Pie Near Women

[JoeKv99]

I try not to hate-watch much these days but Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman show on Food Network is like a hot fork to the eye lately. I can stomach her references to her "frontier" and "Homestead" (That is really a huge, multimillion dollar cattle ranch with multiple million-dollar-plus structures) but today, after she again presented a recipe for quesadillas as if she were Julia Child making a souffle, she devoted a segment to teaching us how to make cinnamon toast. And not just making cinnamon toast, but repeatedly telling us that the way her husband (and every single human being in the world) makes cinnamon toast is wrong.
Seriously. Martha Stewart wouldn't even do this.

[AEA AGMA SM]

I've never gotten her appeal. I lump her in with other Food Network stars like Sandra Lee and Guy Fieri who just seem so very pedestrian.

[~~tiny3~~]

I think I noticed the face of jesus on that cinnamon toast....

[BobbyBubbi]

She's definitely the hokiest on food network.

The Food Network used to be really good. There were actually some good teachers, empowering people to get back in the kitchen. Rachel Ray, (whom I now despise) taught me the proper way to cut an onion and good knife technique, Paula Deen (before her n word slip) taught me how to frost a cake, and Alton Brown's (before he got bitchy) show I could watch for hours.

Now its just reality show trash.

I also can't stand Giada De Laurentiis bossing people around at her "parties" at the multimillion dollar bay-area beach house.

The only one I keep up with is, the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten and all her East Hampton gays. How I love the contrived lunches with Miguel photographing the food, her nervous laughter, barbeques at T.R. Pescod's shabby-chic cabin, and the flower guy in his bright orange sweater vest.

Seriously though, she's the only one who I feel like I learn from. Although, her show in recent years seems to be running out of ideas.

If you like cooking shows, the Cooking Channel (Food Network's alternate channel I guess?)has some good original programing, and they air older syndicated episodes of the big personalities BEFORE they all blew up and got annoying.

[JerseyGirl2]

I usually trust her recipes, but I can't stand her. If I am looking for something specific and she has the recipe, I will scroll down through her 428 photos and find the actual recipe buried at the bottom of the page and use it. I watched her show once. The way she talked about cooking for her man and the way he came in with a grunt, just grossed me out.

[madbrian]

Over the years, I've learned countless invaluable tips and recipes. But of late, the network has become unwatchable. Their latest decision to hire that moron who won their Food Network Star program doesn't bode well.

[JerseyGirl2]

Guy Fieri (whose actual last name is Ferry) has ruined the whole channel. The actual chefs are running from the network. Now you have Guy, Rachel Ray and Aunt Drunkie on everything.

[Stage Door Sally]

When I discovered Ree's blog eons ago, I thought she was interesting — a modern-day pioneer woman. Then I noticed her recipes seemed very familiar. They were the kind you'd find in a Junior League Supper or church's fundraising book. Not bad at all, but not original either. So I exited the blog. When the show aired, it was like a hot mess. She just can't live up to the fake persona she created. She's a housewife star looking for a place to shine. But she has her fans, legions of them.

[doodlenyc]

I loathe this show, and always turn it off. I tend to go to FN and HGTV if there is nothing I want to watch...it's good background noise and I like some of the shows. This, Fieri's cooking show (I will watch DDAD) and almost anything with Flay get an instant flick of the remote from me.

Her recipies are meh, but it's her "cooking for the man of the house" vibe that I cannot stand.

I do like a few of the winners of FNS, though not the most recent one who is a joke, imo...I didn't like any of the finalists.

Aarti Party and Daneris' shows are fun. I also like Tricia Yearwood's show.

[JoeKv99]

Ree has caught some flack (but not enough) for passing off others recipes as her own. She has a chocolate Cake that she harps on like she's invented the wheel that for 40-odd years has been on the back of he Hershey's Cocoa tins. There is not a thing I like about her (her sexist worldview is particularly repugnant) but as a cooking teacher she's abysmal. A real TV chef should explain WHY a recipe works the way it does so you can make it work for you. Julia Child was infamous for painstakingly detailed recipes(Her first souffle recipe was 8 pages long- most of it about how to beat egg whites) but ANYONE could follow the directions and have a success. Ree tosses in odd bits of information (NEVER BUY pre-grated cheese!) (why Ree?) without a clue as to why she'd say that. She also is frustratingly vague on quantities and techniques (Add a good amount or hot sauce!) to force you to visit her blog for the rezt of the information

[FishermanBob]

"A real TV chef should explain WHY a recipe works the way it does so you can make it work for you."

