The Food Network

[Mutagen]

I'm just not sure if Lisa was cut out for TV. She certainly knows her stuff, but I wonder if she'd be better off editing a magazine or writing a food column if she wanted to educate people. She completely turned me off during the Girl Scouts episode, the way she totally ran roughshod over her girl and bragged about her son having very refined tastes, and never won me back. Don't get me wrong, I don't think she's a horrible person and I wouldn't necessarily have minded if she had won... I just don't ever see myself watching her show.

Of course, I also love Paula Deen - what can I say, I live in the South and have developed a fairly Zen attitude about excessive deep-frying -- and am endlessly entertained by her crazier recipes. Such as the donut-burger-bacon-fried egg sandwich. Holy shit.

But my favorite is Giada. Yes, she can be obnoxious, but her recipes frigging WORK. I made her chicken cacciatore once and was practically licking the bowl when I was done.

[luckylexie]

I like Giada too, but don't understand why people think she's snotty or obnoxious. Is it because of her Italian pronounciation? She was born in Italy and speaks Italian, so I can see why it would be weird for her to pronouce the Italian dishes or ingredients in any way other than the way she knows it. I feel the same way -- can't bring myself to say "risotto" with anything other than an Italian accent. But, I digress...

Does anyone here watch French Food at Home with Laura Calder? It's on here in Canada, don't know about the U.S. I've been watching since season one and while I like her recipes and format of the show and the occasional shots of her in Paris, she lacks any charisma and has the worst attempts at humour that it makes me embarrassed for her. Is it just me?

[Deleted]

WTF happened to Anne Burell's show? It was only on for like 5 weeks and now it's not on anymore. BOOO

[Nysha]

IDK, but I'm sure hoping it comes back. I loved both Anne & her cooking tips. Her Herb Roasted Chicken was to die for and the brined pork was excellent. Neither of them were difficult and yet the presentation looked like I spent hours in the kitchen.

[Mutagen]

Aug 15, 2008 11:59:09 GMT -4 luckylexie said:

I like Giada too, but don't understand why people think she's snotty or obnoxious. Is it because of her Italian pronounciation? She was born in Italy and speaks Italian, so I can see why it would be weird for her to pronouce the Italian dishes or ingredients in any way other than the way she knows it.

That's a good point, and in fact, I'll rephrase: I can understand why some other people find Giada obnoxious, although I've grown to like her. Personally, it took me a while to warm up to her, but I can't exactly put my finger on why. It's not just the pronunciation, which can be a little jarring at first, but something about her camera presence as well. Giada's a cool customer compared to people like Paula Deen or Rachael Ray, who whatever else you can say about them, do come across as a little more naturally friendly and enthusiastic on camera. But, once I understood that's just not how Giada rolls, I grew to like her, and now her show is one of my favorites on FN.

[chiqui]

Giada's very restful. Paula and Rachael shriek and overemote all over the place -- Paula has a lot of vulgarity as well. On Iron Chef America she even bit the finger of one of her rivals when he offered her a taste -- it was supposed to be playful, but by the look on the guy's face, it wasn't.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2008 13:53:52 GMT -4 chiqui said:

Giada's very restful. Paula and Rachael shriek and overemote all over the place -- Paula has a lot of vulgarity as well. On Iron Chef America she even bit the finger of one of her rivals when he offered her a taste -- it was supposed to be playful, but by the look on the guy's face, it wasn't.

Yeah, I've been tired of Paula's shtick since I saw an episode of her show where she visited Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. She was hanging all over Jimmy and flirting with him like a mad woman. I thought that Rosalynn was going to cut a bitch. Acting like a dirty old woman is one thing when you're cooking with celebrities on your talk show, but when you're pulling that crap with a former President and Nobel winner, it's downright icky.

[luckylexie]

Again, I'm a fan of Giada's show, but I'm tired of looking at her boobs.

[kathy1977]

I loved Giada from the get go. Mainly because her food always looks so fucking delicious.

Rachael Ray is ok. Her food is pretty much hit or miss though. I swear there have been a few times she has cooked meat cut it, and the inside looked PURPLE. Or maybe the color was off on my tv.

I grew up eating the types of food Paula cooks so she's not very interesting to me.

My personal favorite is Ina Gartin. I adore that woman. I want to marry her. I would sell my soul if she would invite me to her house and cook for me. Preferably her baked chicken or chicken chili. Every single thing she cooks looks amazing. Hell, she even makes asparagus and brussels sprouts look good. And I hate both of those. All she does is put it in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Very simple and it comes out looking divine.

Oh, and I really miss the Two Fat Ladies. That and Two Hot Tamales (anybody remember that show) got me hooked on this channel. I would never eat any of their food but I enjoyed watching them banter and cook. I know one died but I wish FN would at least show reruns.

[Deleted]

Dec 24, 2008 15:19:08 GMT -4 kathy1977 said:

Oh, and I really miss the Two Fat Ladies. ... I would never eat any of their food but I enjoyed watching them banter and cook. I know one died but I wish FN would at least show reruns.

Buy the DVDs and watch it any time you like!

(An aside - I really should have bought that for my mother, but I forgot.)