Butter and cream and fat are the secrets to why James Beard is so brilliant. What Paula Deen makes crass and ridiculous, he made refined and delicious. And artery-hardening.

I clip recipes from all three food mags I subscribe to, but I mostly read them for entertainment -- Saveur is a travel magazine with recipes, I don't have the budget to indulge in most of what F&W suggests, and under the current editorial direction, BA's theme is "eating! You're doing it wrong!" and a shamelessly desperate fawning over hipster meccas Williamsburg and Portland.