Cooking Shows: What's Cooking?

[pandora spocks]

For people who enjoy watching D-list celebs in the kitchen, Worst Cooks In America:  Celebrity Edition is for you.  The only celebrity that I recognized was Jaleel "Urkel"  White.  I predict a bevy of Real Housewives of Whatever in the kitchen.  Oh dear, how will their rampant egos coexist with the appliances?

Edited September 19, 2015 by pandora spocks

[3pwood]

I recently discovered that my AT&T U-Verse package includes a channel called "IONLIFE" (ION L), which shows a lot of Canadian cooking programs (all apparently reruns). Today, I ran into an episode of At The Table With that featured Sara Moulton, who's one of my favorites.  Doesn't look like that episode is scheduled to be rerun again any time soon, but the network & this show may be worth keeping an eye on.

[SmithW6079]

I used to watch "Recipe Rehab" on CBS's "Dream Team/It's Epic" Saturday morning education block, but it seems to have been cancelled/replaced by another show. That's too bad; I enjoyed it.

[pandora spocks]

Today, I ran into an episode of At The Table With that featured Sara Moulton, who's one of my favorites.

 

My local PBS affiliate started running episodes.  She is such a refreshing change from all the gimmicky cooking shows that are on Food Network which takes us to...Marilu’s Simple Good Food.

 

Oh goody, another fading celebrity trying to reboot her career.  Henner's recipes are few and far between.  But she did cook crepes and bacon and sausage for her son and his hungry pals.  She has a photographic memory and remembered the first time she made this recipe.  Next she guested on friend Leeza Gibbons' radio show and later made her Spicy Salmon on a Spinach and Arugula Salad.  Finally she and her family had a cookout which featured Turkey and Portobello Burgers.  Fortunately her hubby (third and final marriage) did the grilling.  And I thought Farmhouse Rules was bad about adding extra BS!

Edited October 19, 2015 by pandora spocks

[chessiegal]

I caught the start of this show. I'd never seen anyone make crepe batter in a blender before, but everyone I've ever seen make crepe batter says it needs to rest. She poured it straight from the blender into the pan. I thought her crepes looked like crap. What is up with all these has been TV personalities getting shows on CC and FN? If this is what we're getting with the current Pres retiring, it's not promising.

[grisgris]

I started to watch Marilu's show and couldn't make it halfway through. Dreadful. I saw a commercial that a new show is coming starring Patricia Heaton. Can't. Wait.

[mousie]

 

I started to watch Marilu's show and couldn't make it halfway through. Dreadful. I saw a commercial that a new show is coming starring Patricia Heaton. Can't. Wait.

 

Thanks for the warnings, guys!

[Westiepeach]

I took one for the team and watched Patricia Heaton's cooking show today. Um, no. Just no. I love Tricia Yearwood, I like Valerie Bertinelli ... once we got Marilu and now Patricia ... please stick to acting.

[grisgris]

I caught just the briefest glimpse of Patricia's show. (I've never watched any of the shows she's appeared on, so I had no expectations.) She was in the kitchen with some robust woman who was dressed up in a drindl and pigtails and a lot of face paint, so I assumed it was for Halloween? They were making....drum roll... GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES -- in the oven, no less. They cut the sandwiches in half length-wise and each of them took squirt bottles of mustard and ketchup and started decorating them. Patricia stacked the finished product on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce.

 

Just no.

 

I'm trying to understand why all of these has-been actresses are flooding FN. NONE of them seem to have any cooking skills to write home about. I wonder if they just show up at FN's door with a finished product in the can. That's cheap and easy programming for FN. Surely FN doesn't go out and solicit this crap.

 

 I actually kind of liked Daphne Brogdon's show just because I think that she and her chef-husband should have show. I think them doing a "poor man's" version of "Extra Virgin" would be a hoot and they'd probably be great at it.

[Fostersmom]

Patricia might have been the most annoying host of all the "actress shows" FN keeps foisting on us. Oh wait…. she might be tied with Hailey Duff. Maybe. But Patricia was just bad. No real skills, which is fine, but she has a grating personality too. I loved how her microscopic pinch of salt was enough for an entire pot of soup and for her odd ass dressing. Why she felt the need to drag every costar and her makeup artist on the show, I just don't know. I watched multiple episodes of Valerie and Tiffani, would give Marilu another shot, but I'm thinking I'm out on this one.

