Hey Y'all!

I watch the Food Network alot--probably more than any human should--and for the most part I like the cooks and hosts on the shows. But one that really get on my nerves is Ina Garten, host of the Barefoot Contessa. And she is always generally cooking nice or upscale food because I know she runs around with a bunch of well to do people because all her friends always own a magazine or a movie or something.

Anyway, it really bothers me and comes across as snooty when she's cooking, let's say a vinegarette with an olive oil in it and she says "Use a GOOD olive oil." Or something else "Use a GOOD wine" "A GOOD blue cheese".

It's kinda like she's waving the flag, "I'm rich, and can buy a 200 bottle of wine to boil away on a banana. (I'd rather spend the 200 dollars on groceries and feed my family for about 2 weeks)

It just annoys me. Does this annoy anyone else or am i silly?

Anyway, it really bothers me and comes across as snooty when she's cooking, let's say a vinegarette with an olive oil in it and she says "Use a GOOD olive oil." Or something else "Use a GOOD wine" "A GOOD blue cheese".


Upscale is on the palate of the beholder.

I don't think she's suggesting a $200 bottle of wine - she's just suggesting something other than the cheapest thing available.

My olive oils are in the $8-20 range (even the cheapest extra virgin is overkill for cooking, but I usually have one bottle of "good stuff" in reserve for when I have a meal that justifies it - if it's on fresh bread or drizzled over a salad, I can taste the difference, but the good stuff is utterly wasted if you try to pan-fry meats or saute veggies with it), my wines are in the $10-50 range (for drinking, I can't taste enough difference past $30 to justify much higher, and for pouring into a stew, soup, or sauce, I can't taste past $10), and my cheeses are in the $5-20/lb range (but cheese is weird, because prebagged mozarella shavings are fine on garlic bread, but other times you want parmigiano-reggiano, and if you're tasting it with wine, maybe you want to go all-out and find something with shaved truffles in it.)

That's hardly food snobbery.  That's just the difference between extra virgin olive oil and pomace, wine and Thunderbird, and real cheese and Cheez-Whiz.

There's days when you want a fresh-peeled slab of Kraft Synthowhatever on Wonder Bread grilled against the bottom of the frying pan as a side dish to a boiled hot dog in a plain ol' bun with that neon-yellow French's stuff instead of some sort of frou-frou artisan sausage with some sort of whole-grain mustard and homemade sauerkraut.  Nothing wrong with that.  It's called comfort food for a reason.

Slightly off topic, but Costco has some really good olive oil and some friggin' fantastic Balsamic vinegar.  And it is a decent price.

My favorite wine is an $8 bottle of sweet Riesling.  I can't tolerate (nor taste any subtleties or complexities) in other wine.  Maybe my palate isn't refined or maybe I just hate wine. ;D

As for the Contessa, eh.  I can take her or leave her.  I will not, however, spend $10+ on one of her baking mixes.  That shizz is just ridiculous.

Now if you want to talk about annoying food hosts, let's start with Rachael Ray.  Ugh.  She drives me batty.

Hey Y'all!

I watch the Food Network alot--probably more than any human should--and for the most part I like the cooks and hosts on the shows. But one that really get on my nerves is Ina Garten, host of the Barefoot Contessa. And she is always generally cooking nice or upscale food because I know she runs around with a bunch of well to do people because all her friends always own a magazine or a movie or something.

Anyway, it really bothers me and comes across as snooty when she's cooking, let's say a vinegarette with an olive oil in it and she says "Use a GOOD olive oil." Or something else "Use a GOOD wine" "A GOOD blue cheese".

It's kinda like she's waving the flag, "I'm rich, and can buy a 200 bottle of wine to boil away on a banana. (I'd rather spend the 200 dollars on groceries and feed my family for about 2 weeks)

It just annoys me. Does this annoy anyone else or am i silly?
Yes, I completely agree VERY ANNOYING!  I stopped watching her 8 years ago, cause her stuff was always Hoity Toity and not for real world applications.  Same as I thought of most Martha Stewart Show 8-10 years ago.  I am she has some decent recipes, but I don't bother with them cause A) they either have ingredients that I do not want the hassel of looking for or B) preparation is too consuming to be of value (and I will make fancy stuff, as my family tells me - but I hate making tacos cause the prep work is to messy and tedious)

Slightly off topic, but Costco has some really good olive oil and some friggin' fantastic Balsamic vinegar.  And it is a decent price.

