Had it with the Food Channel...

[RICHARD]

LOL LOL LOL 30 minute cereal and toast with a twist.......hilarious!! And, it's a signature dish. That's what I call my Grapenuts too

I use the extra 25 minutes to taunt the others in the kitchen and read the news paper!

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I can see the gal that won last year at a streetside bistro, trying to get the locals to recognize her!

[RICHARD]

There I am watching the NASCAR prerace show and who shows up? Guy Fieri.

HE shows up with plates of some kind of meat on it for the show hosts..

There should be a rule against wearing the kinds of shorts he wears. Men should not be allowed to wear bowling shirts with shorts that extend below the knee.

IT's not fashion, it's a costume.....

GF reminds me of this guy.....


He's a Denver Broncos fan that would show up to the football games dressed like that. He came to the El Lay Coliseum while the Raider's played there. He had to be escorted out of the stands.....It was brutal.

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A few more hours to NFNS!!!!

[Daisy and Delilah]

I was sitting there watching Nascar myself, at a family get together. I see Guy Fieri on the tv set cooking meat!!! Holy cow!! Can we go anywhere without seeing him?? To make it worse......I was at my Son's house and he has one of those HD 300 inch screens. Guy looked scary with his new blonde/dark beard scheme. Where does he buy all those shirts?

Tonight is the night that Lisa gets up with food all over her face. It should be memorable.

[RICHARD]

This morning I make breakfast in a Target tank top, some shorts from a sporting goods store and my birkies...

I think that was a total of 25-30 dollars for my whole outfit.

I had to laugh at the 300 dollar shirt and the Gucci shoes. If I don't spill on myself, I haven't cooked. There is something "not right" with her.....something under the surface.

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Now, who in their right mind goes to the fridge, pulls out a piece of fish and then gets out a jar of grape jelly, cherrios or marshmallow cream to cook with it?

I really love the fact that the judges are insulted about the taste of the dishes.

Everyone knows fish and anything gawdawful sweet isn't good.

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I had to laugh at the "one minute" food prep tip.

I laughed even harder at their critique of the kid that tripped into the eating area.

The have a guy that literally shoves food into his face and has no manners at all, a woman who talks and acts like a baby while she cooks and a hubby and wife team who should give up cooking and open a massage parlor.

IT is a train wreck, with an explosion, dam collapse and tidal wave...and I can't take my eyes off of it!


The network is really taking advantage of these people.

[Karen]

Yeah, you're COOKING in a $300 shirt? Hello? Yes, honey, we know you're here to be a TV star, but save the expensive outfits for the judging room! If you wanna wear it to give your presentation, keep it aside, and plan an extra 30 seconds off your cook time to change your outfit!

But she came off a whole lot better when she had to give up on being "perfect" - far less grating on the nerves.

Not surprised at who went home ...

I thought that Adam's planned pratfall was not nearly as funny as he did, and seeing him struggle with a room of straight faces looking back at him was even sadder.

[RICHARD]

Yikes! Was that his wife and son standing next to him when he gave the command to start engines.

It probably was.

You know.....I didn't even notice them, I was blown away by Nicky Blonsky and her singing the Nat'l. Anthem- She was very good!

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Why would you go into a cooking contest with little or no experience with seafood?

I knew a gal I worked with that would not touch raw hamburgers-that used to make me laugh- but the fish thing with Nipa was hilarious.

[RICHARD]

I just saw "secrets of a chef" or whatever that train wreck was.

I think the gal who stars in the show is one of the sous chefs on the Iron Chef shows.


I wasn't impressed.


She had Fieri's hair, Giada's charm, RR's getting-the-plane-to-the-terminal hand shakes and Aloton Brown's charm.

At one point she referred to the food at the bottom of pan that she browned as CRUD.

No wonder they are looking for the NFNS, the people they have on now are pathetic.


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I see the Neely's are taking a car trip......Probably to get away from having to feed the clan every Sunday.....And really, how many BBQ recipes can you do?

I was waiting for BBQ ice cream....Really!

[Daisy and Delilah]

I forgot to mention......I think that new show is hosted by Ann Burrell(blonde). I think she's one of Mario Batali's sous chefs.

Also: What the heck are udon noodles??? Are we, as home cooks, supposed to know the difference when seeing them in a dish, as opposed to linguini, vermicelli, spaghetti, bla bla bla? What happened to the simplistic part of the concept of the NFNS?
I can honestly say I've never heard of them.

[RICHARD]

Also: What the heck are udon noodles??? Are we, as home cooks, supposed to know the difference when seeing them in a dish, as opposed to linguini, vermicelli, spaghetti, bla bla bla? What happened to the simplistic part of the concept of the NFNS?
I can honestly say I've never heard of them.

It's pasta spelled with two vowels and two letters?

One major peeve I have with the FN is the way they use/describe some of the ingredients.

Chorizo is two different things. In Spain it's a hard sausage-in Mexico it's a pork soft sausage that comes in a casing you have to remove before you cook it.

