Good Bye, Taste of Home

Today in the mail I got the new issue of TOH (with a letter telling me I needed to renew my subscription) and an offer from Good Housekeeping. TOH offers 1 year (6 issues for $14.98) and GH offers 1 year (12 issues for $7.98). Now, TOH was to cost a little more because it had no ads....but wait! This month we have Breyers ice cream (full page, inside cover),Philly cream cheese (2 pages), Johnsonville Brats (full page), Pam cooking spray (two half pages), Jell-o, Cool Whip, Philadelphia cream cheese combined (full page), Tostitos (full page), California Avocados (full page), and Viva paper towels (full page, back cover). PLUS a page of things to buy from Taste Of Home.com, an entire page about the contest coming up, here's another page of shop TOH.com, a half page of Cooking School hype, two pages listing the field editors, and a full page about the Country Tours. There were only 70 pages to begin with and when the pages listed are deducted........that's one skinny magazine. I am thinking hard about whether or not to renew.

 I absolutely understand what you mean.

But, I will say That TOH recipes are usually good as I have had many a failure from GH.

I like Southern Living and Cooking Light also, but they also cost more.

Nadine 

I won't be renewing either. The paper is cheap and Ted's toothpick is now many different things. The very first thing I noticed was all the ads. That is what got me to start up in the first issue because Reiman's said no adds. RD has made it a rag.

BJ

Another example of things going in a disappointing direction.  After the first issue with ads, I emailed TOH and got the answer "that's just the way it is...prices going up..etc..etc" or something like that.  I've been subscribing for years but when my present subscription is up, I'll be doing some serious thinking about renewing.  All the mags have SO many ads.  I let Woman's Day expire as I was tired of all the "lose weight...inches" articles every month. And I don't miss it one bit.

We can still come here and get all the recipes we need plus go on other sites too without subscribing to TOH.

Let me warn you about Good Housekeeping - last month they had so many ads I had a hard time finding the articles!

Last issue of TOH was my last...I had subscribed for myself and my DD for many years.  Both of us said "It's not worth it anymore" so I did not renew.  I found less and less that I liked...~~Sassy

Last issue of TOH was my last...I had subscribed for myself and my DD for many years.  Both of us said "It's not worth it anymore" so I did not renew.  I found less and less that I liked...~~Sassy

oops fpr the double post! ~`Sassy

Here's my pitiful story... I joined Good Cook Cookbook Club some months ago, not that I NEEDED any more, but I wanted the new Baking Book, and 4 other cookbooks at $1.00 each, one of which was the Red Hat Society Cookbook, which had obviously never been through any quality control, looking for errors - of which there were so many I wrote and told them I'd like an exchange for that one. So when I finally got around to taking the cello wrap from Reiman's Baking Book (I had ordered the first loose-leaf and got several gifts with it) and inside I found a coupon for a free year of Taste of Home. I sent off the card and waited and waited, finally called when no issue was forthcoming after many weeks. I saw many on here talking about the new issue. So I called and said "where's mine?" basically. Next issue due, none shows up. I called again. Now, I've received a couple, 4 left to go and even though I've gotten beg letters to subscribe for $10, no way. Most of the 7,052 recipes I've c/p from here and TOH site, and several other websites, that I have in safe-keeping in Yahoo are more than I could ever make in 15 lifetimes. Add with all the cookbooks and torn out magazine recipes I've collected over 48 years, starting when I was 18, I don't think I need the irritation from a magazine that has turned into something totally unrecognizable from 1985 when the first issue of Country magazine arrived on the scene with the story inside of Reiman's standards. I love the little magazine of Reader's Digest with all it's interesting stories, but do not like any of these other business enterprises anymore. If this board wasn't free, I'd do without, very simple. Just thought it was time that I added my own gripes about this after I got the latest issue with nary a single recipe that I want to make. Enjoyed all the slick ad photos though, not. I mute out commercials on TV, so I don't need to read about stuff I don't want or need to buy in ads.Lin.

I canceled all my  reiman mags years ago because they were boring and repetitive.  The only magazines I get now are Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country.

I am so on the fence about renewing...  I've got one issue to go, and I haven't made a TOH recipe in a long, long time.    I buy the Light & Tasty annuals and I use them constantly, and Cooking Light is another winner for me (even with the ads, and there are lots!).   I've got TOH back to the premiere issue and after a while, you see the same recipes over and over...


I guess the only reason I'm even considered renewing TOH is so that I can have access to the subscriber only recipe portion of the site.  I don't want to get L&T single issues, I like the annuals.     For me, it's whether it's worth $15 a year so that I can access the SO stuff.    

 I will purchase a TOH magazine off the newsstand once in a while if I find recipes I like!  I subscribe to Better Homes and Gardens and love their website for recipes.  If I find a recipe I like, I will print it off their website for my recipe box!

I didn't renew my subscription last year after getting TOH since 1994.  I actually found a recipe in one of the last issue I receive that was from a magazine about 6 yrs previous.  The same "real person" had sent the recipe in, had the same "blurp" description on how she'd come to make it, etc.  I was shocked, and ticked off.  I'm curious how many other repeat recipes there've been???

Stay away from GH...I got a free subscription thru Kroger two yrs ago.  The ads were insane...one issue had 20+ pages of ads before an "article" appeared.  Not the GH mag I remember that my Mom used to get when I was a kid!!

Readers Digest is making so much money off us TOH people who send in our recipes. These magazines on the news stands are all repeat recipes and with the cookbooks at least they send the contributors a cookbook...not so with the magazines. There are usually three magazines on the news stands at a time and they rotate every month or two months....lots of people buying magazines and lots of money being spent at $6 or $10 per. And all Readers Digest is doing in re-publishing our recipes. So not only are they repeating them in the subscription magazines, they do it on the news stands too.

 I was also very disappointed with the latest issue.  I only saw a few really good recipes in the entire book.  I think I will not be renewing the subscription.

Barbara