yes! yes! yes!

Anthony Bourdain sounds off on Food Network Personalities. Good stuff. Right on. Hilarious. Especially the parts about Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee. Here'w what he says about Sandra:

"Pure evil. This frightening Hell Spawn of Kathie Lee and Betty Crocker seems on a mission to kill her fans, one meal at a time. She Must Be Stopped. Her death-dealing can-opening ways will cut a swath of destruction through the world if not contained. I would likely be arrested if I suggested on television that any children watching should promptly go to a wooded area with a gun and harm themselves. What’s the difference between that and Sandra suggesting we fill our mouths with Ritz Crackers, jam a can of Cheez Wiz in after and press hard? None that I can see. This is simply irresponsible programming. Its only possible use might be as a psychological warfare strategy against the resurgent Taliban--or dangerous insurgent groups. A large-racked blonde repeatedly urging Afghans and angry Iraqis to stuff themseles with fatty, processed American foods might be just the weapon we need to win the war on terror."

Brilliant.

And here are his thoughts on the Top Chef contestants. I love how he talks about Mikey. Adorable!

i'm thankful for chocolate and Nigella

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had several family gatherings with lots of yummy food. On Thanksgiving I was to bring a dessert other than pie...Preferably chocolate. I decided to make Nigella's Triple Chocolate Brownies from Nigella Feasts. I have never made brownies from scratch...the box stuff is usually a crowd pleaser. But the recipe looked awesome, and I've been building up my baking skills little by little lately, so I gave 'em a shot. They were pretty easy to make...and they turned out AWESOME if I do say so myself. Actually, Jack said they were the best brownies he's ever had, so take his word for it. He doesn't say stuff like that unless he means it. Here's some brownie porn:






Yeah, they are wonderful brownies. Super-duper rich (with 3 sticks of butter, 6 eggs and 3 kinds of chocolate, what do you expect?!?), and I'll definitely make them again for a special occasion. And I'm not allowed to make my usual Krusteaz Fat-Free brownies with stuff added again...after Nigella's recipe, those just won't do.

Sausage Links (Installment one)

A random group of food-related links that I've collected/discovered/explored/enjoyed this past week....Expect "Sausage Links" to become a fairly regular feature, because I like me some randomness.

-If you were scared of Spinach, wait until you encounter the Evil Strawberry. Muahahahahaaaa!

-Extra Tasty is a fun website all about cocktails! All kinds of concoctions, including lots of reader submitted ones. A new one everyday! And it's very cute and fun to explore, to boot!

-This article in the New Yorker is all about the Food Network and how food TV has changed things. It's a neat look at how times have changed it terms of how Americans cook and eat, and also how the Food Network has evolved from Chef-centric to *gag me* Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee instructional shows for the way-to-busy-to-really-cook moms. Quite fascinating.

In other news, here are two recipes I want to try soon. Like in the next two weeks:

-Cardamom Honey Chicken, which looks easy enough...and quite fall-esque.

-Pumpkin Chili, which also looks easy and, well, it's got pumpkin innit, so Fall-O-Rama! And it's pretty darn healthy, too!

couch potato

Well, I don't watch as much food proramming as I used to (back when Jamie Oliver, Tony Bordain and Nigella all had shows...), but there's a couple new food shows that I've been digging lately....Wait, first, some very very good news...Nigella is gonna have a new show on the Food Network!! This is so exciting. I've missed her. I can't fathom that FoodTV didn't put her on sooner (her previous shows were on the Style network and BBC America, I believe).

Okay, on to the shows currently on TV. On the Food Netork, Ive been thoroughly enjoying Ham on the Street. It's a hilarious show, with the host usually out on the street making passers-by try his strange concoctions or play the game "Name That Meat." Very entertaining. But also, there's lots of good ideas! For instance:

Cinnamon Rolls made in a hollowed out orange for camping. You wrap the whole thing in foil and throw it on the embers of your campfire. Brilliant!!! I tried to make cinimon rolls last summer while camping. I just made kind of a foil tent pack thing. They were pretty flat and doughy, but an okay breakfast. I'm so doing this orange trick next time.

As a matter of fact, that whole Great Outdoors episode was full of fun and neat ideas. Check out the "Bean Hole Soup" (Oh man did they have some fun with the phrase "Bean Hole!") and S'mores Nachos *droooool* (s'mores and nachos are some of may favorite foods.)

One more thing I will probably try out this summer is the Venezualen hot dogs from the hot dog episode (another very humorous episode). Cabbage and potato chips ON at hotdog. Fantastic.

The other new show I've been watching is Bravo's Top Chef. I didn't think I'd like it at first, but I caught the second episode, and it's pretty neat. It's like Iron Chef meets, say, Project Runway. Drama, competition and food. Good times.

This winning recipe from episode 4, the convenience episode, looks totally do-able and yummy: Mirin Glazed Sea Bass. Episode 4 was fun because for the quick challenge they had to make something out of ingredients they bought from a convenience store. Very creative.

Slashfood (my favorite food blog) has a recap of the show every week.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...