Subliminal marketing and the "Every Day"

March 28, 2011 by Susie

| 4 Comments

I've just been noticing that suddenly the words "Every Day" are appearing in the new cookbooks I see, well, every day. This week it was Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Every Day. That's "Every Day" the adverbial phrase, not "everyday" the adjective. "Everyday" the adjective has overtones of the humdrum, I suppose, even though you do see it widely used on cookbook jackets. But for me, "Every Day," with the space, has a certain siren lure.

Peter Reinharts Artisan Breads I found, upon investigating, that some of my absolute favorite cookbooks use the magic phrase "Every Day". Like Roy Finamore's Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day. Or Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. Every time I pick up Reinhart's book, I say to myself, Why yes! I could make artisanal bread every day, if I wanted to. Every day, and any day! But I don't have to.

There are even "Every Day" books I'm inexplicably drawn to but rarely use, like Pure Simple Cooking Noodles Every Day, or Diana Henry's Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day. Even if I never pull them off the shelf, they seem to promise that every day, any day, I could.

Is there a magic phrase that makes you buy or keep a cookbook? You may not have even thought about it before...but chances are there is.

Category: Shelf Life With Susie

4 Comments

Christine on 3/28/2011 at 9:47 PM

Any cookbook that boasts the words Seasonal, Fresh, Local and/or Organic lures me in every time. I consider these to be the ideals for cooking well. (Though, believe me, I often fall short). I love looking through these types of cookbooks and dreaming of all the wonderful, delicious meals I can cook from the freshest offerings at the Farmers Market. Yum!
Susie on 3/29/2011 at 5:14 AM

Yeah, I have a thing for Local and Seasonal too. The photography is always great in those books too!
Mary-Claire on 3/29/2011 at 9:42 AM

I'm a sucker for single-subject books, especially single vegetables, and especially ones with "All About" in the title. "All About Rutabagas." "All About Amaranth." Gets me every time. Many of these books are self-published, and a surprising number of them are not too bad.
Linda Perkins on 4/2/2011 at 9:07 PM

I belong to Eat Your Books and need it to organize my collection of cookbooks. I am as indiscriminant as a mailbox. My key words are "cook" and "book".