The short of it is that I think we have figured out a really good food magazine. A magazine for everyone. It is a magazine unlike anything that is currently being done, but is so simple and clear in its approach that everyone who looks at it will see that it is exactly what a food magazine should be. Like the other successful food magazines it will have great recipes, beautiful photos and clever writing, but it will also have more. Our years in the spice trade have taught us a lot about why some people cook and some people don't. It is not about money, it is not about knowledge, it is about relationships. People who cook have had at least one person in their life who understood being able to cook not only gives you the ability to have great food at your own convenience, it also makes your life richer by building the bonds that only sharing food can create. Every issue you will get to meet these people through their recipes and through their caring for the people around them.

Another key difference is who gets to be the hero of our magazine. It won’t be some celebrity chef who spends his evenings away from the people he cares about. The hero will not be some professional writer who claims to know the exact correct way to do everything. The hero of our magazine will be you the reader. You are the one putting forth the effort of cooking to better the lives of the people around you. You deserve the spotlight. I have never understood why magazines that are supposed to be for cooks make people who cook look vaguely like bumpkins who just fell off the turnip truck and are somehow living in the past. I have met you guys and you are bright, charming engaged people. The warmth inside you that drives you to want to enrich the lives around you shines through. You are our future. You are my heroes and the magazine will do its best to show people who cook as the truly cool people they are.

The other thing is, and I know this sounds hokey, cooking is an act of kindness and caring. We know how to make recipes seem almost effortless, but the reality is that cooking always takes at least a little effort. The reason people make that effort without being paid is that they care about others. When I make a salad for myself it is lettuce, tomato and dressing. When I make a salad for myself and someone else it suddenly seems worthwhile to grate, boil or chop up lots of ingredients. We set out to make a magazine that is at home in the kitchen getting covered in stains as you work your way through the recipes and one is indeed that. But somewhere along the way it also became a magazine that is just as at home next to your bed on the nightstand. After you watch the late news and see the twenty most horrible things that happened today you can pick up one and see the kindness that is happening everywhere. Millions of times a day in this country and over a billion times a day around the world people are cooking up something nice just because they care. A great thing to think about as you drift peacefully off to sleep.

So to sum it up: start with great recipes, photos and clever writing. Season it with people who have made their lives and the lives around them richer through cooking. Add in a healthy dose of you being the hero, for when you cook no one is cooler than you. Finally frost with the thought that you are not alone and the world really is filled with kindness. Put it all together and you have one magazine. I hope you will enjoy it,

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