My favorite wine is an $8 bottle of sweet Riesling.  I can't tolerate (nor taste any subtleties or complexities) in other wine.  Maybe my palate isn't refined or maybe I just hate wine. ;D

As for the Contessa, eh.  I can take her or leave her.  I will not, however, spend $10+ on one of her baking mixes.  That shizz is just ridiculous.

Now if you want to talk about annoying food hosts, let's start with Rachael Ray.  Ugh.  She drives me batty.
I don't watch Rachel much, I do not find her as annoying as some, but I do own a couple of her cook books cause I love the fact that they contain easy, ingredients I have in a pantry or can find easily.  And great for busy nights

Upscale is on the palate of the beholder.

I don't think she's suggesting a $200 bottle of wine - she's just suggesting something other than the cheapest thing available.

My olive oils are in the $8-20 range (even the cheapest extra virgin is overkill for cooking, but I usually have one bottle of "good stuff" in reserve for when I have a meal that justifies it - if it's on fresh bread or drizzled over a salad, I can taste the difference, but the good stuff is utterly wasted if you try to pan-fry meats or saute veggies with it), my wines are in the $10-50 range (for drinking, I can't taste enough difference past $30 to justify much higher, and for pouring into a stew, soup, or sauce, I can't taste past $10), and my cheeses are in the $5-20/lb range (but cheese is weird, because prebagged mozarella shavings are fine on garlic bread, but other times you want parmigiano-reggiano, and if you're tasting it with wine, maybe you want to go all-out and find something with shaved truffles in it.)

That's hardly food snobbery.  That's just the difference between extra virgin olive oil and pomace, wine and Thunderbird, and real cheese and Cheez-Whiz.

There's days when you want a fresh-peeled slab of Kraft Synthowhatever on Wonder Bread grilled against the bottom of the frying pan as a side dish to a boiled hot dog in a plain ol' bun with that neon-yellow French's stuff instead of some sort of frou-frou artisan sausage with some sort of whole-grain mustard and homemade sauerkraut.  Nothing wrong with that.  It's called comfort food for a reason.

I have tried buying the high-quality oil for use in "good" recipes, but find they go rancid too quickly to be used in time. So I stick with something that I cook with, to be fair, I am usually cooking with it anyway - we don't drizzle bread or make our own dressings normally.  So I guess I never found much of the need for the special olive oil. 

Um.... she's called a contessa for craps sakes of course her stuff is going to be for a specific type rather than the everyday folk!  :D

For some reason, I don't mind her as much.  I used to like Rachel Ray but she quickly became gratingly annoying because she was just EVERYWHERE. That and I find her cutesy demeanor rather plastic.  One I used to hate but now kinda like (not love) is Giada DeLaurentis.  She's another rich b!tch but alas, you'll come across those sometimes.  My husband threatens to bash the t.v. in when I have her on, so I watch with sound off and closed captioning on.  ;D  I really like Sunny Anderson and Melissa d'Arabian

I kinda like the Cooking Channel a little better now, even though it's more of the Food Network rejects.

Maybe we should start a Food Networkaholics anonymous chapter here on the boards.  :-[

For some reason, I don't mind her as much.  I used to like Rachel Ray but she quickly became gratingly annoying because she was just EVERYWHERE. That and I find her cutesy demeanor rather plastic.  One I used to hate but now kinda like (not love) is Giada DeLaurentis.  She's another rich b!tch but alas, you'll come across those sometimes.  My husband threatens to bash the t.v. in when I have her on, so I watch with sound off and closed captioning on.  ;D  I really like Sunny Anderson and Melissa d'Arabian

I kinda like the Cooking Channel a little better now, even though it's more of the Food Network rejects.

