Good Bye Gourmet Magazine

Today the dreaded announcement finally came. Gourmet magazine is officially closing. Unfortunately, I have seen this coming for a few months.

Since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated with food. I love trying new dishes and experimenting with ethnic meals while I travel. At a very young age, I gravitated towards the kitchen when my mom made family meals. I often asked what she was doing or how she made my favorite foods like tator-tot casserole, Shepherd's Pie and ravioli. In college, I had to make my own meals and that opened a love for preparing food that I never saw coming.

I started getting Gourmet when I was a junior in college. I admit, I didn't use many of the recipes that were inside, but I was intrigued by what others had to say about a variety of foods. Also, being very visual, I enjoyed the pictures immensely. I saved all of my copies and printed covers offline that I put into frames to decorate my kitchen.

I dreamed about living in my family's old farm house with an amazing and modern kitchen. I would see myself preparing fine meals for loved ones and the many visitors that we would entertain. I envisioned sitting at the kitchen table sipping red wine (even though I don't drink) listening to compliments on the food and keeping my recipes a secret.

I know the Editor in Chief, Ruth Reichl, would have loved the scene. Her column will be sadly missed. Can you believe that she used the word "highfalutin" in last months issue? How cool is that? American home cooks, like myself, will miss the Magazine of Good Living very much.

After all, isn't good living all about good food?

By the way, my most recent issue (October 2009) sported an amazing looking red wine caramel apple, but my one year old destroyed to cover. I can forgive him...