Your Kitchen Wants This Calendar!

Every year, right about now, I start shopping for calendars for the upcoming year. I like to have one in each of the rooms I live in the most, and I love for the calendar to reflect the room it’s gracing. In the home office, we like large calendars that can be written on. On my husband’s side of the room, he likes his calendar to represent something relaxing and serene - like a beautifully manicured golf course.

Near my own desk, however, I like something that’ll make me smile or laugh each time I look at it - like cute and crazy animals, cartoons, or the one I got last year that offers thoughts such as, “Stress is waking up screaming and realizing you haven’t fallen asleep yet,” and “I live in my own little world, but it’s okay, they know me here.” Their sense of humor takes the bite out of Monday’s, and since I don’t like getting bitten by anything without an invitation, that works for me.

Sometimes finding a perfect calendar for the kitchen can be tricky. We have to have a calendar in what is, without a doubt, the heart of the home. It’s the room we’re all in the most, after all. In fact, the other day I read a thread of forum messages by women who were really down because they didn’t get to see their children enough. I thought, “Hang out in the kitchen more…you’ll see them all the time!”

The kitchen can pose a problem, though, when it comes to calendars. Especially if, like mine, your’s happens to dress itself in plums, purples, pinks, and blacks and proudly wears flowers on it’s border. Sometimes I get the impression my kitchen thinks it’s a living room. It’s a very pretty, spacious room and I love it - but if it were a female, she’d be a diva all the way. So, yeah, finding a calendar that she considers elegant enough is a pain. Not like the tomboy home office, for sure.

The Gourmet Institute has a 2008 Calendar that has completely, effortlessly, totally solved my kitchen calendar dilemna. This is the most beautiful and artsy calendar I’ve seen in a long time. The following giants of the culinary world are just a few featured in the calendar: Anthony Bourdain (The “gastronomic Indiana Jones” from Travel Channel’s No Reservations.), Masaharu Morimoto (The Japanese chef and cookbook author who’ll always be fondly thought of as an Iron Chef.), and Marcus Samuelsson (The Ethiopian author of The Soul of a New Cuisine).

Why just give you three names? Because I really want you to order this big, gorgeous calendar and see the rest for yourself! When I got mine in the mail, the funnest thing was flipping through the beautiful pages and seeing who represented each month. The photography is of the highest quality imaginable and the publisher brilliantly chose to go with black and white images - something my glamor girl kitchen thinks is just too-too chic.

Each photograph depicts the chef in a way that allows you to take a glimpse into their private world. We see the human side of these gods of the kitchen. At the bottom of each month, you can read a little bit about that month’s chef - very interesting stuff!

Another thing I love about this calendar is the fact that it’s a collector’s item. I love collecting culinary publications - from cookbooks to magazines, I get a lot of joy from my collection. This calendar is a gorgeous addition.

However, the best thing about this calendar is that it’s not just a looker. It has a heart. For every calendar sold, $1.00 will be donated to CityMeals-On-Wheels (a beautiful organization that should be copied in every city in the country).

The Gourmet Institute 2008 Calendar would make wonderful Christmas presents - as long as you don’t forget to grab one for yourself, too!