The Food Network

[spiderpig]

Years ago CNN was my default channel - always on in the background. Then they went nuts.

I always have Food Network on now. We all have to eat, don't we? There are hosts I turn off (cough-Paula Dean/Rachael Ray-cough) but generally I learn something new every day.

YMMV.

[a kennedy]

1. I'm sorry, I don't watch the food network.....it always makes me hungry....

[fizzgig]

2. i'm watching chopped right now

i've loved the food network for as long as i can remember. i can't stand rachel ray now, but i did learn a lot from her when i started cooking in my late teens.

there are a few things i won't watch though, namely anything involving guy fieri or bobby flay (iron chef america excluded, i love to see him lose).

[LoveMyCali]

3. Rachel Ray is annoying

but she has good recipes and I would rather watch shows like her than all the reality type shows, except for the original Iron Chef because how do you not like a show where they make things like squid ink ice cream. lol

[OriginalGeek]

5. Old school Iron Chef was awesome

My daughter and I would cheer them on like we were watching football lol.

[fizzgig]

11. i've been in love with morimoto since the original iron chef

too bad they don't show it on food network anymore. it was on the cooking channel a few years ago, but i don't get that channel anymore

[RebelOne]

17. But he still appears in the new Iron Chef now. n/t

[spiderpig]

22. I would so like to try his food.

He has a place in Napa. Maybe if our oil well comes in...

[OriginalGeek]

4. Did you see the one earlier today

with Mary Anne from Gilligan's Island? I don't recall seeing one with famous-ish people before. Man they all got hosed in those baskets - reindeer pate! lol

[spiderpig]

7. Who woulda thought Teri Hatcher cooks?

She looks like she never eats. But she does know her way around a food basket.

[OriginalGeek]

9. If I had been handicapping that race

I'da taken a bath. But that steak she put out looked crazy good.

[spiderpig]

10. I agree. She can come to my kitchen anytime.

Plus, she actually seemed nice.

[fizzgig]

12. i missed that one

i wonder what reindeer pate tastes like

[spiderpig]

8. Rachael Ray voice drove me nuts.

I understand now she had a medical condition. Whatever.

When I want to take a nap I tune in Ina Garten.

BTW, I went to a dinner at a local winery which was hosting a book signing for Anne Burrell. She was a hoot - very engaging & fun to be around.

[fizzgig]

13. i would love to meet anne burrell

she is so awesome

[spiderpig]

20. She really was awesome.

Mr.pig & I were posing with her for a picture & she pulled us both in saying "if you stay too far away you'll never make it into the shot"

The winery staff loved her to bits.

.

[RebelOne]

18. Chopped it my favorite of all the Food Network shows.

I really do not like Guy, but Bobby is a good guy. Did you know he is a Democrat?

[spiderpig]

21. Really? A Dem?

I'm not normally into ginge men, but he is a cutie. And he seems to be good-natured over all.

I adore Chopped. Funny how your opinion of judges can change. Watching Alex for years I'd always call her Poo-Face when she'd wrinkle up her nose while critiquing dishes. And Scott Conant would have a hissy fit if there was a red onion in his food. Now they are 2 of my favorites.

[Codeine]

14. I have a shameful little crush on Rachael Ray.

She's just SO DAMNED CUTE!



She can't really cook for shit, though.

[RebelOne]

16. So does my son.

I bought him a Rachael Ray cookbook for guys one Xmas.

[grasswire]

25. no accounting for taste

The day I saw her make a potato chip nacho dinner was the worst.

[Locut0s]

26. Reminds me of the semi serious feud between her and Anthony Bourdain.

He really does have a point

[Arugula Latte]

15. I like the Cooking Channel better

It is more about just cooking and less about gimmicky shows like "who can win their own food cart?!" and the like.

[spiderpig]

27. Have you seen Restaurant Redemption on Cooking Channel?

The host, Ching-He Huang, does the restaurant makeover thing like Robert Irvine, but she focuses on Asian cuisine. And she doesn't use a sledge hammer

[RebelOne]

19. Food Network is my favorite channel.

I am watching Restaurant Impossible with Robert Irvine now.

[chungking34]

23. I don't particularly care for the hosts on that channel

But that's a moot point, since the food that's shown on screen looks sooo delicious and mouth-watering. Yummy...

[grasswire]

24. Bobby Flay has mellowed.

He used to be a real prick, years ago. He has paid his dues by now, and is really a very respectable cook.

