mousie

In her book, she mentions that she spent 4 years at USC in Los Angeles, but doesn't mention what her major was or that in fact she graduated. Other comments have said that she was studying for law school entrance exams when she met Ladd, so she probably did graduate.

OK I must get a different Lands End (west coast) than you guys. But there is an attractive man in a gray turtleneck. Is that TR? Grey hair and beard? Photo is just by himself, no children or anything. Caption says: "For the guy who looks great in even the simplest of things."

Saw that FN "All Stars" Thanksgiving special this evening. I guess that they figured out that putting any of them in the same room was a bad idea. It was a clip show where each "all star" did their own dishes, on their own sets, and then had a scene with their own big family table. Sad to say, PW's dishes were not that bad. She did a basic turkey and an apple pie with crumble topping. Giada's version of stuffing with root vegetables looked gross. Bobby's home fries were for brunch not Thanksgiving. I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I admit to spending most of the afternoon/evening on the couch watching cooking shows. I started with the regular PBS offerings, then moved over to Create where I watched at least six different shows that were offering their variations on making a TG turkey. I even watched Jazzy Vegetarian, just out of curiosity, to see what she would have for TG. (Tofu pumpkin pie with tofu whipped topping, kale salad and a stuffing casserole that was something like a Shepard's pie (no sheep were harmed). I am officially over TG and I am glad I am not cooking dinner this year.

For Laura Calder fans: she just posted this short video on her Twitter feed. Strategies for simple light dessert options with no cooking. Could be useful for low key dinners between or after the holidays when everyone is feeling the holiday overload.

I think the FN strategy here is to bring in people who already have a fan base (or are at least recognizable from other shows) hoping that the viewers will come to FN to see the cooking shows. They also get to drag in the B-list friends and cast members for even more fans. It worked pretty well for Trisha Yearwood. She has a pleasant on camera presence, but I don't remember anything that she's ever cooked that I would be interested in. But between her and her husband, they have a huge country music fan base. Worked for Pioneer Woman too with her blog and cookbook fans.

For the last few months FN has been sneaking in an Aunt Sandy episode on Wednesday morning at 10am. Lately they have been re-running that restaurant remake show. But today they busted out the Renaissance Halloween. Next week Halloween Queens is on the schedule (that's the one where she is Anne Boleyn, Guinevere, Marie Antoinette and Elizabeth I. Get your DVRs ready.

Thanks for the warnings, guys!

Totally agree with you AnneOfCleves, you build a a cookware collection over years. I am a die-hard Le Creuset fan, but only have about 5 or 6 pieces collected over about 20 years. All purchased on deep discount, on closeouts, or at the outlets stores. I have not heard good things about any of these celebrity chef knock-offs. The price might look good, but they will not last as well as the originals. As for regular cast iron skillets, Lodge is an American company and their prices are quite reasonable As for all of the decorative stuff, I just do not need anything more, my cabinets are already overflowing..

Not sure how to interpret this Qoass. Do you mean that Valerie will kick Ree out of the top spot on FN's down home cooking list or vice versa?

Disclaimer: I have not seen this episode yet. Because even though I was able to get the SO to watch Sandra Lee for the snark factor, he refuses to even listen to PW for even a minute, my BFF is the same to, if she is here and PW comes on she requests a channel change. I will catch the rerun during the week, for snarking purposes. But I do love good enchilada sauce and the recipe that's posted on FN is not it. You could do better with Trader Joe's frozen enchiladas. First of all, it's not a tomato sauce. Some recipes include tomato, but the base of the sauce is dried chiles (your preferred variety) that are re-hydrated in warm water and then blended with the other ingredients. The puree is then cooked in a little bit of oil to finish it . I was looking for a good one online and this was the first one I could find quickly: http://mexicanfoodjournal.com/red-enchilada-sauce/

Hi folks, It's only a few days until Valerie Bertinelli's new show debuts on Food Network. Saturday, August 8th at noon http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2015/07/valerie-bertinelli-on-valeries-home-cooking/ Getting a little tired of all these B-list celebs getting cooking shows. I will probably watch it to see if it's a trainwreck. After all she was the spokesmodel for Jenny Craig for a few years, now she's a dedicated home cook and foodie?

