What Money Has Done For Rachael, edition 312

Khakis and a green top from Express just won't cut it on the Daytime Emmy's red carpet! And even though it looks like she has a coil of snakes wrapped around her neck, Rach rocked some aubergine last night. Looking good, if I do say so myself.

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Ina Garten, Rachael Ray, & Bobby Flay Win Daytime Emmys!

Congratulations to Ina Garten (yay!), Rachael Ray, and Bobby Flay who were all winners at the Daytime Emmys this weekend. I'm so happy for Ina!


Giada At Home also won for Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary program.

Sadly, missing out again this year was Sandra Lee who lost in both of her categories (Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling and Outstanding Achievement in Makeup) to The View. Somebody give Aunt Sandy a break!

The creative arts Emmys were announced on Saturday. The "real" Daytime Emmys are airing right now on The CW.

Guess Which Food Network Star: Stiletto Edition

Guess which Food Network star recently sported some red patterned pumps while out and about?


Those don't look very restaurant kitchen-friendly. Luckily, I don't think she ever steps foot in one.

[Click on the pic to find out the answer!]

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Thanks for all the great restaurant suggestions sent me either via email or in the comments. I really appreciated it and was glad to find so many Texans (or knowledgeable travelers) so passionate about their food. I was pretty busy while I was there and didn't make it to enough spots, but I did take the time to get some puffy tacos while in town. Delish! Have a great rest of your weekend!

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The Stars at Night are Big and Bright...

Well, this is a first! My first blog from 32,000 feet, that is.

I'm currently en route to San Antonio, Texas for a few days. It'll be my first time ever in the Lone Star State. Bring on the 100+ temps!



I'm sure Rachael Ray or Giada has visited San Antonio on some Vacation special before, but what do they know? Anyone have any good restaurant/shopping/visiting suggestions for me while I'm there. You can leave them in the comments below or email them to me at foodnetworkaddict [at] gmail [dot] com if you prefer. I'd appreciate it!

Have a good Monday!

Noah Starr GONE on Ask Aida

The new season premiere of Ask Aida was on this morning and host Aida Mollenkamp's "tech guru" Noah Starr was noticeably absent. I think Noah got the technological boot. See yah, Noah!


Ask Aida has never been one of my favorite shows on Food Network. Noah did have his comedic moments here and there, but I don't think his presence will be missed all that much. Sorry to say.

As she acknowledged in our interview last year, Aida already knows what questions will be asked of her in advance and everything is planned out on her show. Thus, having a "tech guru" there to read her emails and "call" viewers just didn't seem to make sense.

Will you miss Noah?

Caption This: Pat Neely Book Signing

I ran across these... interesting... photos of Pat Neely on Flickr. What do you think Pat is thinking/saying in them?


"What's that, Gordon? You have another crappy show idea for us? We'll take it!"


"When Gina's away, Pat's eyes will stray."


"You did NOT just call me Warren Brown!"

Ace of Cakes Book Gets a Release Date... I think

The Ace of Cakes book that Duff Goldman told me about in our interview back in February of 2008 is finally coming out... I think!


According to Publishers Weekly, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes is set for an October release. Finally!

Duff had originally said it would be out "in the fall," so I guess he was technically correct... just didn't realize it would be two falls away.

Will you get the Ace of Cakes book?

Jeffrey Saad Gets Mini-Series: 'The Spice Smuggler'

Well that didn't take long!


Bob Tuschman today confirmed on his blog that The Next Food Network Star - season 5 runnerup, Jeffrey Saad, will have a 'mini-series' of 4 Web-exclusive videos based on his pilot called The Spice Smuggler.

"Jeffrey Saad takes you on a journey with Anise seed spice, Paprika, Garam Masala and Five Spice powder. He takes spices off the rack and brings them center stage. And as always, Jeffrey makes you need to taste the food," writes Bob T.

I wonder what Melissa d'Arabian thinks about her competition getting a show after only 2 episodes of her show have aired?

Rachael Ray Barely Squeaks By on 'Millionaire'

Rachael Ray was a guest contestant on tonight's episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and barely won the $50,000 for her Yum-O charity and the ASPCA after she got a question about Google's logo.


The question was something like: "What is true about Google's official logo: a) both o's are yellow b) the "e" is blue c) both g's are blue d) the "l" is red"

Now, I use Google about 15 thousand times a day and I definitely didn't know this. Rach even called herself something like "the least Googled person."

Sooo, she asked the audience and ended up getting the question right. Do you know what the answer is?

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I'm not ready for the weekend to be over! Hope you had a good one. Sigh-Monday is just a few hours away.