Maybe we should start a Food Networkaholics anonymous chapter here on the boards.   :-[



I only watch the Next Food Network Star.... I hate cooking shows but I love Reality Competition Cooking Shows!  I have watched shows like The Best Thing I Ever Ate  but that just makes me want to go to those places and it's not like I can afford to just drive off to Texas for a Tomahawk Steak or to the south for BBQ or something. 

I saw one where they listed the best tri-tip sandwich was at the Cold Spring Tavern in Santa Barbara. I've eaten more tri-tip sandwiches than anyone I know so I went to the Cold Spring Tavern and I have to say on my list of tri-tip sandwiches (yes I do have a list) that sandwich didn't even make top ten. I don't remember which Chef listed it but I really want to get them to come back here and take them to my number 1 and 2!


I have only watched Giada on NFNS....I like her.

I only watch the Next Food Network Star.... I hate cooking shows but I love Reality Competition Cooking Shows!   I have watched shows like The Best Thing I Ever Ate  but that just makes me want to go to those places and it's not like I can afford to just drive off to Texas for a Tomahawk Steak or to the south for BBQ or something.   

I saw one where they listed the best tri-tip sandwich was at the Cold Spring Tavern in Santa Barbara. I've eaten more tri-tip sandwiches than anyone I know so I went to the Cold Spring Tavern and I have to say on my list of tri-tip sandwiches (yes I do have a list) that sandwich didn't even make top ten. I don't remember which Chef listed it but I really want to get them to come back here and take them to my number 1 and 2!


I have only watched Giada on NFNS....I like her.


I saw that one too, and was gonna tell you about it, but figured you already knew about it and tried it.  ;D  I;m thinking it was Cat Cora. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxhPgs_Wdk at 3:17

I saw that one too, and was gonna tell you about it, but figured you already knew about it and tried it.   ;D  I;m thinking it was Cat Cora. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXxhPgs_Wdk at 3:17


Caveman eating... Moo Moo. Beef Beef.  ;D 

yeah that's the one... Cat needs to come see me... btw if you ever make it to SB.. I'll take you to three restaurants and you can compare Cat's fav to my two faves.... only one is a fair comparison because one of my two is done with bbq sauce....the other one is done with a chipotle mayo so it's not fair to compare.

Why is she called Barefoot Contessa?

Ok just to touch on a few of the topics brought up here:

I love Rachael Ray... well, maybe not as much as I used to.  When she just had the 30 Minute Meals show, before the set was remodeled, I watched it every day.  Practical meals, they usually look really good, and I loved her personality and storytelling.  The new talk show is annoying and the new set for 30 minute meals (is that show even still on??) is ugly

Barefoot Contessa - I have mixed feelings about Ina.  Yes, I think she caters to a more upscale crowd, but she has some great recipes.  What turned me off to her was hearing about how she snubbed that boy with cancer who wanted to meet her as part of his "Make a Wish" foundation request.  She flat out turned him down.  That makes her a cold, heartless b*tch, in my opinion. 

Then there's Giada D'Laurentiis (sp??), she thinks she's perfect and totally annoys me.  Can't stand that pretentious little snot.

Ok just to touch on a few of the topics brought up here:

I love Rachael Ray...

Barefoot Contessa - I have mixed feelings about Ina.  Yes, I think she caters to a more upscale crowd, but she has some great recipes.  What turned me off to her was hearing about how she snubbed that boy with cancer who wanted to meet her as part of his "Make a Wish" foundation request.  She flat out turned him down.  That makes her a cold, heartless b*tch, in my opinion.  

Then there's Giada D'Laurentiis (sp??), she thinks she's perfect and totally annoys me.  Can't stand that pretentious little snot.


Humm me too, she should be yummy all covered with hot chocolate.  :P
Besides she has a sexy way to broadcast her recipes. If I put my Michel Angelo's apron , I think me and she can prompt the audience to cook naked.

As for the Bigfoot Contessa, I'd make the wish to get her in selling a bare amount of cookbooks of how to cook a monster like me,  :P