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Betty Williams's avatar

I’m a magazine girl too! Loved Gourmet when Ruth Reichl was there and issues of Bon Appetit that a friend would pass on to me after she was done with them. I just recently let my Better Homes & Gardens subscription expire since it is getting thinner and thinner and the paper is sadly flimsy. It’s just not the same. And that collage! I haven’t made one since…high school? Yours is gorgeous and now I want to do one too!

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

It was so much fun! Perfect activity for a snow day (or in your case a rainy one 💕)

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Lovely piece. Elizabeth. Do you have a favorite food magazine? PS Italy, wine and artichokes sound great to me! Do you not like artichokes?

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

My favourite was Donna Hay from Australia. It was expensive to buy here but I was lucky enough to get a complimentary subscription for a while through work. The photography is gorgeous and what I loved most was that there was a photo of every recipe. I kept the three dozen or so I had and still use them.

I was the kid in our family who didn’t really like artichokes (although my mother made them often). I do make simple marinated artichokes that I like, and when I spent several weeks in Sicily I had dishes I really enjoyed. So I need to zero in on a few recipes to try. Do you have a favourite preparation?

Giovanna Solimando's avatar

Hmmm, gosh I don’t know. I just love them in all possible ways :) I’ll have to get back to you on this.

Do you have any current favorite food magazines?

Jenn Sharp's avatar

Delightful! Your message is spot on. My magazines (gourmet, southern lady, Martha Stewart, the New Yorker, Australian smocking…the list goes on) were my respite from the chaos of four charming heathens and a bridge between my lovely world with them to the creativity that fed my soul so deeply. Those magazines were the Narnia that gave my imaginings room to wander. All of my children are creatives. Music, sewing, wood working, art…I thank the precocious glossy pages that lured me in. 💕

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

I really do miss them! 💕

Kerry Faber's avatar

Another beautiful post...I will forever be a magazine girl. I'm curious to get your thoughts on the new Gourmet that just launched (if you do check it out). Definitely a departure!

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Me too! From Glamour and InStyle back in the day to the original iterations of all the great food magazines (including the wonderful Donna Hay magazine), and everything in between. It makes me sad when I pick up a magazine now and feel the thin pages and flimsy heft. I am hopeful about the next generation of beautifully crafted publications we’re beginning to see.

Funny—Ellen Kornmehl just sent me a couple of the new Gourmet newsletters and they really depressed me. I just couldn’t get past the unimaginative format and flat colours, the furthest thing from an invitation to dive in.

And thank you for reading; I’m so glad you’re here!💕

Kerry Faber's avatar

I LOVED InStyle so much too. The heft of it was everything! And Seventeen as a teen was a favorite. I couldn’t agree more about the new Gourmet. So far, I’m not excited by the content, and the color palette and format doesn’t work for me either…

Sheryl O'Connell's avatar

I love reading your posts. I like to settle in and take my time - you never disappoint.

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Sheryl thank you for that lovely comment! I am so thrilled that you’re enjoying my little dispatch 💕

Barbara Ellen McMahon's avatar

I love doing collage! Another thing we have in common...

Ellen Kornmehl MD's avatar

Did you know that Sam Dean has the rights and relaunched Gourmet this year as a newsletter? (It's now hosted on the Ghost platform) I'm sending a few issues to your email box.

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Yes I’ve read about it although I haven’t seen the newsletter yet. I’ll be interested to read it, as it’s clear that it’s meant to w complete departure from the original. New media for new times!

Angela's avatar

Great read Liz. I am not a fan of mushrooms but that recipe makes me want to give it a try again!

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

It is really easy and really delicious. Although the photo is not that great 🤓

Kalee Tilli's avatar

You writing always has the ability to take me away to whatever world your writing about. An annual subscription to Gourmet was gifted to me as a late teen who wanted to learn to cook. I have great memories of days spent reading and deciding which recipes I was ready to try.

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Kalee—thank you for that lovely comment! That really means a lot. As you know so well, it can often feel like we are writing in a vacuum…

I had to get rid of all my old Gourmet magazines when we moved from a house to a condo three years ago. That was an incredibly panful process!

Kalee Tilli's avatar

Yes and yes, I've moved many times since owning those magazines and they are missed!

Amela Marin's avatar

You are multi-talented! You should do more collages. They are as fun and interesting as magazines themselves.

Have you been to the (newish) magazine store on Dundas West? It has a wide selection of rare magazines I'd never seen before. I would have carried them all home, but for the little issue of money and luggage restrictions.

Amela Marin's avatar

You could give them to friends…

That shop is seriously dangerous. But also heart-warming. We’ll have to go! Or, when you go to Italy, you will find some similar shops there, I’m sure.

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

I would love that!

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

I will definitely do more—the challenge will be where to put them 😊.

And yes to that shop! I haven’t been but came across it when I was writing the post. That’s where I got the names of the food mags I shared—I will go back and tag them.

I was lamenting to my husband that there aren’t any good newsstand type shops around anymore and anymore and there it is! I see the possibility of a dangerous habit forming…

Jim Russell's avatar

Keep the up the collage work! Consider cutting around your selected subjects to free them further from the page.

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Yes you are so right. There are a few images where I did do that; lots to experiment with. Truly the most fun I’ve had bring creative in a long time!

Vera's avatar

Love this collage! Congrats! ❤️ and a great read…

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Thank you dear heart 💕

Shell Plant's avatar

Just to let you know Elizabeth - I flippin' love this post. I have long loved and adored magazines. I remember being at uni, one of my housemates wandered into my room and found me surrounded with piles of magazines (and books too). "Well, I can see where you students loan is going" she quipped.

I love your mood board, and so pleased you did it with scissors and magazines, rather than digitally. The tactile natures of it, it's so soothing, and brings out so much more. Just ❤️

Elizabeth Pizzinato's avatar

Thank you Shell! Honestly it was the most satisfying activity.

You will appreciate this. When we moved house three years ago, one of the things I had to get rid of was dozens (and by that I mean 100s 😳) of magazines. Mostly food and dating back years. It was AGONIZING to get rid of them—the hardest thing I had to downsize 😂.

Shell Plant's avatar

I do appreciate that, it sounds incredibly difficult!!