Cracking The Coconut

Print Magazines Look To Bloggers For A Fresh Perspective

I grew up reading National Geographic, Life Magazine, Travel & Leisure, and Bon Appetit all of which inspired my love of photography, travel, adventure, culture, and the pleasure of exquisite food.

I read travel and tourist magazine articles on places I may never see, but I enjoy the travel fantasies nonetheless. I read Latina Magazine, Vanidades, and People En Espanol, even though I'm still not fluent in Spanish--as I would like to be, but it makes me keep trying. I read Self Magazine because it is a delicious treat that I keep all to myself (and I think it's one of the best women's magazines out there.)

Lastly, I read Bon Appetit even though I'd never consider myself to be a gourmet cook and it's only rarely that I actually make any of the recipes that I diligently dog-ear within the magazine's pages.

For print magazines, times have been tough, but the tough keep going. National Geographic seems less stodgy these days--friendlier, more relevant, and more touchable than ever.

Bon Appetit just revamped itself, headed for a younger generation (like myself, I presume.) The result is amazingly fresh, just like the food in their photos. The logo's different, the cartoon illustrations throughout are not only whimsical, but make the whole magazine seem less high-brow.

The old Bon Appetit would assume that its readers knew all about food preparations and all the garbledigook food terminology. These days, they're not looking down on us, the younger food and culture lovers; they're reaching out. They even have a section called prep school that showcases (this month) how to crack a coconut. Hmm... a real coconut. Maybe I'll take them up on that. Maybe I'll actually make one of the coconut recipes with real coconut...sound yummy, yet challenging and adventurous... [Hint: Cracking the coconut involves both a hammer and a screwdriver.]

Who do we have to thank for the fresh look to our oldest magazines? Fellow bloggers! Bloggers with a passion for their respective subjects have made a huge impact in the greater media. Bloggers that now have cookbooks, book deals, Oscar-winning screenplays... It can happen and it is happening.

Bloggers In May's Bon Appetit!!!!! Congratulations to Clotilde Dusoulier, blogger of the excellent Chocolate & Zucchini, (I've been a fan for awhile) and Molly Wizenberg, whose blog Orangette will now be on my reading list. Neither of them have even hit 30 yet, but they both starting writing about their passions and it's gotten them further than either of them had ever imagined... and this month, they are both contributors to Bon Appetit!

As far as food bloggers, I'd also highly recommend the inspirational 101cookbooks.com

Copyright © 2008 KLiedle