The good, the bad, the say-what?

I get three "domesticated" (read: home/garden) magazines each month:  Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living and Martha Stewart Living (it was a free subscription when I purchased something from somewhere this year.) Each month I flip through them, and try to find tips or recipes that are worth trying out.  In fact, it is my goal to try SOMEthing from each magazine - otherwise, it isn't earning its keep, and will be discontinued at the next possible renewal.

As I went through the July issues of each, here's what I found:


BH&G stole my heart with their treillage pillows on the cover.  (Me and trellis fabrics are tight these days.)  They lost me on the elaborate stenciling, though.  I've done a little striping with tape and  varying sheens of same-color paints - thanks, but no thanks.) The recipes were ho-hum; however, their flower arranging was pretty inspiring.







Southern Living had some great decorating tips (they also got the turquoise memo, just like BH&;G's cover), and their recipes for easy pork chops were the impetus behind me buying some chops and whipping up a "Tuscan-style" dish last week.  Their feature on magic lilies left me wanting (and already knowing) more information.  I love surprise lilies, and there's a lot more info to be had than what they shared.

This month, Martha had a few recipes that looked achievable - charred Romaine was high on my list of things to try. But...her cover photo was way over-the-top.  C'mon Martha - who on earth has time to make those elaborate swirled cookies?  And her story about owning Skylands (Edsel Ford's place in Maine) was a little braggadocio to say the least.





So there's my run-down of the good, bad and the "you-must-be-kidding" I found between the covers of my three favorite all-purpose magazines this month.  What are your favorite mags, and why?  And what nifty ideas or recipes caught your eye this month?

Happy browsing,