Food Network

[RealityDiva]

I am addicted to the Food Network! I love Alton Brown [Dubbed "A/B" by my boyfriend and I.]

I just adore Giada and Ina Garten's shows. Rachel Ray just bugs the crap out of me, though.

[Nemeses]

re Rachel Ray..... And the concept of the show was ridiculous. Anyone can eat well on $40 a day - that is a fortune to spend on a day's worth of food, even if you have to eat out for every meal - so the premise of the show stank from the get-go.

I have to agree with this. I haven't liked Rachel Ray from the first exposure to her (her personality just really grates on me ), but I always had to laugh at the concept. For years I travelled steadily as part of my job, I was gone about 10 months out of the year travelling either in the US or overseas, and eating out was naturally part of my lifestyle. And in the US, $40 a day isn't exactly a hardship for one person. In fact, unless it was a special occasion, I'd have been hard-pressed to spend a whole $40 on just myself for food in a day. And I'm talking NY to LA to Chicago to Maui. Like Harvest says, the concept was just weak, nothing special.

[Ellen]

My husband and I find Rachel Ray (whom we've dubbed "The Media Whore") incredibly annoying. We like the places that she visits -- and some of the dishes that she makes -- but her fakey, overdone gestures and "cutesy" expressions (yumm-o, anyone?) bug the crap out of us.

I do love AB, and hubby loves Giada and her cleavage.

[RealityDiva]

My husband and I find Rachel Ray (whom we've dubbed "The Media Whore") incredibly annoying. We like the places that she visits -- and some of the dishes that she makes -- but her fakey, overdone gestures and "cutesy" expressions (yumm-o, anyone?) bug the crap out of us.

I do love AB, and hubby loves Giada and her cleavage.

You would think that Giada would wear a shirt that is somewhat classy, knowing that she will be bending over for 30 minutes on national tv... Whenever I watch Everyday Italian, I keep a count of how many times Giada refers to the dish she's making as 'Mine'. [Ex: Today, I'm going to make my famous spaghetti sauce.... My tartlets, my garlic bread...]

Another thing that bugs me about Rachel is how she calls extra virgin olive oil 'EVOO'. Urgghh.

[Harvest]

I do love AB, and hubby loves Giada and her cleavage.

We both love Alton's show, but find his personality a little disturbing, such as when he is judging on Next FN Star.

As for the cleavage, hubby seemed uncomfortable with that when we saw Giada's travel special, but I say if you've got the curves, then flaunt them! I think sometimes people are intimidated by strong, intelligent women who also have attractive physical attributes. It's not like she was dropping food down her top or exposing her nipples or anything. I did tell him someone here had said in her regular show the music sounded like a soft porn soundtrack, and he agreed, to which I say, "How would you know?" Ha!

The other thing to keep in mind is that Giada does have style, and if you've ever watched the original BBC What Not to Wear, you know that big-chested women (especially short ones) have to wear a reasonably low-cut top or they will look completely top-heavy and dumpy. Why should Giada have to look dumpy just because some Americans are uncomfortable with cleavage? Anyway, that is what I told hubby.

[Lois Lane]

I don't know. I think there's something to be said for dressing appropriately for the office. Her office happens to be on a TV cooking show. I think being beautiful (as Giada obviously is) is wonderful and shouldn't be hidden, but some of her tops are just a little too low cut to be appropriate for a cooking show. For a soap opera, more power to ya! Anyhow, that's just me.

[rt1ky]

Anyone can eat well on $40 a day - that is a fortune to spend on a day's worth of food, even if you have to eat out for every meal - so the premise of the show stank from the get-go.

That's true. Our per diem at work is $40 a day when we travel and that's plenty. We usually don't use it all. We're not eating fast food either. Many hotels (upscale and non upscale) offer free breakfasts and that saves a lot right there. Even with the lousy tips Rachael should have plenty of money. She does stop for coffee and snacks a lot.

Does any watch Elie Kreger (sp?) I think the show is called Healthy Appetite. I like her show and the style of it. Some of the recipes look pretty good. Unfortunately the farmer's markets around here aren't as diverse with the produce she uses. I try to shop farmers markets to support local farmers and keep down on the amount of gas it takes to ship produce across the country.

[Ellen]

from Harvest

We both love Alton's show, but find his personality a little disturbing, such as when he is judging on Next FN Star.

I could feel his pain when he was on the last FN Star ep. All of the contestants were so excruciatingly bad (even the good ones) that I fully agreed when he made the comment about getting rid of them all and starting over. (Though JAG and his temper tantrums should have been sent home!)
also from Harvest

Giada does have style, and if you've ever watched the original BBC What Not to Wear, you know that big-chested women (especially short ones) have to wear a reasonably low-cut top or they will look completely top-heavy and dumpy. Why should Giada have to look dumpy just because some Americans are uncomfortable with cleavage?

Amen to that, sistah! (speaking as a cleavagely blessed woman . . .)

from rt1ky

Does any watch Elie Kreger (sp?) I think the show is called Healthy Appetite. I like her show and the style of it. Some of the recipes look pretty good. Unfortunately the farmer's markets around here aren't as diverse with the produce she uses.

Yes -- love her, love her recipes! She's the one cook on the network whose recipes I don't have to consistently "doctor up" to make them healthy, as they're healthy already. And in San Diego we're really lucky to have consistently good and diverse farmers' markets.

Sandra Lee (Little Miss Tablescape) -- ugggh! If you don't like to cook, don't have a cooking show! Her stuff is primarily processed crap, loaded with sodium and trans fats. And she can't seem to make a dessert without Cool Whip. (C'mon, how long does it take to make real whipped cream?) Having said all that, I have gotten some good cocktail ideas from her. She should probably just skip the food and just focus on the decorating and the drinkies!

[mrs. tino]

In regards to Giada's wardrobe, I really don't mind the shirts that much. Some of them are a little ridiculous but for the most part they are not that distracting.
Even Rachael Ray wears some really low cut shirts that would be just as distracting as Giada's, if she were built like her that is.

[PK...]

In regards to Giada's wardrobe, I really don't mind the shirts that much. Some of them are a little ridiculous but for the most part they are not that distracting.
Even Rachael Ray wears some really low cut shirts that would be just as distracting as Giada's, if she were built like her that is.

I am guilty of not paying attention to anyone's wardrobe....

LOL, yeah, I only notice if a poster calls my attention to it...

I really only notice faces - that's where the "soul" shines through... Nah... That was silly and pretentious , but I still only watch the face, for whatever the reason...

;0))

PK