Check this out, (scroll down past her high school picture) looks like a purple enameled cast iron dutch over with her logo and a butterfly handle. There is also a logoed knife. http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2014/10/fun-announcement/ Most of the celebrity and off-brand cookware is manufactured in China these days and the quality is not noted to be as good as the originals made in Europe or the USA. I personally will stick with Le Creuset which has been serving me well for more than 20 years.

Trying not to be be too depressing here but it looks like she may have a long road to recovery before she is up for that sort of thing. http://www.eonline.com/news/659792/sandra-lee-leaves-hospital-after-breast-cancer-surgery-now-at-home-with-andrew-cuomo-and-pet-birds and http://www.inquisitr.com/2209569/sandra-lee-cancer-update-more-surgery-ahead-for-food-network-star-after-unexpected-setback/

Oh please, Dad's dinner was filet mignon with shrimp and and a heavy dessert (and I thought he was a cardiologist), father-in-laws dinner was whole roast tenderloins with shrimp. Can she not think of anything else to make.? And, FN showing these episodes back-to-back was a mistake on FN's part, but I guess it's grilling week or father's day week or some other stupid FN theme. Lura, just buy the book and read her "memoir" and all of your questions will be answered.

Hi GrisGris, Is the saucepan completely covered in enamel? If so I would try soaking in some soapy water for a couple of hours. Of course if there is any exposed plain cast iron that would not want to soak the whole pan. So maybe use a soapy sponge directly on the sticker. If that doesn't loosen it, then try something Goo Gone. Test it on the bottom of the first to make sure it doesn't harm the finish. LC's are pretty near indestructible. Hope your Dad settles in well in the new home.

I may have posted this before, but it's a very nice series of short videos that Laura Calder has has made recently about hosting dinner parties in Paris. http://fya.tv/laura-calder-hosts/#sthash.BVGzrIA3.4yzp1QWo.dpbs

Hi all you fellow pet lovers, look into getting vet health insurance. It will pay off in the long run. There are a lot of options, so you should research which company might work best for your situation. My sweet little dog (see avatar photo) was diagnosed with lymphoma last summer and went through a full course of chemo, which cost almost $10K, the insurance paid about 80%. I could not have afforded the full cost on my own. He's in remission now and seems to be doing pretty well. Get the insurance.

Sandra Lee made those Banana Boats on one of her early shows and apparently so did every little girl in America who ever went to Girl Scout camp.

I seem to recall in older episodes that the kids would walk, but I guess now that the girls are old enough to drive they need to be on truck-cam too. Saw Ladd's birthday episode this morning. What 46 year old man wants chili cheeseburgers and a cake with plastic farm animals (not to mention the "46" candles) for his birthday dinner.

Aunt Sandy is back . . . . http://defamer.gawker.com/sandra-lee-rescued-a-distressed-baby-seal-1701185864/+allierileyjones

And also a James Beard award for Outstanding Personality/Host http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2015-book-broadcast-and-journalism-awards-complete-winner-recap Congrats!

There is also the complete lack of instruction. All she does is describe what she is doing (Now Imma gonna put the ground beef into the pan). She doesn't talk about how to work with an different ingredients or explain techniques or why she is using certain seasonings. Granted that her ingredients rarely vary that much from ground beef, steak, chicken breast. I think I remember a pork shoulder once. That is what I miss so much about Anne Burrell (although I still watch or record her when I get a chance). She was always very clear in what she was doing, explaining and demonstrating every step. If she was doing something original or a variation, she would say "I put my Anne Burrell thumbprint on this". If she was making a classic dish, she would say "I learned this when I was an apprentice chef in Italy" or "I learned this from Mario Batali when I worked with him on Iron Chef". Similar thing with Laura Calder, doing a lot of classic French dishes with excellent instruction and demonstrations. BTW Laura Calder is completely gone from Cooking Channel now.

Don't worry guys. Remember what we used to say on the old SLop forums: Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Well, if you read between the lines, she did mention in the book that she never stayed over night at Ladd's because she didn't want people talking about it. Then when she described the honey moon she talked about what a big revelation it was, so maybe they did abstain beforehand.

Gris Gris, no need to be embarrassed, I keep Ree's book right next to Sandy's books on the shelf and browse them every once and a while when I need a good chuckle. ReeseW has had a few roles where she has played a down-home Southern woman so it's not that far fetched of an idea. If you haven't seen her performance as June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" you should rent it. Another reason for delay is that someone else made a movie about Osage County a couple of years ago with an obscure cast of people like Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. :)