Had it with the Food Channel...

[RICHARD]

And I'm guessing growing up where you did, in the climate you did, there wasn't a lot of call for heavy "stick-to-your-ribs in bitter winter weather" type food!

We so have a cold season, It's on December 17th from 4 a.m. until 6 a.m.

Dad was a M&C, SPAM fiend. I used to go to the pantry and look for something quick to make......and all there was was M&C and cans o' SPAM!
Sometimes I'll bust out a can and box and go to town!

Part of it is not having a 'dairy' gene, when I get real M&C, it sours me, literally, on the dairy in real food!

If I am invited to dinner or I have a frozen M&C hanging around, I'll do it! It's just not my cup of tea. All the people back east eat good food anyway, what else is there to do during the winter except cook?

The AM thing is really irritating, the guy CAN cook! The smiles and over presentation make me numb. I don't care for the catchy phrases and sayings....

JUST COOK!

LOL,

Rice, beans and tortillas are multi-seasonal!

[Karen]

All the people back east eat good food anyway, what else is there to do during the winter except cook?

Let's see - shovel snow, try not to fall down while dealing with ice on the driveway, spend time hacking ice off of driveway and the vehicle one intends to drive, refilling the windshield washer fluid again, shoveling the front stairs again ... digging out the end of the driveway after the plow refills it again ...

Cooking is the warm alternative!

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy all that stuff, except for the "trying not to fall down" part which takes more concentration for me than most ... having half the sense of balance that normal folks do. After all, what other kind of exercise is as immediately as gratifying as shoveling snow? For each shovelful thrown onto the pile, you not only are rewarded with a clean patch of pavement, but a taller pile AND calories burned! And even days later you can look at the snow pile and think "Hah! I did that!"

[Daisy and Delilah]

I can really agree that the new Aaron is a FN creation. He is obviously uncomfortable with it. Maybe we should all email them and let them know how we feel. Enough with the theatrics and more cooking, Please!!!
I hope he doesn't get tired of it and decide to leave them, down the road.

[RICHARD]

Did anyone see the Paula Deen, Aaron show they did together?

FN has ruined that poor dude. It was way over the top with 'character'.

I wanted to watch more of it, but my head started to cave in!

[Daisy and Delilah]

I read yesterday that RR didn't need the surgery after all. She just needed voice training. I don't think this was a surprise to anybody.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Richard,

This morning at 9:30, our time here on the east coast.......there was a new show called "Viva Daisy"(I think that was it). This lady was cooking Mexican style food with a healthy twist.
I hope you get to see it and give us your opinion. I enjoyed it.

[jennielynn1970]

I saw Viva Daisy too! She's originally from the PBS channel, and I have one of her cookbooks. I remember her being thinner and having shorter hair. She cooks really down home latin foods. You really have to check her out. She's great. You might want to look for her old PBS shows too, Daisy Cooks. I'm worried they're going to try to "food network" her show and make her less of what I liked watching. They already have her hair different, although maybe she decided that herself.

Here's her cookbook, which I have.

[RICHARD]

I hope you get to see it and give us your opinion. I enjoyed it.

I always wanted to be a writer!

RR's production company is footing the bills for this new 'Daisy' program. Is the other "latina" cook still on? She is a staple on the Mexican language channel stations in EL LAY.....toned down but still cooking with cleavage!

I missed the show this morning! I kept thinking to post a reminder about it and forgot. I was distracted about the new Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef!

I remember catching Daisy Duke on PBS, but didn't stay too long. PBs has always had a great rep for bringing good cooking programs to the tube. Rick Bayless is the top and there used to be an elderly woman, who I cannot remember her name, that made the 'real thing'.

Here's the deal-

Mexican cooking is as varied as any large country's cuisine.

Examples?

France, Spain and Germany influenced the cooking and culture of Mexico, the southern edge of the country's cooking is influenced by the Central American states-and even Cuba has a little part of he pie.

I can watch the "Mexican" cooking shows for entertainment only because the Mex cooking I grew up with is different than the regional dishes that get put on the air.

Tamales?

You can have Southern tamales, middle tamales and nothern ones!

The 'wraps' change - you can get a banana leave wrapped tamale from the south, one wrapped in a corn husk in the central part of the country and closer to the northern border you get the 'bastardized' tamales -wrapped in paper because some gringos won't do the organic wrappers!

I used the term GRINGO with affection, so complain to the newspaper, not me!

Menudo, tripe soup, varies too! You can get it white, red, with or without hominy!

Beans! Black beans are more a southern and Gulf offering, Pintos more a nothern fare. Then you have the TEX MEX twists on what is plated in a restaurant closer to the U.S. border.

------------------------------

My only peeve about Mex cooking on T.V. is the availability of the food used,
Where I live there are tons of Mexican stores and when I trip thru the produce sections I find stuff that even I don't know what it's for. Many herbs and spices are used for their medicinal and food properties-so you can find all kinds of weird stuff.

Oh, I almost forget!

ANCHO CHILE POWDER! One of Booby Flay's faves!

The ground up powder is an 'invention' of the gringo again! If you walk into an older person's kitchen you will see the garlic 'tail', dried chiles and a bowl of veggies hanging around someplace!

Dried chiles that get stuck in humid places or get wet get moldy. Some one figured out that if you grind them up and bottle them, they travel and last longer. At the AMerican store you can find displays of chiles and herbs in cellophane packages-that's another MEX thing-when they shop in Mexico you have to see what is being sold-the markets are open air affairs with product out in the open. LITERALLY!

Anyway, I'll shut up now and see if they put the show on again!

Thanks for reminding me!