Day 169
Okay, I admit it … I am a Food Network junkie. Plain and simple. I love the channel, I love the shows, I love the people. I am a fan!
If I could only have one channel on my television … it would be that one! Seriously.
And the funny thing is … I do not cook!
I know. How weird is that?! I am an assembler. I can make lasagna and a yummy potato soup, great, gorgeous salads and Pavlova and airy meringues and really good over-easy eggs (that I can no longer eat due to allergies but practically dream about) … but I do not actually cook.
Well, I don’t cook in the sense of like Julia!
I can follow a recipe but I’d rather just throw stuff together and not follow the rules! I am not a braiser or a roaster (though I do make Thanksgiving dinner) … I don’t know what to do with half the spices (okay 7/8ths of the spices) that are in my spice drawers. But I use them anyway … my favorites being orange and flower peppers, cumin and lavender. I put lavender in everything! Or would if I remembered to do so. I’m also a big rosemary and thyme gal – fresh only, please.
I’m not a big baker either … probably because none of us were ever real “sweets” people … though I can add to a dessert that’s already made and make it into something prettier or more fun.
In any case … The Next Food Network Star just wrapped up tonight with its finale and I was NOT disappointed. I won’t say who got the new title as TNFNS … but I was very happy. I would have watched any of the shows piloted and any of the finalists in a show – they were that good this time around.
I watch Chopped … love it! I try to figure out what to do with the mystery items in the baskets … and in the 20 or so minutes that the contestants have to actually USE the items in the basket for whatever course is the challenge … I’m still thinking about what I’d do with those said items or am trying to figure out what the items ARE! And they are not easy things to work with. Sometimes it’s anchovies in the dessert round. Or octopus. Or tripe. Or some odd fruit from Malaysia! Tonight they had black chicken (I don’t even know what a black chicken is) … guava (who knew the seeds were inedible?) … and peas needed to be incorporated in the dessert round. I find it fascinating.
I watch a handful of other shows on that network, because if my television is on … it’s turned to that channel. Restaurant and Dinner Impossible … Giada … Anne Burrell … Diners … Good Eats … Barefoot Contessa … Ten Dollar Dinners … Paula … you name it, I probably like it!
Anyway, congrats to the winner tonight … I did not vote (I did not want someone’s future/fate in my hands!) but watched it as I ate my romaine salad with grilled chicken, feta and berries with bottled strawberry dressing. Not exactly mystery items … but that’s okay. If I had to wait to figure out what to do with those things … I’d starve to death!