"telephone" > wrote in message
...


>No it's not. It's a group for people who can't get beyond 'Betty
>Crocker' style cookery. Good cooks not welcome here. And that's your
>loss.

This, plus your shoemaker references make me think that you are quite
elderly and/or haven't kept up with the times. Betty Crocker cookbooks are
rather old-fashioned and have recipes that are more time-consuming than what
people want today. They were en vogue from the 1920's to perhaps the
1970's - every housewife had that ubiquitous red-and-white checkered
cookbook on the shelf. Ms. Crocker's fictional persona has been updated
several times since her first incarnation .
While Betty Crocker recipes may have been bland, unadventurous, and lacking
in ethnic diversity, they very much required that people cook "from
scratch" , use real ingredients, and have the time to do so - things that
many people are now not able or willing to do.

"Good cook" is rather a subjective description. A while back, someone in
this newsgroup referred to the Amish as being "good cooks". Putting
something hot, filling, and reasonably edible on the table may be the mark
of a good cook to some. Throwing together a tasty meal made from three
ingredients in less than 30 minutes may mean a good cook in someone elses's
opinion.