What an interesting year this is going to be! I am one who always sees the glass as being both half full and half empty, but I tend to concentrate on the full half, since it’s hard to drink empty. And of course, the important part is not the glass, but what’s in it. We are looking forward to another year with you, our loyal customers. It probably won’t be our best year, nor our worst, but if you continue to stop by, and visit with us, and shop, we’ll continue to be appreciative and try to make all your experiences, both in our store and in your kitchen at home, pleasant ones. Part of what makes this business so pleasurable is knowing that if we do our jobs right, your lives will be improved, at least a little bit. And if every day, we learn a little, and improve a little, the glass just keeps refilling itself. We are grateful for that.

By the time you read this, we’ll have already been to both Dallas and Chicago on buying trips. In May we go to Las Vegas and then there’s usually a summer gift show, so if you are looking for something specific, please let us know so we can shop for you. Shelly loves spending other peoples’ money. I know this for a fact!

You’ll notice a lot of changes in our inventory this year. We are dropping a few lines that just haven’t performed as well as we had hoped, and we are adding several new food lines and a few hard goods lines. Already this year, we’ve added Chef’s Mats by GelPro, Fresh-Vac, Pomaireware, and Proteak in hard goods, the Stonewall Kitchens line, and several new oils and vinegars; Pecan Oil, Avocado Oil, Honey Balsamic Vinegar, new Robert Rothschild products, and new olive oils; just lots of stuff. You’ve got to come see them. The sad news is that we will no longer carry Eatem stock bases. It’s too long a story to tell here.

This schedule contains 38 classes offered by 18 different instructors. We have three Celebrity Chefs coming in this quarter, and one new instructor. Every year I wonder how we’ll fill the schedule with exciting classes, and every quarter our instructors come through with great ideas and menus. Sit back and relax; it’s a little too early to be out in the garden, so you might as well pick out a class or two. But don’t wait too long, many of these classes will fill quickly.

I’ll remind you too, that if you have ideas for classes or want an instructor to teach something special, you can always e-mail me at mike@kitchenaffairs.com and I’ll work on them with the instructors. Now sit back and relax, or better yet, come see us. We’re waiting here for you.

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