Bobby Flay

Dear Mr. Flay,

I got a bone to pick with you. I like to consider myself a 'foodie' so when the opportunity of meeting you in Las Vegas came along, I jumped at the chance. A friend and I bought tickets to several Bon Appetit events that were being held throughout Vegas. As you can imagine they weren't cheap. We didn't mind, we were stoked at the fact that we could meet some of our most favorite chefs while sampling their food. Everyone was nice but YOU. In fact, you were a pompous ass! You refused to sign any autographs (even though folks shelled out over $75 for your cookbook), you refused to take pictures (even though the 2 hour event cost almost $200) and you even refused to cook (you sent in your employees from Mesa to cook for you). You, Mr. Flay are an asshole. Your attitude sucked and you left a bad taste in quite a few peoples mouths. You need to remember that it is your fans that made you (and keep you) famous, acting like a tool isn't a cool thing to do.

Sincerely,

Dawn Barron

P.S. I never would have realized you were so small just by watching you on t.v., it took me standing right next to you. Perhaps it's a Napolean complex?!

Sandra Lee (Aunt Sandy)

The next chef I'm going to talk about is the lovely Sandra Lee, or Aunt Sandy as she sometimes calls herself. Sandra wrote a book about her troubled childhood. She never knew her father and her mother was addicted to nose spray (no lie). Her grandmother raised her and her sister and you can often hear her mention them both on the show. She is also LOVES talking about her nephew Bryce (whom she affectionately calls Brycer).

I'm not a big fan of Sandra Lee. I've tried really hard to 'get into her', but it just doesn't work. She has this weird Valley Girl type of talk that just drives me crazy. She also has a habit of matching her outfit to the design scheme in her kitchen (she above picture). That's just ridiculous in my book. Who does that?! Her tablescapes also push me over the edge. Some of the ideas are cute, but I just don't have the time to visit a craft store and assemble place cards for my dinner table.

But to be fair, this is a Food Network show, so her cooking technique should be the focus here. With that being said, I'm still not a fan. Sandra is big on the shortcut idea (and so am I), but alot of her recipes are things I would never even try. For instance, she once made a birthday cake by purchasing 3 different size sheet cakes from a grocery store. She piled them on top of each other, surrounded them by more store bought cupcakes and frosted it. Blah, no thanks. Her money saving food show caught my eye briefly, but the amounts of ingredients she uses is so ridiculous I have a hard time taking her seriously (0.39 cents worth of vodka, 0.84 cents worth of oatmeal), c'mon Sandra....where can I buy 39 cents worth of vodka?!

Overall I give her 2 out of 5 stars.

Rachael Ray

I'm an avid Food Network t.v. watcher. In fact, I probably watch this station more than any other. I thought it might be fun to revisit my blog and write a little something about my favorite (or least favorite) Food Network personalities.

I decided to begin with Rachael Ray. I couldn't help but resist using the pictures from her FHM shoot. Too funny.

Rachael is the Food Network queen. She is super perky, always smiling and she really likes to play up the fact that she is not a classically trained chef. She prefers to be known as an at-home cook like you and I. For the most part I like Rachael. Perhaps it's her strong work ethic. She's got a few shows on Food Network, her own talk show (that is doing quite well), a line of dog food and her own magazine. She also cranks out 3-5 cookbooks per year. Not bad. On the downside, Rachael can be a tad annoying. She loves to meld words (stoup=stew/soup, EVOO=extra virgin olive oil) and she giggles quite a bit. Her meals are pretty good and I own 3 or 4 of her cookbooks. Overall I like Rachael. Although she can be a tad bit PERKY her recipes have always turned out to be winners in my book and they are quick and simple...exactly what I'm looking for.

Name That Food!

The game is simple. I will write down the ingredients of a popular breakfast food and you'll guess it. This should be a cinch for all you parents out there. Ok let's play...

Ingredients:

Corn flour, sugar, oat flour, brown sugar, coconut oil, salt, sodium citrate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fat), natural and artificial flavor, strawberry juice concentrate, malic acid, maltodextrin, modified food starch, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, BHT.

Ok folks, name that "food".

Two peas in a pod....

I've known Vinnie since I was 18 and moved here. I've met a lot of people, but I usually don't click with many. He is one of my best friends. This dude is one of the very few people who can make me laugh. His sense of humor is as warped as mine and I love it. I showed up after work and this fucker had the day off, was drunk, and was dressed like this when I came there. I laughed so hard I cried. Really...who is this weird???......I LOVE THAT. Here is to one of the coolest/weirdest/most understanding guys around. Vinnie I love u!!!

R.I.P. Corey Haim

I was on the way to work this morning when I heard the news Corey Haim had been found dead due to an apparent O.D. He was 38 years old and has had a string of issues the past decade or so. For anyone who grew up in the 80's, Corey Haim was larger than life. He and Corey Feldman appeared in alot of popular movies together. (License to Drive is still one of my favorite movies).

I will never understand what it must be like rising (and falling) in Hollywood. So many celebrities die young and from drugs. It really is sad.

R.I.P. Corey.

Single, never married, no kids (and HAPPY)

I will be 32 this year and I am one of the very few people left that are SINGLE, NEVER MARRIED, NO KIDS. I didn't really plan on being single this long and it has never bothered me. I am not against marriage or children, I just haven't found the right person. When I was in my 20's I had a long list of things I needed for a relationship, and finding someone with no kids was one of them. Now that I'm 31, it's nearly impossible finding someone in my same boat. I have since changed the way I thought, and I would absolutely date someone with kids, but it's just weird having to pick through all of the crap out there. I don't want to 'settle', I don't want to be one of those people totally miserable with their spouse and I definitely don't want to tie the knot with the first person who asks. I'm sure my family would love it if I hurried up and settled down, but for now I'm enjoying the single life and continue on my selective quest on finding the right mate.