Food Network

I imagine this is going to come as no surprise to you folks.  But I’m addicted to Food Network!  I love it!  Shocker?  If it is, you’re awfully new around here!  LOL  Food Network is practically the only thing I watch.  God bless the DVR because I can record all the shows I can’t watch when they come on because of a little thing called “going to work!”  And there are several of the shows that I consider “can’t miss!”

This is probably going to come as no shock either…….I love Paula Deen.  The Tall Skinny Man loves Paula Deen.  The Ankle Biters love Paula Deen.  She is like an honorary member of our family or something!  You know what I love most about her?  She just cooks honest food.  There’s nothing pretentious about the food she makes.  There’s no shame in making basic, honest food!  And she has helped America know what we Southerners have always known!  Food does not have to be fancy and fru-fru to be GOOD! 

I also love the fact that it’s obvious that she doesn’t just love to cook, she enjoys what she cooks and she enjoys other people enjoying what she cooks!  And then there’s the fact that Paula has apparently got the concept that the first ingredient in food is love!  So I love her! 

I record all her shows.  I have her cookbooks.  I subscribe to her magazine.  LOVE me some Paula Deen!  She’s just fabulous!

So who else do I love from Food Network, you ask?  Thanks for asking!  I adore Guy Fieri!  He so totally cracks me up!  I’m not so much a fan of his cooking show as I am Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.  I LOVE that show!  If you haven’t seen it, he travels around in old muscle cars to….well, diners, drive-ins, and dives all across the country.  And he always uncovers some of the most amazing looking food!  Everytime I watch, I wish for Smell-a-vision instead of just television!  Someone invent that, QUICK!  Would ya?  And remember it was MY idea!  Anyway, I love Guy!  He’s just downright fun to watch because it’s evident he has a wicked love affair going on with food too.  I can appreciate that in a person!  Cuz I might just be a little like that myself! 

Who else?  As crazy as it sounds, I love Ina…….the Barefoot Contessa.  I didn’t at first.  She seemed way too uppity and pretentious for me in the beginning.  A little too Martha Stewart.  I just don’t dig prissy food and that’s how I perceive ole Martha.  But over time, Ina has grown on me.  Did you know she used to write energy policy for the White House or some such like!?!!?  Then kind of accidentally happened up on the food industry when she ended up buying a little market called the Barefoot Contessa? 

I record her show everyday too.  Some days I just delete because she’s doing some food that’s just a little too over-the-top for me.  But most days, I am enthralled.  She challenges me.  She cooks with ingredients that intrigue me as a small-town little Southern girl. 

I learned the term “hericot verts” from her.  Turns out that just means itty bitty baby whole green beans!  But it sounds so much niftier saying “hericot verts” than “itty bitty baby whole green beans!”  And let me tell you something, they’re DELICIOUS!  I grew up in the South where you have to kill green beans before you eat them.  I mean, you have to really make sure they’re good and dead before you eat them.  I just assumed there was some evil flesh-eating bacteria that had to be cooked out of them or something!  Cuz the green beans I grew up loving and eating were simmered for HOURS in a big pot with a ginormous lot of bacon or ham hock or fat back or something off a pig!  And hey, that’s some GOOD eatin’!  No doubt!  But until fairly recently, I had never eaten a non-dead green bean.  Now they’re a HUGE favorite for me!  All because of Ina! 

Duff……….the Ace of Cakes guy.  Oh my!  He is so freakin’ talented it makes me SICK!  I can only dream of cakes like he constructs!  I am always in awe of the amazing creations he turns out!  And honestly, his motley crew of staff just tickle me too.  They’re all so eccentric!  The ankle biters enjoy watching him and his staff create too! 

Could we talk about Food Network without talking about Rachael Ray?  What a ball of energy!  She’s like the energizer bunny!  I’m into her retro kitchen!  And I really love the fact that she wants folks to give up the idea that cooking has got to be difficult and take forever!  Because it doesn’t!  Good food doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time to produce!  So I love her!

And then there are a few who just grate my last nerve………..but we won’t talk about them………..cuz it’s all about the love today! 

So who is your favorite?  And why?  Talk me to here!  It’s getting lonesome in here all alone!  Some of you lurkers come out and play!  Pretty please with sugar on top!  Speak up!  I can’t hear you!  :o)  Dish some Food Network with me!

See you tomorrow!