[mousie]

I'm trying to understand why all of these has-been actresses are flooding FN. NONE of them seem to have any cooking skills to write home about. I wonder if they just show up at FN's door with a finished product in the can. That's cheap and easy programming for FN. Surely FN doesn't go out and solicit this crap.

 

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.

Edited October 25, 2015 by mousie

[selhars]

I don't watch often, but I have liked what I've seen of Trisha and Pioneer Woman.

The recipes may be on the simple side, but they're 'doable' for the home basic cook, and seem like they'd taste pretty good.

The PW episodes I remember are the ones' where she took her dog to a pet parade, and her husbands college friends were visiting. Both episodes had appropriate dishes, and provided enough twists on others that this viewer can't complain.

 

I have to admit I have no interest in watching any of those others -- Bertinelli or Wheaton -- cook. IF I stumble upon their show, pause for a second, and they in me over....., well, that could happen. That's how I happened to find Trisha and PW....and some other older woman who lives in the country, she's the grandma type I never heard of before.....

[smiley13]

 I'm trying to understand why all of these has-been actresses are flooding FN.

I would not consider Patricia Heaton a has-been actress.  She has a current show on ABC.

 

I have not seen much out of Marilu Henner, Tiffani Thiessen, the Duff girl or the Mowry girl lately though.  Bertinelli just wrapped up a pretty good run on Hot In Cleveland so I would not add her to the has-been list either.

[BatmanBeatles]

 

Oh goody, another fading celebrity trying to reboot her career.  Henner's recipes are few and far between.  But she did cook crepes and bacon and sausage for her son and his hungry pals.

I thought she was a vegan.

[imjagain]

I thought she was a vegan.

I did too.

I would watch a vegan cooking show.

Marilu Henner is the last person I would think of for a cooking show. I do remember seeing her on The Chew talking about her great memory, and she said she could remember every meal she has ever had. The hosts would throw out a date and she would ramble off some food she ate lol. I remember thinking it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I'm sure it wasn't meant to be but it made me laugh.

It's actually getting to be pretty funny that every other cooking show has an actress as the host.

[grisgris]

What happened to Marilu's show? Was it a one and done thing?

[mousie]

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.

[grisgris]

Thanks, mousie! I miss Laura.

[mousie]

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.

[3pwood]

Not sure where to post Chuck Williams' obituary -- founder of Williams-Sonoma, 100 years old, huge influence.  Sounds like a nice guy who knew what he was doing, & we've all benefitted from it.

 

 

 

[grisgris]

Did anybody catch that trainwreck on Food Network, "Christmas at Bobby's?"  It was another one of those forced get-togethers of FN "talent." It was Bobby, Katie Lee, Sunny Anderson, Geoffrey Zakarian, Scott Conant, Alex Guaranshelli, Anne Burrell and Eddie Jackson. Geoffrey and Scott acted like being there was beneath them (all the while carrying out a "friendly" rivalry that barely concealed honest contempt.) Sunny and Katie were out of their element (you know it was bad when Katei was sent off-set for 50 minutes of the show for a bubble bath and dressing for dinner!) and Eddie just played along like a good sport in the "clueless rookie" role. Anne and Alex at least tried to act like they were in on the joke and making the best of the snarkfest at hand. Bobby sort of stood back like a smirking observer and just let the whole thing run its course.

[novhappy]

Golly that special at Bobbys was awkward! The cooking was ok- the showed some tips and techniques. Anne Burrell was just short of rude to Eddie, clearly irritated by having to help him and a bit imperious when telling him to help her. Why were Geoffrey and Scott there? It would have been better if Bobby was having a sleepover to welcome the relative newbies.

But I don't want to see anyone in their pjs and Alex g with the pigtails was cringeworthy. The only funny part was Sunny complaining about the quality of the sheets. But Bobby had no witty comeback.

[Maverick]

I'm sure they just cut "Stephanie got all the Egyptian cotton" in editing.

[rcc]

Jacques Pepin cooked with his granddaughter today. So adorable. He made an orange cake and told her "Don't tell your mother, I never showed her." LOL When he cut the cake to fit into the pan he cut a piece for her and put it right into her mouth then another piece for him. You can tell he's a doting grandfather. At the end Claudine and her husband joined them at the table. I love watching this man.

[beverlyoc]

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but Bob Tuschman has been replaced at Food Network.

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/food-network-bob-tuschman-deirdre-ohearn-cooking-channel-1201684940/

 

Didi O'Hearn's claim to fame is the ill-advised Celebrity Edition of Worst Cooks in America.

