The Food Network

[holliday]

I don't have the level of cable that gives me The Food Network (Canada) - but I used to watch it quite a bit (10 yrs ago?) and now I've seen some fun stuff on-line at the Canadian one and the US one.

I officially love Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I thought Guy Fieri would bug me, but I really quite enjoy him as host. I love seeing the quirky places, and the sometimes quirky, but generally always artery-clogging food. Everything in moderation, I guess.

I also watched several episodes of Throwdown with Bobby Flay - I enjoy the premise of the show. I like the ones that feature one specific item, like Coconut Cake, not things like Crepes, that can have many different fillings. Flay is pretty good, but I can see how he could get annoying very quickly.

The other show I watched was Ace of Cakes. I love watching the cakes being created and put together - I enjoy most of the cast of characters, but the receptionist can grate after a while (I think it's because she's featured too often in the interviews and she's not nearly as cute/funny as she thinks she is). When something is a cake, though, it should be ALL cake, not styrofoam or wood. (Just my opinion.)

I remember liking The Barefoot Contessa, but I don't care for Giada nor Rachel Ray - so it's good that none of their shows are available on-line.

[Cranky Old Broad]

When my husband and I catch Ace of Cakes, we try to figure out who's stoned. At least that's how a lot of those people working for Duff seem.

[Nysha]

My new favorite FN show is Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. Anne Burrell has some over-the-top ticks that put some people off, but damn she can cook. I've tried several of her recipes and every one of them has turned out great.

[SweetOblivion]

Jan 4, 2009 14:07:38 GMT -4 Cranky Old Broad said:

When my husband and I catch Ace of Cakes, we try to figure out who's stoned. At least that's how a lot of those people working for Duff seem.

Absolutely. You can tell when they do Duff's interviews. There was one time where he completely lost his train of thought and just sat there, like "Ahhhh....huh?".

Geof, too, is probably stoned most of the time. I think the rest of them are just naturally spaced out.

[Mutagen]

Jan 4, 2009 13:25:02 GMT -4 @holliday said:

I also watched several episodes of Throwdown with Bobby Flay - I enjoy the premise of the show. I like the ones that feature one specific item, like Coconut Cake, not things like Crepes, that can have many different fillings. Flay is pretty good, but I can see how he could get annoying very quickly.

I love Throwdown and it's responsible for changing my opinion of Bobby Flay by 180 degrees. I used to think he was an unmitigated jackass, and he still undoubtedly has jackass qualities, but on Throwdown he shows a tremendous amount of sportsmanship. He seems pretty gracious with his opponent whether he wins or loses, and that's not easy to do. I can't believe I'm writing such nice things about Bobby Flay. I thought I would never forgive him for jumping on the cutting board during his Iron Chef appearances.

Did anyone see the falafel episode? Flay basically admitted he didn't deserve to win and that he squeaked by with sauces and side dishes. Also he took it very well when his competitor (who used to work for him) teased "What, you're not using any CHIPOTLE over there?"

[gran4]

My husband and I love Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We spend time planning a taste of Triple D. vacation. I hope we can actually take one someday. We also try to figure out a place around town that we could submit to the program. Haven't found a contender yet.

[chiqui]

This isn't quite Food network, but there's a Spanish language Chinese cooking show on CCTV I watch every once in a while. The chef has got to be the most polite, most demure TV cooking host I've ever seen; when he's not doing something, he will stand there with his hands crossed in front of him or behind, and just SMILE.

[biondetta]

Since moving to Europe, I've realized just how much I used to watch HGTV and the Food Network. I miss being able to turn to those channels when there's nothing on, but I want to watch something. I even watched Rachel Ray, despite the face that I usually didn't like the recipes of hers that I actually tried to make.

I also watched Throwdown and I'm another who had a bit more respect for Flay after watching that show. He used to annoy the hell out of me, but he seemed a bit more bearable on that show, although I always preferred to see the challenger win, particularly if the challenger seemed truly interested in the competition. I think it was the donut one in Manhattan where the guy seemed a bit of an ass.

[kixxy]

Ahh, I love TFN! I can't cook anything more than Kraft Dinner, but most of the TV that I'll watch is on this channel. Huh. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives has become a favourite. That's my kind of food porn!

Throwdown is a funny show to me... I'm not a huge fan of the show itself, but I agree with everyone above who said that it's made them into a Flay fan. The people he challenges just seem really disappointed when they found out they're not actually making the pilot show, although I guess Throwdown gives them publicity too.

[WitchyPoo]

Having watched enough episodes of Drivers... you can tell when he's really not into something. He's nice but he tends to pick out a small thing to compliment. He says something like, "Hmmm, you can really taste the pepper in that."