The Food Network

[gran4]

I love The Barefoot Contessa. Ina makes great food and is so calming. She comes on after I'm home from teaching. What a great way to chill out.

[tootsmeru]

Ina is so kick ass she seduced my 2 year old into watching a full episode yesterday. That women has some magic and I really like the camera work on her show. I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, but I love the concepts.

[margojata]

Jan 1, 2009 12:10:23 GMT -4 gran4 said:

I love The Barefoot Contessa. Ina makes great food and is so calming. She comes on after I'm home from teaching. What a great way to chill out.

The only thing that bugs me about her is her nervous laugh. As soon as people show up, she laughs, at nothing. She's got a damn hot gay friend, though - is it something like T.R.?

[Mutagen]

I originally thought Ina was insufferably smug, but over time she's become one of my favorites. Her show is incredibly soothing and relaxing. And she kicks ass - she used to work for the White House! I listened to a radio interview where she said she really wasn't fulfilled or happy at that job, bought the Barefoot Contessa store on almost a whim, and never looked back. And apparently her husband Jeffrey - despite being the hapless setter on fire of charcoal bags on the show - was really supportive, almost adamant, that she have a career she liked.

As for The Next Food Network Star... Aaron McCargo did probably get the "winner's edit," but I didn't have a problem with him winning. Out of the final three - hell, even out of the final five - he seemed like the least-bad option. Lisa had some good stuff but her personality was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

[Deleted]

Count me in as a Ina fan, her food is simple and she has an adorable husband. Looking forward to the start of My China by Kylie Kwong.

[badtzmaru]

Jan 1, 2009 21:31:43 GMT -4 @barrie said:

Count me in as a Ina fan, her food is simple and she has an adorable husband. Looking forward to the start of My China by Kylie Kwong.

One of my favorite things about Ina's shows is her husband. They seem so dedicated and in love with each other, it's wonderful. But if she doesn't stop saying "with the volume turned up" I may have to shake some sense into her.

[Mutagen]

Jan 2, 2009 12:29:52 GMT -4 @badtzmaru said:

But if she doesn't stop saying "with the volume turned up" I may have to shake some sense into her.

Ha! My favorite Ina-ism is "Use the GOOD [ingredient]." I know what she's saying, but sometimes I think, as opposed to the slop I usually put in my recipes?

[Deleted]

I have much Ina love too, but the producers need to change the show's bumper music - it's too brain-rattling.

[WitchyPoo]

She also made a reference to "tablescapes" and how much that phrase drives her crazy. Ina is the anti-Sandra Lee.

I've made her killer brownies and there are, indeed, killer. Best brownies I've ever eaten.

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2007 15:21:49 GMT -4 @mrsbowling said:

I love Nigella but damn! her family could have chosen actual girl names instead of girling up boy names "Thomasina, Nigella, Horatia".

I just love that she's so gorgeously curvy!! THAT IS WHAT A WOMAN SHOULD LOOK LIKE!!!! No surprise that she's hugely popular with men. No toothpick legs and boy chest there!

[slightly OT] I think Nigella is a very attractive woman, but there is no one way a woman "should" look, as evidenced by all the different body types out there. There's a way to compliment her figure without reinforcing the harmful message that so many girls and women have internalized--that they're not "real women" if they aren't curvy. And, yes, plenty of men lust after women with other body types. [/OT]

Re: Ina, she's very calming. Re: Flay, like others here, I've been surprised to find him likable in his Smackdown show.