[IndianPaintbrush]

Dinner at Tiffani's is my guilty pleasure, even though this show wouldn't exist if it weren't for the various C and D-list celebs that Tiffani brings on.  But I liked the first season better - I liked watching Tiffani interact with her friends while they helped in the kitchen, and there isn't as much of that this season.

Edited February 23, 2016 by IndianPaintbrush

[Bastet]

Tiffani's is the only one of the celebrity shows I can watch.  There is absolutely nothing new or noteworthy about her food - it's all stuff most of us have made a thousand times before - and I thus have no idea why the show is on the air, but at least it's pleasant background noise when nothing else is on.  Tia Mowry, Valerie Bertinelli, Patricia Heaton, etc. -- all of their shows are just unbearably annoying to me on top of not providing me with any recipes or techniques that make me think, "I need to try that."  But there's something about Tiffani's personality that overcomes the hokey set-up with the celebrity friends.  She seems like a nice, normal person who forms genuine friendships with the people she works with for lengths of time.  And, on a shallow note, she's got a great body, one that suggests she actually eats the food she cooks.

[WildPlum]

Are there any actual cooking shows on? I can't stand the one featuring celebrities of any kind, nor the ones with "reality TV" twists. So off my lists would be: Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray, Emeril, Pioneer Woman (I hate the kitsch and the "I am just a simple ranch woman in a family that has almost as much money as Donald Trump"), The various "Chef" shows.

 

I will watch reruns of Alton Brown's old shows and some of the Martha Stewart PBS stuff. Even old Julia Child (which I have on DVD). Barefoot Contessa if I am really desperate on a slow afternoon.

[chessiegal]

There are plenty of cooking shows on PBS. I watch them every day.

[Wings]

Jacques Pepin cooked with his granddaughter today. So adorable. He made an orange cake and told her "Don't tell your mother, I never showed her." LOL When he cut the cake to fit into the pan he cut a piece for her and put it right into her mouth then another piece for him. You can tell he's a doting grandfather. At the end Claudine and her husband joined them at the table. I love watching this man.

 

 

Orange cake is my favorite cake above all others!  Love it.  I have an excellent recipe and though not a baker I will make this one from time to time. 

 

I don't like shows where you sit and watch someone cook that bores me to tears. I love any food competition.  Love games of all kinds!  

[Bastet]

I don't like shows where you sit and watch someone cook that bores me to tears.

 

I prefer those.  Some are better at it than others, but pretty much any time a cooking show host is part of a storyline rather than just cooking, instructing, and chatting to the audience, I wind up rolling my eyes.  The only competitive cooking show I can watch is Top Chef and the rare episode of Chopped; otherwise, it's more gimmick than I'm willing to sit through to see good food being prepared.

[ariel]

 

 

I don't like shows where you sit and watch someone cook that bores me to tears. I love any food competition.  Love games of all kinds!  

You are in luck. You are the Food Network's target audience.

[JasmineFlower]

In terms of the celeb cooking shows. I like Haylie Duff's show a lot. She's not a "real girl" anywhere but in a Hollywood biz context, but beyond that title, I enjoy her show. I'm in the target age range for hers though and I think that makes a difference, I like her vibe, enjoy her friends, recognize many of the people she has on. I haven't tried any of her recipes, but I haven't tried any I've seen on the channel in a while, been fairly lazy. I do think that all of these recipes from all the celeb shows need to be on Food Network site because the Cooking Channel site is nice for the info, but not having it on the main site where people can leave reviews makes me less likely to try something that is more complicated.

 

I like Tiffani's show and watch it sometimes. I like the food she makes cause it's rather ordinary and nothing that seems ridiculous, but I don't like how she's all dressed up like a 1950's wife working in the kitchen, it's probably the thing I like least about the show. This isn't said to offend anyone who likes this, but for me, it makes her seem a bit stuffier than I typically imagine her to be, and I say that as a Saved by the Bell and White Collar fan and a die-hard BH 90210 fan. I've followed and like the actress for years (I still call her Tiffani Amber!), so when she's dressed up wearing an apron in the kitchen, it's a bit at odds with what I already know of her.

 

I like Tia Mowry and her husband a ton, but don't watch her show much. I catch pieces here and there and it looks like she's cooking other things now, so maybe I'll try it again for real. When it first started, she was mostly cooking like healthy vegan/vegetarian stuff, which isn't my thing at all, so I just didn't watch.