Who's Re-Labeling All the Products at Food Network?

Sunny Anderson has a really cool blog post up right now featuring an interview with Rani Cheema, a graphics designer at Food Network who makes all of those specialized labels to cover up the products' real labels used on cooking shows.


I don't know why, but I've always been fascinated with this kind of stuff. In the post, Sunny shows a pic of a frozen spinach box label fresh off the printer, complete with all the necessary wording and pics (just missing an authentic brand name). Then, there's a pic of the finished frozen spinach box that Rani actually constructed herself and hot glued together.

So much work for a box of spinach that probably gets a few seconds of air time before getting tossed in the trash!

It's cool, though. Check it out.

Rachael Ray Doesn't Want to be Lumped in With Sandra Lee

Poor Sandra! Even Rachael Ray doesn't want to be associated with her!


In a recent Newsweek article titled "Sandra Lee: The Anti-Julia", Rachael said:
"Child really was the forerunner for everything that happens on the Food Network. [I get] lumped in with Sandra Lee, but whatever. I try to do more than that—and I think it's important, for example, to start relearning to cut up whole chickens."

Sandra on the other hand carried on with her assertion that "no one has the time to cook the [Cordon Bleu] way, anyway" and lamented the loss of cocktails in her new show, Money Saving Meals (the alchy is too expensive now for Auntie Lee).

Still, to me, the article is a little mean-spirited and comes across as another biased attempt to bash Food Network and its perpetual punching bag Sandra Lee. I just don't get why Sandra even agrees to doing an article about Julia Child. Does she not know what they're going to say?!

The article also has a few blatant errors. The writer claims that Sandra is "the only host with two cooking programs playing in rotation." Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Italian and Giada at Home come to mind, and many hosts have multiple "programs" (not necessarily cooking programs, though) on the network.

I saw the movie Julie & Julia and do have a great respect for both Julia Child and Julia Powell, who managed, despite a full time job and other limitations, to cook her way though Child's entire classic cookbook. I know I couldn't do it. I know I wouldn't want to do it. But that doesn't mean I want to cook Sandra Lee recipes everyday, either. There should be enough hours in the Food Network's day to show a good mix. With shows by Anne Burrell, Ina Garten, Alton Brown... hell, even Claire Robinson & Daisy Martinez (who both graduated from culinary schools), I think it's getting there.

Duff Goldman Issues Pie Eating Challenge to Chicago Writer

In response to the harsh words exchanged back and forth between Duff Goldman and the Time Out Chicago writer who recently insinuated that Grape Juice Records, the label that Duff's band soihadto is signed to, scored a Charm City Cakes cake for its upcoming anniversary party thanks to some insider backscratching, Grape Juice Records, on behalf of Duff, challenged the writer to a pie eating contest to settle the whole matter.


That kid from Stand By Me does kinda look like a younger Duff, no? Duff might have an unfair advantage going into this thing.

On behalf of Duff Goldman and the band ...soihadto..., Grape Juice
Records issues the following formal challenge to you:

In light of all the recent internet hubbub regarding miscommunications, and in an attempt to have some fun with this, we come to propose that this dispute be settled like gentlemen. We challenge you to come to Double Door on the evening of September the third, 2009 to put this disagreement to rest in a most honorable fashion: a pie eating contest. Whomever consumes the most amount of pie in three minutes time shall be declared the winner.

If you win, Duff will sit down with you and gladly answer any questions honestly and earnestly. If Duff should win, you must admit that ...soihadto... is the greatest rock band of all time. Either way, a good time will be had and pies (and cake) will be eaten. The only question now is: will you accept this challenge as it has been presented to you? Please respond in a timely fashion.

Regards,
Grape Juice Records

The writer, David Tamarkin, reportedly declined gracefully, citing his desire to remain anonymous as his main reason.

Boo! I wanna see some pie eating! Guess Duff will have to have the contest by himself.

Food Network Addict Review: Melissa d'Arabian's 'Ten Dollar Dinners'

Melissa d'Arabian won The Next Food Network Star last Sunday, as you know, and her show Ten Dollar Dinners premieres tomorrow, Sunday the 9th, at 12:30pm ET. Unlike last year's winner, Melissa and her show pretty much remained under wraps until the big reveal. And, luckily, the first episode was pretty good! She managed to not kiss any raw meat.

Melissa's first episode, titled "Perfectly Priced Parisian," sounded very similar to season 3's winner Amy Finley's show The Gourmet Next Door when I first got it in the mail. (I already pointed out the recycling of Amy's blue tiles, and now after watching I'm pretty sure she also got Amy's old oven. So green of Food Net!)

