Bookshelf space is at a premium in my apartment. I've been allocated only about 3 feet for cookbooks. When one comes in, another must go.

A variety of factors nudged other changes in the 12th edition of "Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book" (Meredith Books), according to Jennifer Darling, Meredith's executive food editor.

The inaugural Better Homes and Gardens Cooking Experience, open to about 150 people, is an effort to remedy that. "We've always wanted to have a signature event at our home base," said Nancy ...