BBC Good Food Celebrates 20 Years!

I love to visit England, but admittedly we can’t afford to get there all that often. I was fantasizing about another trip there last night and decided to pick up a copy of BBC Good Food.  Even though the magazine sets me back nearly $10 now, it’s still cheaper than buying five roundtrip British Airways tickets from Seattle to Heathrow.

I’ve been reading this UK food magazine for more than 15 years now.  I only buy about three or four issues off the newsstand annually, but I first started purchasing it when my husband and I visited his maternal relatives in Oxfordshire, England.  Uncle Timothy and Auntie Anda live in a big country house and have a massive collection of these magazines sitting in baskets and alongside the Aga.

I like the magazine for so many reasons. The recipes are carefully tested. The editorial  content highlights regional foods and purveyors. The food editors manage to balance reader requests with more complicated recipes from the likes of celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.  Their no nonsense approach to feeding children is simultaneously helpful and reassuring.

Last night, I was very pleased to see that the magazine has hit the 20 year mark and now has a very useful website featuring more than 5000 recipes online.   The November 2009 issue features a selection of birthday cakes sent in by loyal readers. There are also some great game recipes, and there’s a Smoked Salmon Souffle recipe that looks very doable.

Rachel  Allen, an Irish cookbook author and the daughter in law of Darina Allen of the Ballymaloe Cookery School, has an article entitled, "Rachel’s Relaxed Sunday Lunch."  Her recipe for Creamy Gratin of Butternut Squash has four ingredients and takes 15 minutes to prep.  Now that's my kind of cooking!

When the Christmas issue hits the stands soon, I’ll safely bet that there will be yet another rendition of mince pies! Happy 20th Birthday BBC Good Food!

Photo taken in England by Melissa A. Trainer

--Melissa A. Trainer