The Consequences of A Free Media

Every once in a while, I must leave the realm of the rational, the civil and the truly feminine to dip my feet into the wading pool of cattiness. This is that time.

In the country that I love, there should be no place for a cooking show called Semi-Homemade Cooking.

The show's premise is 70% store bought, 30% homemade. Now, that might be fine if the store bought items were ingredients, but they're not. It's store bought shredded cheese (because we all know how hard that is to make at home), store bought pie crust (ick), and store bought tater tots (no joke, this was on one of her previews).

The show is a disgrace to culinary arts and entertaining. First off, almost any prepared food bought at a typical grocery store (with the exception of specialty stores), is never going to be as good as what you could make in the same amount of time it took you to go to the store.

Secondly, do we trust a hostess who weighs as much as Nicole Richie, has lighting that rivals Barbara Walter's rig, and makes food so fatty that Paula Dean might even be horrified?

And finally, does it really make one swell with pride when you say, "Soup's on. It's Campbells!"


Posted by Portia at May 17, 2006 01:52 PM | TrackBack
Comments

I used to be a FoodTV junkie but some of the shows got a little bothersome, like the one you harangue (rhymes with meringue!) in your post. I used to watch Rachel Ray regularly, but 30 minutes of "YUMMO!" was not helping my digestion.

The only drama now is waiting to see if she will ever have a bad entree and how she would react. I have yet to see her eat anything "unpleasant".

I still enjoy watching Unwrapped, as it feeds my problem-solver appetite. It's fascinating to watch how food is processed, like those little carrots in the bag you get in the produce section. I also like the show featuring different people starting up a food business.

Posted by: MarcV at May 18, 2006 08:30 AM

I'm all about Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) and Alton Brown (Good Eats). They're my favorites. I do like several others, but when I have time to watch tv, I prioritize the wasting of my time with their shows.

But I absolutely loathe the Semi-Homemade Cooking show. It makes my skin crawl.

And Rachel Ray? She's very cute and her recipes are actually pretty good, but I prefer the older and wiser chefs. :)

Posted by: Portia at May 18, 2006 08:56 AM

Paula Deen is my homegirl.

Posted by: Shira Rawlinson at May 18, 2006 03:27 PM