In its first revision in almost a decade, the legendary cooking tome is going back to basics, as the WSJ's Jeff Trachtenberg puts it. Example? Last edition, there were three recipes for tomato soup, all of which involved fresh tomatoes. This time - the latest in the cookbook that's sold over 15 million copies since its inception in 1931 - canned soup is just fine.

It's the latest sign that just because audiences follow the exploits of TV chefs favoring fresh ingredients and fancy preparations doesn't mean that home cooks are emulating them in the kitchen. "Nobody has a sous chef, at least not anybody I know," says Scribner publisher Susan Moldow, which is issuing the book. "People are back to wanting to be able to get a meal on the table speedily."

And with JOY especially, a lot of work had to be done to rectify mistakes (no ice cream recipes?!) in the previous edition. "It's about how people live and cook," says Beth Wareham, the book's editor. "We aren't chasing chefs and restaurateurs." Nor is it about avant-garde presentation. "We don't think people want to make an architectural statement when serving their food."

Scribner is so confident that the 75th anniversary edition will be a hit that it is printing 700,000 hardcover copies of the $30 title. "We want you to have a teaching moment," says Ms. Wareham. "Go back 200 pages and learn how to cook pasta."