 

I'm not sure if Trisha's counts since her place on the channel seems cemented, but I really enjoy her show as well. I haven't tried the others, but would probably only be willing to give Valerie's a shot of the ones I know have them.

[biakbiak]

I don't think Tiffani ' style is remotely 50s housewife. I think like some people, myself included, she just likes wearing an apron when she cooks. The aprons and I don't even think she wears them all the time are very basic and utilitarian.

Edited April 5, 2016 by biakbiak

[JasmineFlower]

I don't care about wearing aprons, that's not what makes it a 50s housewife to me, it's that under the apron's she's wearing a dress and heels or is all done up for a night out that makes it stuffier than I'd want. But like I said, it's not meant to offend. Not asking anyone to agree with me, just don't like that aspect of her cooking.

[biakbiak]

Different strokes it reads to me like someone who is dressed for entertaining and having a party at her home which is the premise of the show, I find her clothes fairly casual/normal for people e ntertaining at home.

Edited April 6, 2016 by biakbiak

[JasmineFlower]

Maybe I'd have a lot less of a problem with it if I actually believed she was seamlessly going from the kitchen to dinner and she just had to be dressed up at that exact moment, no excusing yourself for a few minutes, in order to look presentable for her company....but I'm well aware there's a production crew there, prepared plates for display in the fridge, finished dishes warming in the oven, etc. because that meal didn't actually take 22 minutes to be made. Her husband doesn't just magically appear on in the kitchen like it's a shocking surprise either, etc. It's a TV show and I know it. She could change from what she has on in the kitchen to when she's entertaining. Or she could not wear a semi-formal dress when entertaining too. Plenty of people entertain after cooking on these shows, and Tiffani looks the stuffiest to me during the majority of her show. She looks fantastic, don't get me wrong, but no, not a fan overall of the stuffier vibe.

[IndianPaintbrush]

I made Tiffani's recipe for Corn Dogs from her recent "Day at the Fair" episode.  It was tricky getting the right batter thickness, but they were delicious and I would make them again.  Best part was that our whole house smelled like a carnival afterwards!

[Skyfall]

Anyone remember Jeff's short lived $24 In 24? Well CC's watered down ripoff just premiered and is horrible.

[BennyB]

 

Anyone remember Jeff's short lived $24 In 24? Well CC's watered down ripoff just premiered and is horrible.

Jeff?  Jeff Mauro?  Who's CC?  :(

[biakbiak]

CC is the Cooking Channel.

[BennyB]

 

CC is the Cooking Channel

Hah!  I totally knew that....never in my mind was I trying to figure out WHO CC was...just checking to make sure everyone else was on their toes!  :-D

[Viqutorious]

It could be Cat Cora!

[BennyB]

 

It could be Cat Cora

Yeah.....that's the ticket......  ;-)

[Totale]

Another aspect of these cooking shows which goes unnoticed is that places die, which make the reruns stale.  I spent the winter in Louisville and wanted to check out some of the places I'd seen on Throwdown and Damaris's show. The Brown Hotel, home of the Throwdown Hot Browns episode is still there (of course, it has been for 100 years), but he also did a breakfast episode at a quirky place that people tell me has been gone for years.  Damaris featured what looked like an awesome bulk spices shop that according to the people who have the space now is long gone, and another bulk grains shop which disappeared several years back, probably soon after the episode first aired.

[Skyfall]

Has anyone watched The Kitchen lately? Seems they've dialed it down some and have stopped making Katie Lee a thing.

[biakbiak]

I watched it today seemed the same to me and Katie, I am one of the few people who she doesn't bother, seemed to be used just as much.

[chessiegal]

I saw on the line-up for one of my PBS stations that Ellie Krieger has a show called Ellie's Real Good Food. The on-line guide said it was season 1 episode 3. I recorded it as we were not going to be home. I haven't watched it yet, but am so happy to see her back on tv.

[stillhere1900]

Deep Fried Masters:  OMG!!!!  This show is for real!. This is a cooking challenge show where the contestants have to deep fry food that could be sold at the carnival. My dh was like.... "you have got to see this show"

Deep fried butter, alligator balls, mac & cheese, corn dogs, pizza, desserts, lasagna.... etc

 

Deep fried butter ?   for-the-love-of-GOD!!!! Why ?

[Maverick]

32 minutes ago, stillhere1900 said:

Deep fried butter ?   for-the-love-of-GOD!!!! Why ?

Because we can.