R.I.P. Gourmet Magazine

Today is a sad day for food lovers everywhere. Conde Nast announced today that it will close Gourmet magazine along with Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. It's kind of ironic because I just picked up The Gourmet Cookbook from the library today because I have a bag full of eggplants I need to cook up and it was one of the few trustworthy titles they had on the shelf.

In the front flap of the book it starts off by saying, "For the past six decades, Gourmet magazine has shaped the tastes of America, publishing the best work of the foremost names in the world of food." What a travesty, it's been around for six decades and just like that, it is no more. So sad. Not only that, think of all the people who just lost their jobs today. They probably had the coolest jobs on the planet too.

I actually just found out about the sad new right now, and I was going to blog about the oatmeal cookies I made today from this book, so Ruth Reichl, this post is my tribute to you and your magazine.

I went to Trader Joe's today because I was having a major snack attack and then decided to just come home and bake some cookies. Oatmeal cookies sounded a tad healthier than chocolate chip cookies. Of course, I added chocolate chips anyway, but we'll disregard that fact for now.

Oatmeal Cookies

The Gourmet Cookbook

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

1/4 cup of raisins (optional)

1/4 cup of dried blueberries (optional)

Put racks in upper and lower thirds of the the oven and preheat oven to 375 F.

Stir together the dry ingredients: oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. This is optional, but I added some semi-sweet chocolate chips, raisins and dried blueberries. Stir this into the dough.

Drop heaping teaspoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheet and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. (I forgot to do this to the first batch I made and unlike chocolate chip cookies that kind of deflate, these hold their shape, so it helps to flatten them a bit. It makes for a more attractive cookie.)

Bake cookies, switching the position of the sheets halfway through baking (6 minutes), until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer cookies to racks to cool. The cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

As you can tell, I didn't flatten these very well. I just squished them and put them in the oven, because I was hungry and just wanted them to hurry up and bake. If I knew Gourmet's last day was today, I would have paid my respects properly by baking these a little better. I plan on trying some recipes from this book this coming week, so hopefully I will do a better job then.

Gourmet, you will be missed.