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Top Chef Season 2, episode 3: Cravable!
For some reason Tom Colicchio has to be held down by both Gail and Padma when Betty wins.
Compared to episode 2 this was a lot more entertaining. Team challenges are usually exercises in boring drama, while individual challenges focus a lot more on the food.
And I love that word they used, Cravable. Food should be cravable. continue reading...
Top Chef Season 2, Episode 2: Don't take the lichees if you're on a reality TV show
This recap of episode 2 is brief since it's a week late due to my absence, and there really isn't that much to say about it. continue reading...
TV: Fear of Fanny - resurrecting Fanny Cradock
Mark Gatiss as Johnnie and Julia Davis as Fanny Cradock on Fear of Fanny
Fear of Fanny is the second in a series of biopics being aired by BBC Four this month. This time, the subject is Fanny Cradock, who ruled as a TV chef in the U.K. in the '60s to the '70s. continue reading...
Top Chef Season 2, Episode 1: Flames, snails and frogs

Well well, so season 2 is upon us.
15 contestants is way too many to start with, so I can barely remember half of them. The new host? I will reserve my judgement (more on the hosting position a bit later). Let us jump straight into the challenges. continue reading...
TV: The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton
Mrs. Beeton attempts to hack off the head of a turtle, one of the skills required of a homemaker in Victorian times, as her maid looks on anxiously. (don't worry, she couldn't go through with it)
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Top Chef Season 2 starts next week
Set your TiVos or iTunes Music Store reminders. The second season of our favorite American cooking competition show is just a week away! New host, more contestants, change of venue to Los Angeles -- could be exciting! (Or, a disaster. We'll find out.) continue reading...
Isabella Beeton, Fanny Cradock, and Elizabeth David on the BBC
Julia Davis as Fanny Cradock in Fear of Fanny
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Food and being green on the BBC
I am eternally grateful that the BBC broadcasts free-to-air on satellite, and that I live within reception range. I feel a bit guilty that I don't have to pay anything to view the Beeb as UK residents do, and believe me if they started to bill me something I'd pay it without question. The BBC has the best programming, bar none, of any network I've ever seen in any country. (I'm even a closet East Enders watcher, but don't tell anyone.) continue reading...
Why Hell's Kitchen is not a real food show
It's a lazy Sunday afternoon (mainly because I'm avoiding the task of Defrosting the Freezer...more about that later) and I'm sitting here contemplating TV Reality Cooking Shows.
Someone who had read my rather detailed reviews of Top Chef, as well as my adventures following the BBC Masterchef challenges, asked me recently why I didn't do similar reviews of Hell's Kitchen. continue reading...
Pondering infomercials and other TV ads
I try to do various things to minimize jetlag, but my body clock is still slightly screwed up whenever I fly over the Atlantic. After all it is a 6 hour time difference. So I've found myself waking up faithfully at 4:30am every day since I got to New York. This isn't all bad...it means I can deal with all the emails waiting and so on while it's still quiet, though it does mean that by 10pm I'm already nodding off. continue reading...





