Cook's Country's large size, full-color, ad-free, reader-defined approach offers a distinct guide to country cooking. Packed with succulent recipes, equipment resources, "how-to" guides for those challenging dishes, and much more, Cook's Country will have your home-cooked meal turning out perfectly.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Very useful
Comment: I love Cook's Illustrated. I look forward to receiving it each month. Chris Kimball is an EXcellent writer. He always has a beautiful story at the beginning of each issue.

The magazine is full of tried and true recipes as well as great information re: kitchen tools - what works.....what doesn't!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Fun, Nostalgic Magazine Full of Delightful Recipes
Comment: The few low reviewers about Cook's Country seem confused by this magazine's commitment to simple home cooking, and some of them have asked, "Why bother? Isn't that what Cook's Illustrated is all about?"

Well, yes and no. Cook's Illustrated, in my observation, is geared far more to the urban or East Coast food lover, someone with a spouse or partner but no, or grown, children, and someone who entertains (as in "has dinner parties") with some frequency. The recipes are indeed simple and turn out beautifully, but they're not exactly the sort of thing most families would tackle on a Tuesday night.

Cook's Country, on the other hand, seems to have as its demographic the home cook with a spouse and kids to feed, and whose parties run to the "child's birthday" or "backyard BBQ" or "family Thanksgiving" type occasions. It's just as accessible, interesting, and smart as Cook's Illustrated, but with a down-home, Midwest vibe. Think of CC as Vermont-dwelling CI's cousin from Topeka.

Ultimately, the buyer should decide based on lifestyle which magazine is more practical. If your cooking is geared toward dinners for two and cocktail parties (or if you plan on buying this as an aspirational exercise but don't intend to make any of the recipes) by all means, subscribe to Cook's Illustrated. But if you are looking for inspiration for delicious weeknight dinners and simple family celebrations while juggling Susie's oboe lessons and Billy's tae kwon do class, look no further than Cook's Country.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: For the nostalgic person
Comment: I am a long time subscriber to Cooks Illustrated and love it - so I tried this. I think it's a waste of money. Too many glossy recipe cards (where are the environmentalists on that staff???) and the size is too large for my collection of standard size cooking magazines. The consumer articles are on kitchen sponges vs. the real cooking equipment you find in Cooks Illustrated. Skip it. I had hoped for something that did good meals for families and find a glossy thingy that seems entirely aimed at the nostalgia market. There are numerous better choices, including the fine Cooks Illustrated, Cooking Light or Fine Cooking.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT Magazine
Comment: I LOVE Cooks Country. An unusual and really useful as well as a very attractive and interesting magazine. I have even given it as gifts,
The price was much better than through the inserts in the magazine itself, too.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Buy Cook's Illustrated instead
Comment: I have been a subscribe to CI for many years and are familiar with their database of recipes back to 1993. It is an OUTSTANDING magazine and the finest on the market today, IMO. Then comes Cook's Country. Of course, I gave it a try wondering where the clever people at CI were going next but I think they've lost something of what made them great in this Cook's Country magazine. Over the years in CI, there have been lots of articles taking "homey" food and testing to improve (macaroni and cheese, turkey tetrazinni, scrambled eggs, ground beef tacos). In addition, they took lots of recipes one might consider inaccessible to the home cook and created fool proof formulas. I just don't understand what CC adds. CI is more than just recipes, it's like an every other month culinary class. I worry that CC is diluting their energies. I will not subscribe again. Get Cook's Illustrated instead.

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