But she's not a real TV chef. She is a food "personality". That's what Food Network is made up of these days. Reality show winners, bloggers, self-taught home cooks, personalities and an endless stream of food competitions. They chased the real TV chefs like Sara Moulton and Ming Tsai away a decade ago and dramatically cut back the actual cooking done by others like Mario Batali, Alton Brown and Tyler Florence instead having them host contests and competition shows. Her show is not meant for you to learn from, it's meant for you to get interested in her as a personality so you'll buy her cookbooks. FN is not about instruction, it's about entertainment and about creating and marketing food personalities. If you haven't figured that out by now, you just haven't been paying attention. Ree's show is specifically meant to appeal to a demographic that FN has identified as strong consumers and is probably underserved since they offloaded Paula Deen and that demographic shockingly is not gay, male musical theater lovers. If you want instruction, stick to the cooking shows on PBS.

[JoeKv99]

Oh I know, I'm just whining. It's appalling to me when I read the Food Network dismiss their instructional shows as 'chop & dump' shows. I am old enough to recall the outrage that Rachel Ray wasn't "really cooking" with her super-simple 30 Minute Meals. I saw that show the other day and it's Jacques Pepin compared with all the "can opener cuisine" going on today.

[Mister Matt]

Their latest decision to hire that moron who won their Food Network Star program doesn't bode well.

I was flabbergasted he won. I have zero interest in Pioneer Woman and couldn't think of any reason to watch her show and having watched Food Network Star this season, I could barely stand to watch that buffoon during the competition much less purposely watch his own show. He should be jumping in barrels to distract bulls.

[Addison D.]

"Julia Child was infamous for painstakingly detailed recipes(Her first souffle recipe was 8 pages long- most of it about how to beat egg whites) but ANYONE could follow the directions and have a success."

When I was a young'un, my Mother used to make Julia Child's chocolate mousse. It was amazing--unbelievably light and delicate, yet rich and and satisfying. One of the stories of our family was that it was an Ordeal to make and, ironically, my Mother hated Chocolate--just another sacrifice that any Jewish Mother would make for her Beloved Son.

One fine day, my 10 year-old, baby-gay self decided to surprise everyone by making the mousse. As Joe says, the recipe was exhaustive in it's detail--precise enough to lead even a child through the arduous process of beating and folding the egg whites, melting the 3 kinds of chocolate, the splash of liqueur (Drambuie, I believe), the 2 tablespoons of coffee.

Well--ALMOST precise enough. Even Julia didn't think that she had to explain that you needed to MAKE the coffee first. Trust me when I tell you that 2TB of coffee grounds are fatal to Julia Child's chocolate mousse recipe.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Oh...Tyler Florence. Hot AND informative with a personality that is easy-going and relatale. Trisha Yearwood is the only one I'll actually watch cause she's delightful...though her food is basic.

I'll admit to loving the insanity of Sandra Lee. Her show KILLS me. The rest are hideous. HIDEOUS. I really only watch Cooking now.

That Ree Woman is just...the worst. Though I feel like I've posted that sentence on this board upwards for 50 times. It does, however, bear repeating.

[IAMWHATIAM]

I've pretty much given up all Food Network shows (other than occasionally Ina Garten and Trisha Yearwood, whose show I really enjoy, but whose food I would never cook) in favor of bad HGTV shows. But I love Mo Rocca's My Grandmother's Ravioli on Cooking Channel. Anyone else watch that one?

[JoeKv99]

That Mo Rocca show proves you CAN make a delightful, entertaining food show that isn't just geared towards professional chefs or people who think canned chili is fine cuisine.

[doodlenyc]

I love Mo's show! He is darling. The one with the gay granddads was one of the gayest things I've ever seen.

I also love Lydia on PBS. Her son, however...ick!

[SonofRobbieJ]

^ Agreed.

I also like some of the WARS shows. I actually LOVE Halloween Wars every year. The creativity of that thrills me. I like Cupcake Wars and have yet to watch Cone Wars.

[~~tiny3~~]

America's Test Kitchen. The BEST. Those 2 hosts are geeky/boring and don't LOOK like they know how to cook, but the recipes are just great, and the info, solid. The cookbooks are great, too.

I really miss the original FN shows like Alan & Nina (restaurant reviews), David Rosengarten, and Emeril's original show w/ Doc Gibbs and the band, which was tapedm btw on 9th ave/53rd st?, which I went to many times and had a blast, before it was ultra popular. About 20 yrs ago, I think.

[JoeKv99]

My other quarrel with Food Network- their unpredictable scheduling. Sometimes Good Eats is on at 10 AM sometimes not. And every Friday afternoon they preempt all their actual cooking shows with a marathon of game-show-ish crap, seemingly randomly selected.

[Plum]

Aw, I miss Sara Moulton too. She's the real deal. But the last time I had access to cable, Food Network had devolved into 50% cupcake programs and 2% actual content. The Cooking Channel is a better alternative, but honestly, I'm doing fine keeping to food blogs, books, and the Times dining section.

[sabrelady]

Lydia on PBS

Bout the only one i can follow. I HATE all the "come dine w me shows" again all about the ineptness (so they can snark) and the DRAMA.