Staying in my dorm for the entirety of the Labor Day weekend I choose the easiest place I could think of to find cookbooks, Barnes & Nobles. One trolley ride later, I stood in the middle of the cookbook aisle on the first floor of the bookstore with my eyes closed randomly grabbing for books. The first one I drew from the shelf of foodie knowledge was Reader’s Digest: Cooking Smart for a Healthy Heart.
Not coming from a family with known cases of heart disease, coupled with the fact that I have never opened a cookbook before, I did not know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was the use of bright, vivid colors. The page draws one to read it due to the expertly staged photographs and the use of color charts breaking down the cooking process from preparation to serving tips. As an added bonus, the total nutritional information of each dish is also provided.
Examining the book more in depth, I noticed that the colors flowed well due to the fact that every section devoted itself either to the warm or cool colors of the spectrum. In each chapter, a certain side of the color chart was defined and every picture or color box for the entirety of the chapter was a brilliant shade of red, orange, and yellow, or green, blue, and violet.
It was an extremely well put together book targeting specifically those with heart issues, but one that could be used and enjoyed by almost anyone. The instructions were simple and clear. White space was used appropriately throughout the book. The charts were easy to follow and the pictures provided a visual to guide ones presentation of the final product. Adding the fact that the cookbook was produced by a big name company like Reader’s Digest just makes the source seem more creditable.
The second book I haphazardly selected was Southern Living: Ultimate Quick & Easy Cookbook. After reading the title, I immediately began looking at preparation and cooking times. Approximately eighty to ninety percent recipes could be prepared in about thirty minutes. Of course, the majority of the remaining recipes had reasonable cooking times; however, the book included one dessert that took eight and half hours to make.
The Southern Living cookbook had a big selection of recipes, but the lack of color and pictures in the white space left much to be desired. The only real recipes that drew my eye and whetted my appetite were the few recipes that included the picture. Overall, the book was decent, but coming from Southern Living, I expected more.
In conclusion, the better of the two books was the Reader’s Digest cookbook. The great use of white space made looking for, and finding information about a particular dish easy. Southern Living had this too, but only for a few recipes, while the others looked like they had been typed and put into a similar format to create consistency. I am sure Southern Living had great recipes, but they are lost to me in the immense white space of the book. The $35 dollars of green I would have to invest into the Southern Living book when compared to the colorful and appetizing cost of $15 for the Reader’s Digest cookbook is simply too much for my taste.
Pictures: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9780762109968
http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780848728250
Not coming from a family with known cases of heart disease, coupled with the fact that I have never opened a cookbook before, I did not know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was the use of bright, vivid colors. The page draws one to read it due to the expertly staged photographs and the use of color charts breaking down the cooking process from preparation to serving tips. As an added bonus, the total nutritional information of each dish is also provided.
Examining the book more in depth, I noticed that the colors flowed well due to the fact that every section devoted itself either to the warm or cool colors of the spectrum. In each chapter, a certain side of the color chart was defined and every picture or color box for the entirety of the chapter was a brilliant shade of red, orange, and yellow, or green, blue, and violet.
It was an extremely well put together book targeting specifically those with heart issues, but one that could be used and enjoyed by almost anyone. The instructions were simple and clear. White space was used appropriately throughout the book. The charts were easy to follow and the pictures provided a visual to guide ones presentation of the final product. Adding the fact that the cookbook was produced by a big name company like Reader’s Digest just makes the source seem more creditable.
The second book I haphazardly selected was Southern Living: Ultimate Quick & Easy Cookbook. After reading the title, I immediately began looking at preparation and cooking times. Approximately eighty to ninety percent recipes could be prepared in about thirty minutes. Of course, the majority of the remaining recipes had reasonable cooking times; however, the book included one dessert that took eight and half hours to make.The Southern Living cookbook had a big selection of recipes, but the lack of color and pictures in the white space left much to be desired. The only real recipes that drew my eye and whetted my appetite were the few recipes that included the picture. Overall, the book was decent, but coming from Southern Living, I expected more.
In conclusion, the better of the two books was the Reader’s Digest cookbook. The great use of white space made looking for, and finding information about a particular dish easy. Southern Living had this too, but only for a few recipes, while the others looked like they had been typed and put into a similar format to create consistency. I am sure Southern Living had great recipes, but they are lost to me in the immense white space of the book. The $35 dollars of green I would have to invest into the Southern Living book when compared to the colorful and appetizing cost of $15 for the Reader’s Digest cookbook is simply too much for my taste.
Pictures: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9780762109968
http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780848728250
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