are not taking the time to make good, wholesome food for their families and it shows. Big OOF. I want to see (and aquire) more books with details on lovingly preparing delicious, healthy, dishes from scratch.
Footnotes
1. Joanna Gaines is a trendy interior designer. Until recently she had a TV show on the DIY television network. She recently bought the network and renamed it Magnolia to fit into her brand. She owns a ranch in Waco Texas, which is the home central for her cult.
Magnolia Journal is a quarterly lifestyle/ design magazine under the Joanna Gaines/ Magnolia brand. Magnolia Table is the affiliated cookbook of the brand.
2. Magnolia Table Copywrite statement "No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever... except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews"
This Topic post is a critical review.
