Taste of Home Features Affordable Home Cooking

Are you looking for reliable recipes that feature affordable ingredients? If so, then look no further than Taste of Home. I have been an avid reader of this magazine for many years now. I like the magazine because the recipes hail from home cooks and are carefully tested and edited by the publication’s experienced staffers. 

I also like the magazine’s recipes because the ingredients are often just basic pantry staples that I usually have on hand.  The magazine's subtitle is "Real Food from Real Home Cooks." Indeed, this publication is on the pulse when it comes to the culinary heartbeat of America

While perusing the recipe index  in the December & January, 2010 issue yesterday, I noticed that they now highlight the cost per serving for each dish. Wow! What a great idea. 

Curious about this new feature, I emailed Diane Werner, who is the Taste of Home Food Director. She replied via email this morning stating: “We decided to include costs in this time of economic need to let our customer know how affordable our recipes are. Because our recipes use everyday ingredients it helps to keep costs affordable.”

The recipe I was looking for was the Sour Cream Coffee Cake, featured in the “Cooks Who Care” feature. The cost per serving for this delicious Bundt cake rings up at 30 cents a serving.  I made the cake using my favorite Nordicware Bundt pan yesterday and served it to my children as an afterschool snack. It was a quick and affordable slam dunk winner that now has a permanent place in my recipe box. 

So, if you see this issue on the newsstand, be sure to pick it up and have a look at the index where you'll find Crab Puffs for 7 cents a serving, Lemon-Rosemary Layer Cake for 76 cents a slice, Pecan Goody Cups for 13 cents each, and Tex Mex chili for $1.86 a bowl.

--Melissa A. Trainer