While Melissa and Amy do have some similarities (both are moms who have lived in France), Melissa comes across as much more polished and TV ready than Amy ever did. There was some debate as to whether or not Amy ever wanted to be on TV or not; with Melissa there's no question.

The big change for Melissa's show is that all her meals are supposed to feed 4 people for $10. Considering that spoonfuls of some of Ina Garten's French dishes cost $10 or more, Melissa will surely have to think creatively to stay under budget.

Budget or not, the food is pretty good in this first episode. Her potato, bacon, and gruyere torte looked delicious and is obviously the "big ticket" item in the meal, as the rest of the meal consists of a green salad with mustard vinaigrette and what she calls an applesauce granita, which is nothing more than applesauce and a squeeze of lemon frozen in a pan and scraped into a glass like a granita. (She does end up topping it with a yogurt maple sauce.)

Compared to the other budget cooking shows on Food Network (Sandra's Money Saving Meals comes to mind), Melissa's food actually looked pretty appetizing. She made me want to try that torte, which is something I don't really think after watching a lot of shows on Food Network (truth be told).

I don't particularly like the little "mini-interview" thing that they threw into her show, like they do on Down Home with the Neelys. You know, where the host takes a little time to talk to an off-camera person about the recipe or a "special story" or about how a homemade crust makes you feel "warm and special inside." Still, Melissa manages to pull them off without making them entirely unbearable.

That's not to say Melissa comes across as a pro in the first episode. She calls her $10 dinner a "lunch" twice and occasionally trails off while talking. (There are a few awkward pauses here and there... which I guess is better than non-stop, irrelevant talking.) I know there must be a million things running through your head while taping your first episode of your first TV show, so I'm giving her a pass for a while. (She's light years ahead of some hosts on their first eps.)

While capitalizing upon a trend-right, in-the-moment feeling in America (we still recessioning?), Ten Dollar Dinners, by its very nature, runs the risk of not having a very long shelf life. How long 'til inflation raises those dinners to $11.25?

Watch tomorrow and let me know what you think.

Kelsey Nixon On TONIGHT'S Premiere of 'Chefs vs. City'

Are you going to watch tonight's premiere of Chefs vs. City? (Well, it's Friday, so you know I'll be TiVoing it. I've hard a hard week and need a drink, yo.)

In tonight's ep, Aarón Sánchez and Chris Cosentino battle Claire Robinson of 5 Ingredient Fix and Food 2’s Kelsey Nixon of Kelsey & Spike Cook. They'll be hitting up Dylan’s Candy Bar, Russ & Daughters, and The Brick Lane Curry House to "devour the hottest dish in the world."

Food Network Addict got an exclusive statement from Kelsey Nixon on the experience:
Taping the show was the best of times and the worst of times. Don't get me wrong...I had an absolute blast! But I did things that I never would have done if it weren't for being put on the spot, on television, on Food Network. (Claire and I were willing to do anything to win!) Being the Amazing Race fan that I am, this was the perfect way for me to channel my inner competitor and take on the food scene in NYC like it was nobody's business. I have no doubt that this show will be a huge primetime hit. It is a privilege to be part of the series kickoff and I can't wait to watch the success of Chefs vs City unfold.

Chefs vs. City premieres TONIGHT at 10pm ET.

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Thanks Kelsey! I'll be watching... eventually. Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be back tomorrow, though, with a review of the first episode of Melissa d'Arabian's new show Ten Dollar Dinners.

Melissa d'Arabian On Her New Show

I was on a conference call earlier this week with Next Food Network Star winner Melissa d'Arabian (whose name I've seen with and without a capital D. I'm going crazy trying to decide which to use!) with a bunch of other bloggers and writers.

She seemed very exciting about her new show Ten Dollar Dinners ("I think people who aren't even on a budget are going to love the recipes that I've put together.") and wanted to assure everyone that she wasn't going to be making hotdogs to keep everything under $10 ("I think you're going to be really surprised by the recipes. [They're] well-rounded and have several components.")

Here's what I asked her...

Do you think you were presented fairly and accurately on The Next Food Network Star?
Just by the very nature of it, 44 minutes out of how many hundreds of hours of footage--you just can't put it all in there. You're not seeing all of it; you're not even seeing most of it. That being said, what you're seeing is just amazingly spot on. I am amazed how well it is edited and how the stories are brought to life.

I think the editing is very fair and very much captures the general story. Is there tons that happens that you don't see? Absolutely. Do I just meet a group of people and tell them my mom committed suicide? No, of course not. But I think people know that.