Some of the 'fad' Tex Mex fusion foods I never heard of, and I was raised on Mex food. Chipotles? Either canned or powdered, that must be a recent invention. Blue corn tortillas, meal or chips are a 'gourmet' offering-pricey when you come across the products.

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I was watching a cooking show where they were comparing olive oil. One brand was almost 50 dollars a liter. 200 a gallon!
Truffle oil or any flavored oil that's used in a recipe will cost you a pretty penny, if you can find them!

Tamarind paste? I love Thai food and wanted to cook up some Pad Thai. I had to search for a few weeks before I had all the ingredients for the recipe.

We recently got a Philipino/Chinese/Vietnamese/Japanese super market nearby. Lychee nuts? Looooong green beans? Tamarind? glass noodles? EVERYTHING!I feel really lucky because here in El Lay you can find pretty much anything. Not so easy in some parts of the country.

I am sure that most of the viewers have wanted to make a recipe they saw on the tube and were stymied by that one ingredient that they will never find on the local supermarket shelves.

We don't get a substitute option-and I can see why because of some of the recipes are really specific as to the taste or preperation-but sometimes the food and ingredients are way too pretentious to even think about preparing.

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And then there are the recipes/ingredients that make me wonder.

Honey is the new go-to-ingredient. Like the mango salso, chipotle- powdered and canned, cumin and adobo it shows up in everything. Taste any tomato product and try to taste the tomato over the sugars! I have to dump a can of hot tomato sauce into my spaghetti because the sweetness is so cloying,,

That is one reason that the nation is overweight and diabetic. Enough of the honey!

Recipes? I caught the end of a program-I think it was a R Ray trainwreck and she was serving up a rice, cooked in red wine and garnished with grapes. It looked like the scat of the Flying Purple People Eater!

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LOL, my last rant is about Protein, Savory and Sweet!

When I hear those terms I think about my biology/physiology classes. I think about a fricking DNA strand when I hear protein and see the picture of a tongue with the sweet/sour/bitter areas outlined on it. Food should be a simple pleasure-you eat what you like and want.

People like Alton Brown are interesting-but I don't need a primer on food and the chemical effects of a marinade breaking down the muscle fibers in flank steak.

Sometimes knowing too much science about food isn't the best way to go!

[Daisy and Delilah]

Richard, I've got to tell you that your knowledge of food is very impressive. I can only imagine how some of these FN shows must leave you shaking your head after listening to some of the nonsense they're talking about.
I'm so gullible, anything is fascinating to me.

In my little samll town area, we can't find much of anything at the grocers. My sister can't even find Panchetta(spelling?). With Giada, it's a way of life.

I watched the Ann Burrell show this morning. Secrets Of A Restaurant Chef. Ann is a little rough around the edges isn't she? Totally different for the FN.

[Karen]

It's spelled pancetta, and like Richard, I am lucky, because living in such an ethnically diverse area, there's pancetta at my grocery store - it's in the deli department, near the specialty cheeses.

As far as produce, I am also lucky - the really good produce market nearest me has more variety than I have ever heard of - there are Asian greens that I would have no idea what to do with, every kind of pepper you could wish for - you name it, they have it!

Yes, I am spoiled, but I know it. Example? You may be able to get bok choy, and maybe even baby bok choy. but can you get junior baby bok choy? I can, and it was one of Miss Hoppy's greens of choice!

[cassiesmom]

I was very surprised by yesterday's "Next Food Network Star" episode. I won't say anything more in case others have not seen it yet - don't want to spoil it - but I was surprised.

Karen - what is junior baby bok choy? There is an Asian market near where I used to work, but it is always so crowded with shoppers of the different Asian nationalities that I chicken out from shopping there. Everyone seems to know exactly what they need (Shoppers on a Mission!); the market is always super busy. I usually go out right after I go in because I'm not sure where to start. On the other hand- There is a Polish grocer/butcher just a little way from my house, but I don't hesitate to dive into the fray there -- because I know more about what I'm shopping for! (Kielbasa and Polish rye, please and let me join the check-out line.)

[Daisy and Delilah]

You guys are so lucky. I love it when I find a shallot in the store.

Did anyone watch the NFNS last night? I can't pick the one I think will win at this point. They're all equally bad.

I noticed that Kelsey delegated too much out to Ricochet Rachel and after that, RR took over everybody's 4 minutes. One of them was dominated by her. Was that necessary because they needed help or just too much from her when not necessarily needed?
I also noticed that none of the judges complained about her dominance.

Is it just me or does Kelsey do everything they suggest to her and then get criticized for doing it the "right way"?

I'm also wondering why Lisa keeps zoning out. Do any of these people have what it takes to entertain people in a 30 minute network show?

I am seeing the commercials for Road Tasted with the Neelys. Why are Jamie and Bobby not doing it anymore? From what I've heard/read, that show sent the business of the featured companies into instant boom. A couple of them said they couldn't keep up with demand after the shows were aired. I think the prices are far more than the average person can afford.

I'm guessing they had to get Gina out of the studio because she was upstaging everybody. Maybe the road will tame her a little? I doubt it. You're right, Richard, how many things can you BBQ? It was getting old.