September food magazine round-up

R* and I are off for a long weekend at the beach in Montauk on Long Island. Reading magazines on the beach is one of my favorite things, all the better if they are about cooking.

Before this month's magazine collection gets all sandy and forgotten at the bottom of a beach bag, I wanted to do a quick round up of what's in the mags so far.

When I saw the cover of September's Everyday Food, I let out a disappointed sigh standing at my mail box. The cover promised "Foolproof Family Favorites" but I have plenty of pancake and spaghetti, chocolate chip cookie, and meatball recipes, thank you. I scanned through the magazine, not expecting much, but then I saw their "In Season" section about plums: honey-roasted plums, chicken with plum chutney and a plum upside down cake. Of all of this months food magazines, the plum upside down cake the thing I am most likely to try.

Everyday Food also has a quick story on what Italian Seasoning is and how it can be used. The idea of all that dried, green stuff mixed together never appeals to me, but I have been known to shake Italian seasoning into a sauce in a pinch. I'm interested to see Martha Stewart's Everyday Food experts have to say about the green stuff. The magazine also has a section, "Have you tried molasses?" Well, no, I haven't tired molasses, Martha, but I'm not sure I want to make molasses-glazed turkey breat and acorn squash. I'm a bit of a turkey once a year kind of guy, but we'll see.

September's Real Simple has a very Everyday Food-ish tear-out section promising "6 basic recipes, 30 meals: a tear-and-save booklet. The promise of some real simple during the week recipes to solve my "daily dinner dilemma" was enough to make me spend $4.50 to pick this one up at the newsstand. I love the philosophy of learning how to make these 6 basic things well, including golden chicken and pork cutlets with roasted tomatoes, and then adapting and expanding on these to make, for example, chicken curry or pork with apple slaw. I'll try a couple of these recipes by Sara Quessenberry this fall.

Domino, more of a home decorating and entertaining magazine, made me laugh: trying to convince me that oysters "should stary in a leisurely lunch". They feature the grippy gloves, reproduction 19th century platter, hors d'oeuvres forks and everything else you'd need to buy to do an oyster event at home. No thanks, with more months with Rs in their names coming up, I'll head right to Oyster Bar in Grand Central and leave the shucking to the professionals. They also suggest using parsley as a centerpiece: leave it in the rubberband and just stick a few bunches in a bowl or a vase. Anyone ever do that?

The best food stuff in Domino is a two page spread on Alice Temperley's stable turned into a kitchen in London. The kitchen is modern and bright, but not steel-y or minimal. I'm tearing those pages out for inspiration the next time (gulp!) I might re-do a kitchen.

Another dream kitchen is on show in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living. Martha gives us a "first look at Martha's NEW kitchen" in Bedford. The space is 750 square feet -- 100 square feet bigger than my entire apartment -- with nine feet ceilings. The best article in this issue, though, is the Courtyard Cocktail Party, complete with recipes for Lillet cocktails, tortilla espanola and leeks in vinaigrette. I wish I was invited to that party, helped at French General in LA.