Tahitigirl

I must be hair-obsessed today. First I watched Ree on Pioneer Woman and thought her hair would surely drag through her BBQ chicken more than once, thinking a ponytail or haircut would be in order. Then, for the first time in months, I watched The Kitchen only to be assaulted with the view of Sunny's two-toned mop wig. In what universe does that look good? And then I realized GZ had the Kewpie doll curl at the top of his forehead...doesn't exactly fit with his personality. Normally I don't even notice what people wear or how they style their hair; it's simply not important to me. But this level of ridiculousness couldn't be ignored.

Much of this seemed like a "do-over". I did notice, however, that when Antonia was choosing flowers she bought orange tulips and some blue ones. When she walked into the kitchen, the flowers were bright pink and light green. Then when it came time to create the nosegays, we were back to the orange and blue with no pink in sight.

I asked my hubby for more details about his cornstarch method of tenderizing. He verified that he did get it from Jeff Smith. However, it was originally shown as cornstarch and sake. In our less affluent times, he (hubby) started using just water and he still got tremendous results. He makes a paste out of it which is actually more the consistency of heavy cream. Marinate for at least an hour, overnight if you can. Rinse the mixture off the meat before preparing. If you want to add flavor in addition to tenderizing, simply add garlic or herbs to the pasty mixture. It seems crazy that such a simple method can make a difference but I can always tell if he has forgotten or omitted this step. Try it out! You'll never fix meat without it again (esp chicken). By the way, I assume it works on pork but do not know first hand. Hubby is allergic to pork so we never fix it.

I missed the segment where Ree did this but wanted to say that my husband has been marinating meat in water and cornstarch (and sometimes other items such as garlic, soy, herbs, etc) for over twenty years. It tenderizes meat/chicken in a way that no acid can. He learned it from Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet). It's not just good for stir fry. He uses it on steak also. The meat will just melt in your mouth. And it tenderizes without changing the flavor, unlike acid marinades.

I highly doubt that GZ and Damaris are making these decisions. In fact, I'd be very surprised if Bobby, Giada, and Alton are anything more than a front for "the network" with the episode decisions. They just play a role and deliver the news.

I caught a little bit of an episode yesterday that I'd never seen before. She was doing a lobster bake and it was from season 1. I had been under the impression that her narcissism had advanced over the years but it tuns out it was in high form back in 2008. I can't remember all of the many winks and nods she gave but the one that was really gag-worthy was when she said something would give the dish "that special Giada touch." She also talked about using time-saving products due to having a baby now (with her trademark smirk) and wondered why more Californians didn't do lobster bakes on the beach. (Maybe because they're expensive on the west coast?) I could hardly watch, she was so full of herself. Thank goodness the voice of reason (Ina) came on afterwards.

"But, TahitiGirl, I thought that Ladd refused the tomato salad." Yes, sorry for the confusion. I was trying to say that he didn't eat vegetables for the first of many times.

So season 1, episode 1 aired this afternoon. It opened with Ree gathering herbs from her huge raised bed garden. From there it progressed to incessant comments about cowboy food, tons of butter, cream, and whole milk while preparing chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and a marinated tomato salad. Ree's hair wasn't as red, her face was shiny from doing her own make-up, she was noticeably thinner, the kids were cute, and Ladd made his first pass at eating vegetables. In the next segment we were treated to Ree making breakfast sandwiches and taking them to the family working cattle. And don't forget Ladd eating the sandwich with his work gloves on. Ugh. It ended with a plug for her blog, just in case there were some viewers who weren't aware of her online presence. I remember watching it the first time and being so very disappointed. The only appealing thing for me was the tomato salad and it was relatively uninspired. It's amazing to me how highly rated this show has become. Sadness....

"Tess limply squeezes out one blob out of the pastry bag that clearly doesn't meet Ina's specifications, so Ina swoops the bag away from Tess and finishes the damn thing herself! " Yes, and if you look at the tart on the table at the end of the show, it's clearly a different tart. The piping is totally different from what Tess and Ina collaborated on.

Yes, and it all started with, " I *love* entertaining on the beach..." Right, Ina. We can tell how much you love it!

I've made only one recipe of hers: Chicken Florentine Pasta. This was on one of her 16-minute meal shows. It took a lot longer than 16 minutes but I didn't use pre-washed spinach and that added quite a bit of time. Overall, we really like it and have made it several times. ETA: we usually add mushrooms when we make it. Nothing else has appealed, or I already have a similar recipe to what's she's made. We're not into opening boxes and cans at our house and prefer to use fresh ingredients and lots of veggies...something that's sorely lacking on her show.

Our favorite Ina salad is the Tomato Feta Salad...halved grape tomatoes, feta, red onion, parsley, basil, dressing. We love it and everyone I've served it to asks for the recipe. It's one of our go-to recipes. Another is her chicken salad for sandwiches. Remember the episode? Ina made two versions of several items for taste testing the secret ingredient. Tarragon is the secret for the chicken salad and truly makes a world of difference.

I'm also a TWoP lurker/poster. Have been cooking since my teens but have grown in my abilities due to Ina (and Anne Burrell when her show was on). For many years, I rarely cooked because my hubby is far better at it than I am. I tend to bake more but still really enjoy creating a meal for people when I can. I appreciate Ina's simplified approach and focus on good ingredients (even though we all poke fun at it) as well as cooking from scratch. We rarely eat processed foods in our home so I don't want recipes where I'm supposed to open a bunch of cans, boxes, and jars. I think that's why I like Ina more than other FN cooks. So glad we can continue our conversation here!