Bon Appetit!

I'm not a good cook. In fact, I'm not even a cook. Should you think I jest, know that I have ruined boiled water before.

My husband is our residential chef, by default. You see, when we got married some six years ago, I had baseless illusions of culinary grandeur. My mother can find a dinner fit for kings in a bare pantry. My grandmother is the old, scrawny, Southern version of Martha Stewart. I never had nor wanted kitchen talents, but with a pedigree like mine, you'll cut me some slack for my ill-conceived ideal that marriage would magically domesticate me.

I tried, but the only dinner I was able to create without causing bodily injury was macaroni and cheese with a side of broccoli.

On day seven of macaroni and cheese with a side of broccoli, my newly minted husband innocently compared my cooking to his mother's. This led to me nastily comparing his income to my father's. Long story short, we abandoned our traditional notions and Adam is now my own personal Chef Boyardee.

He subscribes to Bon Appetit magazine and, though I mispronounce most of the ingredients therein, this magazine makes me wish I cooked. Much like the famous Julia Child, the editors believe in mixing simple, but fresh, ingredients to make complex flavor.

The August edition featured summer's most prized vegetable: tomatoes.

Above is the introductory page to the article.

The photography in Bon Appetit is always top-notch, but the rich colors of the tomatoes shot on a simple white background made the piece stand out. I can practically taste the sharpness of the fresh ground pepper and the slight sweetness of the basil. No other page elements, not even the bold header, command attention away from the image.

While I'm not always a fan of the magazine's typographic choices, I love the typeface used in the header. I think it is a member of the Bodini family; the perfect blend of structured and familiar. I like the friendly yellow and bossy green in the accent colors as well.

The writing is also well-crafted. I find it simple and straightforward. My favorite line is the description of the tomatoes "bursting with juice beneath their thin, tender skins." The writer used casual and somewhat informal language and it worked for the audience. I certainly ran to the farmer's market the next Saturday morning...and I don't even cook!

What I liked most about this piece was the underlying encouragement that anyone, even kitchenphobes like me, can make delicious dishes with simple and seasonal ingredients.

Up next: bad food photography. In the meantime, bon appetit! (I couldn't help myself)