People sometimes criticize the show saying that the challenges don't really test what you'd need to be a Food Network personality. Over the course of taping your 6 episodes, did you rely on anything you learned from the crazy, fast-paced challenges in The Next Food Network Star?
Some of the challenges may not test exactly the environment you're going to be in as a Food Network star, but they test various characteristics. Do you need to be able to work outside of your favorite flavor profile? Of course you do. Absolutely. If I can't take flavors that I don't normally work with and taste them, adjust, and use my palate to create delicious, amazing food, then that's a problem.

The situations may not come up, but the skill that they're testing absolutely is relevant. The challenges--while fun to watch--are put together to test skills that you will need as the next Food Network star.

And I didn't ask this, but thought I'd include Melissa's answer to the question "What kind of show would you like to do with another contestant, if you had the chance?"
"I would love to parnter with Katie and do a series on making some really nutritious, breastfeeding-friendly recipes."

Hmm... what would you name a show like that?

Another Sign of Recession? Ten Dollar Dinners Recycles from Gourmet Next Door

Melissa D'Arabian's new show Ten Dollar Dinners is promising a lot by keeping every episode's meal for 4 under $10... so are we surprised that they saved a bit of money by reusing the same blue tiles from Amy Finley's 2007 show The Gourmet Next Door?


They were only used for 6 episodes, so what's the big deal, right?

Don't F*** With Duff Goldman

Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman didn't take too kindly to a Time Out Chicago writer who recently insinuated that Grape Juice Records, the label that Duff's band soihadto is signed to, scored a Charm City Cakes cake for its upcoming anniversary party thanks to some insider backscratching.


"Nick Rush, who runs Grape Juice, is a sound guy on Ace of Cakes. Which, of course, explains how Grape Juice scored a cake from a bakery that hasn’t taken a new order in years—and, according to its website, won’t be taking orders until late October. You scratch Duff’s back, he’ll scratch yours," wrote Time Out's David Tamarkin, who later crossed out the untrue "hasn't taken a new order in years" statement and added "that has been booked solid for years."

Not happy with that semi-retraction that still had a tinge of snobbishness to it, Duff fired back to the Gourmet Glossary:

We've been signed to Grape Juice Records. You know, there's some fucking dickhead in Chicago who wrote a mean-ass blog, "How do you get a cake from Duff? Sign his band and get him to play a show," said Duff. "That Time Out guy! That FUCKING ASSHOLE! If you know that guy tell him he can suck my nuts."

Yikes! It sounds like Duff does not like anyone talking smack about his band or his bakery. It's naive of Tamarkin not to realize that CCC, whether they truly are booked solid for years or not, chooses to do special requests on a case-by-case basis. If Obama called up Duff tomorrow and asked to get a cake for Malia's next birthday do you think he'd simply hang up, apologizing that they're booked solid? I don't think so.

The staff you see on TV is the staff they have, so if CCC chooses to fit another cake into their week, then it's their choice. It's not like they call up some bride & groom who booked 3 years in advance and cancel, saying they have to instead do a cake for Duff's record label.

But I'm still kind of surprised about how upset Duff got over this. I'm sure if he had just ignored the issue, that Time Out article never would have gotten picked up by as many sites as it now has. Maybe all press is good press?

Melissa D'Arabian's New Show: Ten Dollar Dinners

Melissa D'Arabian was crowned the winner on last night's finale of The Next Food Network Star. Congrats, Melissa!

Although her pilot was called something like "Kitchen Survival Guide," the powers that be must have modified that title (Sorry Alton!) along the way to come up with: Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa D'Arabian. The first of six initial episodes airs this Sunday, August 9 at 12:30pm ET.

What's Bobby T got to say about it?
"Week by week, Melissa proved she had the makings of a true food star," said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network. "Her expert technique brought sophisticated flavors and ideas to home cooking, and her bright, warm, and down-to-earth personality made her a viewer favorite. We're thrilled to share her wealth of ideas for making easy, delicious, and inexpensive meals."

Every episode promises the same deal: "four people, ten bucks, infinite possibilities."

Someone's giving Aunt Sandy a run for her budget cooking show money!

Will you watch?

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I just got off a conference call with Melissa. She was very nice and seemed genuinely excited to start this new chapter in her life. I'll post more about the call later. Happy Monday!

Next Food Network Star, Finale

It's hard to believe it came down to Jeffrey Saad and Melissa D'Arabian this year, but I guess they like to keep surprising us week to week. I've already told you who I think is going to win; do you agree with me? Am I way off? I'm usually horrible at picking winners, so I still wouldn't be surprised in the least to see Jeffrey take the prize.

I'll be online here throughout the entire finale and at Twitter. Send me your thoughts!