Food Network Magazine

Today I am going to write about a seemingly dying business model, the magazine. We all turn to the Internet for our news, sports, and even cooking needs. It is fast, convenient, and inexpensive. But rather than turn our back forever to the traditional printed word, what we should do instead is celebrate the deserving well-crafted print publications.

The more I cook, the more I search for books (both cookbooks and books about food) and magazines about cooking. I want to know everything about cooking and sometimes reading from from a book or magazine is just more comfortable than reading online.

I subscribed to Food Network Magazine after picking it up at an airport for my in-flight entertainment and thoroughly enjoying it. It is not too expensive, $18 for 10 issues. I know you are thinking, but Matt, can't I just get the recipes on foodnetwork.com. Well, I suppose you can. But the magazine also has kitchen product reviews, interest stories, and a section where Food Network personalities answer questions. Plus, there is a section in each issue containing 50 recipes of a certain cuisine (they have covered burgers, pizza, stir-fry...). The recipes online do not offer as many variations of one type of dish. In all, each issue contains over 100 recipes, including ideas for weeknight cooking (when time is of the essence) and weekend cooking (when you have more time to prepare meals).

Sometimes you don't know what to cook until you stumble upon it. In this, a periodical is still superior to a search engine. So, if you are at an airport or just your local newsstand and want to read something that is not depressing, check out Food Network Magazine.