[OriginalGeek]

28. THe first show I remember him on

was Grillin and Chillin with some hick-type sidekick. I thought that show was pretty funny actually. I don't know what happened to the sidekick. I never saw anything on his shows that would make me think he was a prick but, of course, I only ever saw a tiny bit of his life that was shown on TV. Maybe if he was hard to get along with, marrying the lady from Law and Order is what mellowed him lol.

I intend to try some of his grilling recipes when I have a chance to do that more often.

[grasswire]

30. he had another show with a girl

Jacquie I think her name was. He was very rude to her, and his ego was too big for his head. That's when he got his reputation as a prick.

But as the years have gone by and he has proven himself as a restauranteur and chef, he has mellowed.

I really like his grilled peaches and chicken with blue cheese mashed potatoes. And his sweet potato buttermilk biscuits.

[spiderpig]

31. I want that recipe.

Grilled peaches & chicken with blue cheese mash? I am so there.

[grasswire]

32. oh I don't know if I have that cookbook right now.

I loaned a couple of his to a cousin. I don't find it on google, either. Might be able to get it at a library. The peaches and chicken had a chipotle glaze. And I believe the mash also had bacon in it. I used to make it about ten years ago.

[spiderpig]

34. You are making me vewy, vewy hungry.

[grasswire]

35. Is that tabby cat orange? nt

[spiderpig]

38. Peewee was a little gray tabby

who showed up at our patio door in 1998. We had her for 15 years - most of which she was subject to seizures. I'd wrap her up in a blanket and cuddle her until she recovered.

She died in July, but she was & always will be loved.

Peewee!

[grasswire]

40. sweet peewee

sorry for your loss. Some you never get over.

[spiderpig]

41. I tell myself it's nature's way of making room for another pet needing a loving home

Otherwise I couldn't stand it.

Mr. pig says we're getting pretty long in the tooth to bring in new animals. I tell him we'll just have to adopt senior critters. Like us.

[PRETZEL]

42. It was this guy,

http://www.jacksfirehouse.com/JackMcDavid/tabid/70/Default.aspx

He owns some restaurants in the Philly area.

[OriginalGeek]

43. Sounds like a good guy

I liked him on that show.

I t seems I need to find a way to Philly for some Jack McDavid food:

...He learned classical French technique, as well as discipline, at Washington's bastion of French cuisine, Le Lion D'Or...
---------------------------------
Jack opened his first restaurant, the Down Home Diner, in March of 1987, at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. He wowed patrons with inexpensive, inventive dishes like cornbread pizza with Tennessee ham and chicken-fried buffalo steak with red-eye gravy. (yum!)
---------------------------------
He buys from 250-300 farmers and breeders, and invests in local farms and greenhouses so that he can get perfect vegetables and herbs all year round. Everything served in his restaurants are McDavid-made - from mayonnaise and ketchup, to biscuits and chocolate chip cookies.
---------------------------------
Jack makes time for charities, having donated time and effort to the American Farmland Trust, March of Dimes, Meals on Wheels, Chef's Aid, Share Our Strength and many more.

Thanks for the info!

[spiderpig]

29. I just find the whole subject of food fascinating.

Know what's on my bucket list? Durian.

If you remember the show Chef vs. City with Aaron Sanchez & Chris Cosentino, at one point they had to eat durian. And these were guys who ate insects & animal guts, but they were just about barfing.

I understand many Asian restaurants won't serve durian because other diners find the smell so offensive. They say the fragrance is similar to dirty sweatsocks.

[grasswire]

33. Have you ever smelled a valerian capsule?

Dirty socks.

[spiderpig]

36. OK, I'll put that on my list too.

Isn't it funny about palates? Mr. pig & I can't stand cilantro. There's a lot written about how individuals process cilantro & many think it tastes like soap while others find it delicious.

In general, we love stinky food like garlic, horseradish, wasabi, habaneros...shoot, we even ate Trinidad Scorpion Butch T peppers without a tear.

[grasswire]

37. my border collie loves valerian capsules

I wonder if the plant itself smells like stinky feet. Don't know.

[spiderpig]

39. This subject warrants further investigation.

Let us proceed in the interest of culinary science.

[OriginalGeek]

44. lol, y'all go ahead

I anxiously await your reports.

Some co-workers went to China and other Asian countries for vacation one year and they brought back Durian hard candy and even as candy it about evacuated the room. You couldn't smell it but just the look on the faces of the people who put it in their mouths was enough for me to get somewhere else quick