The sexy American Salumi calendar, just in time for the holiday season

American Salumi

We're willing to bet you've got at least one salted and cured meat enthusiast on your gift list this season, and it was for them that food writer and former restaurant critic John Lehndorff and author-illustrator Kim Long created the American Salumi Calendar.

Part text book, part resource and part food porn, the 2011 calendar was made to celebrate the heritage of American cured meat, relating broadly to the cultural history of food production and the locavore movement.

It's an educational compilation, featuring fun salumi facts, curing recipes, histories of sausage makers, definitions of different products and, of course, a sexy centerfold that displays lonzo, lamb coppa, duck prosciutto and pancetta, among other meats. And it's sure to delight the food geeks in your family, who will read the thing until they memorize every single word, spouting off salumi facts at the dinner table.

That'll be us, actually, after we stop drooling over the close-ups of slices of silky prosciutto and the fat, meaty sandwich that is September's feature.

To order yours, visit American Salumi's website.