TV Alert: Tyler Florence, Cat Cora & Curtis Stone on Oprah Wednesday

Don't forget!


Tyler Florence, Cat Cora & when-then-gonna-get-him-on-Food Network Curtis Stone are all appearing today on Oprah.

Check ye's local listings, as they say.

(Is it just me, or does Tyler look fitter?)

Oprah's Birthday Message to Rach: 40s are Yum-Oiest!

Rachael Ray's 40th birthday was celebrated yesterday on her talk show in a special episode featuring a performance by Rosie O'Donnell and her Broadway Kids, a One Day at a Time reunion with Valerie Bertinelli & cast, and a personal message from the headmaster herself, Oprah Winfrey.

And in "strangest use of an adjective commonly used to describe stew or someone's midsection" news, Oprah said the 40s are "chunky."


Watch Oprah's message to Rachael.

It's also the most fun you've had so far in your life, according to Miss O. (I'd have a lot of fun too if I became a billionaire in my 40s.) The "Yum-Oiest" time!

Well, Rachael did pull in $18 million last year, a hefty chunk of that coming from her Oprah-backed talk show that's produced by Harpo Productions.

It's Yum-O for everyone!

TV Alert: Tyler & Ingrid on Oprah Today

Oprah's first-ever "Sandwich Showdown" airs today on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Food Network's own Tyler Florence and Ingrid Hoffmann (along with TLC's Curtis Stone) are competing for the grand prize. Oprah's sidekick Gayle, along with Bravo's Padma Lakshmi, will be there to judge.



Friday's a great day for a sandwich.

TV Alert: Tyler Florence on Oprah

I knew this was happening, but just wasn't sure when.

Tyler Florence will appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Monday, April 28. Check your local listings.


"I’ve done a lot of shows over the years and I’ve gotta tell you, this was really special. Oprah is amazing and it’s really exciting to be a part of her show," says Tyler on his official blog.

Dang! I wish I could have attended this taping. I won't be back home to the Chicago area until Memorial Day weekend, so hopefully Opes will have some more Food Network guests on when I'm there. I'll call up Harpo productions and make my request.

Although Tyler doesn't give away what happens on the episode, he does reveal the recipes he cooked for Ms. O: a pork pot roast sandwich with cranberry-onion jam , sweet potato chips, and a cranberry-apple cider shandy. Check 'em out and prepare them simulataneously with Tyler when you watch. (You guys do that, too, right?)

Tyler also has some more info posted on his two new cookbooks and his soon-to-open kitchen store, Tyler Florence Mill Valley, that we heard about when I interviewed him in February. I'll try to peek through the curtains when I'm in the San Fran area in a few weeks.

Such a heavy Flo day! :-) I love getting Tyler news, though, so keep it coming.

Paula Gets Serious With Oprah

First off, I think comments are fixed, so comment away. I always appreciate it (unless they're mean).



The big news today is Paula Deen's appearance on Oprah for the "Moms Who Made Millions" show.



[Photos]

Paula sits down with Oprah to promote her new memoir, It Ain't All About the Cookin', which comes out in April.

Paula's looking quite serious on the cover-- something we hardly ever see.



When Paula first started her catering company, she says she stood over a hot stove 16 to 20 hours a day, but she never imagined this level of success. Her main objective was much simpler. "What I wanted for us was if we needed to go to the grocery store on Wednesday, we could do it and the check would not bounce," she says. "That was my idea of success."

Paula also believes that God's generosity helped her realize her dreams. "I made a commitment to work," she says. "God blessed it."

Paula also discusses the agoraphobia she suffered from and the help her sons, Jimmy-Paula and Bobby Jay-Paula (just kidding), have provided throughout the years.

And of course Paula couldn't come on Oprah without cooking something, so she brough along her famous fried chicken and sour cream pound cake.

Congrats to Paula for landing this huge gig. We all know what a spot on Oprah can do for little ole' Food Network host.

Oprah Banned Me (I think)

So, the Rachael Ray video I posted on Thanksgiving was pulled from YouTube. Apparently, Chicago's EIP Group thought I was using the material without permission. Granted, I just edited bits of Rachael's 2nd episode of her talkshow into a comical piece. I didn't add anything or say anything directly negative about Rachael or Oprah (nor was I intending to).

I suppose having the link to my blog at the beginning might have irritated the lawyers, but I searched for "EIP Group" and found similar posts from bloggers saying that their basic videos were pulled by EIP Group (one was just a clip of Faith Hill and her husband Tim McGraw singing on Oprah).

It's kind of hard to believe that Oprah would have lawyers scouring the Internet, looking to remove any and all uses of her likeness-- especially on YouTube where so many media companies are finally realizing the benefits.

It's not like I made the "Oprah for President" Web site (like one guy really did) and started making t-shirts, buttons, bags, etc. with her face on them. Hmm...

I wonder if I had left Oprah out, would my video would still be available? The Faith Hill/Tim McGraw blogger claims there are "no" videos of Oprah on YouTube, or if there are they get pulled very quickly.

I have been able to find some videos from the Oprah show, but they usually don't reference Oprah in the video title or the description (for example, yesterday I watched the crazy wacko Anne Heche and her interview with Ellen on Oprah but searching for "anne heche").

I'm glad all of the crazy things that have been happening on The View seem to show up on YouTube since I can't--in good conscience--actually watch or record that show. Don't take them away!

And I had some big plans for future videos! We'll see what happens...