Looking for the next Rachael Ray

I swear that the first two words I thought of when I read that were:

shallow grave

8>)

Muffin top alert!

Another Rachel Ray??? I must get to my rosary beads immediately to ward off such a thing.

But seriously ... I'm watching much less of the Food Network these days (pretty much only Alton and Iron Chef) because they are avowedly getting away from the "dump and stir" format into other stuff. I like "dump and stir," thank you very much. I watch to learn stuff, like how much of what to dump and when to stir.

I am watching more of the shows on MPT as a result (though it tough for someone who works most weekends), and was especially glad to see Sarah Moulton's new show appear there.

Now a little travelogue: I'm slightly east of the middle of nowhere (The Amana Colonies, home to wonderful 19th century radical religious pacifists) to learn a thing or two (current exhibit: Pacifism & Patriotism) and had not one, not two, but three "OMG that's the best I ever had" experiences. The culture of the Amana Colonies involved communal meals, so they plunk down bowls of things at table to be passed around. (I'm here alone, so they were little bowls, but I got the point.) The appetizer round included the best coleslaw I have ever tasted (including my own homemade) and paradigm shifting cottage cheese, dressed only with intensely flavored whey, cream and chives. Then came the main course, broiled walleye pike that was more perfectly done than any fish I have ever eaten in a restaurant. Here's the kicker ... the Colony Village Restaurant looks like -- well, probably is -- a tourist dive on an Interstate exit. It wasn't all good ... canned green beans in their bowl went untouched and I should have known better than to order a slice of rhubarb pie in September.

But it just goes to show you that you can get good grub in a place where the number of restaurant listings only barely beats out the number of fertilizer listings in the phone directory!

Surely one is more than enough.

MD thanks for the info on Sarah Moulton. I will look out for her show. I have missed her from the Food Network along with some others who just disappeared.

MD Cannon, I am so with you on the MPT superiority in the cooking show realm. And, I'm sick of the challenge shows and reality shows on Food Network. The one I hate the most is the "Next Food Network Star". What is it again that qualified the first stars? Oh yeah, they could cook and could come to the one set studio in NYC to do their show in one take. That's exactly what they said in the "food-ography" of The Food Network. But now these enormously over qualifed restaurantors are battling for the right to have a show. It's ridiculous. And, Rachel Ray, eccch. What an annoying PITA she is! I can't even watch her show without the "Rachelness" in her annoying the hell out of me in 5 minutes. I too will be watching for Sarah. Along with Lidia and Test Kitchen MPT is really coming up on the food show ladder. If they'd only stop hounding for money in 20 minute intervals! Also, thanks for the travelogue! When I win the 3 years of free vacations from The Disney Travel club, (LOL) I'll be sure to write frequent reviews! (If I won, I might not be able to go, because I'd surely have a heart attack!).

Who was the wardrobe guy or gal who let Rachel Ray go out in that top? It looks like she stuffed her shirt with a couple of clementines.

Competition is the name of the game in TV these days -- and "The Next Food Network Star" is really just a switch on Bravo's "Top Chef," which somehow packs a lot more energy and suspense into its contest. On the other hand, despite the lackluster performers "Star" has "discovered"(and eventually deep-sixed), it did at least come up with one authentic personality --Guy Fieri.

It was not long ago that some media outlet publicized that RR was frowning at the wardrobe of her audience. This season, interestingly enough, she is on set sporting cleavage and wearing jeans that accentuate her hips and butt. Also, her voice has become raspier and she keeps mentioning her husband. I'm just sayin'.

I hate her but strangely enough I keep watching the darn show at 10AM.

Not sure what you are implying PRob - that she is having a simultaneous male&female sex change or that she is becoming some kind a super-androgynous being in order to dominate the world Oprah-style? Where's Steadman?

This rain is never going to stop.

A good one for the rain. CCR:
Long as I remember the rain been comin down.
Clouds of mystry pourin confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, tryin to find the sun;
And I wonder, still I wonder, wholl stop the rain.

I went down virginia, seekin shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, still I wonder wholl stop the rain.

Heard the singers playin, how we cheered for more.
The crowd had rushed together, tryin to keep warm.
Still the rain kept pourin, fallin on my ears.
And I wonder, still I wonder wholl stop the rain.

Sarah Moulton's show has good cooking content, but her style of delivery grates on me. She seems unable to let a fraction of a second go by without a syllable being uttered.

I can out-cook RR (who can't?), but I'm afraid I can't match her other...attributes, if what they are looking for is a trollop in tacky clothes.

Cottage Cheese update: there are half a dozen or so cookbooks that document Amana Colony recipes from the communal kitchen days, and a couple more that have updated them for a regular family -- as opposed to the 30-40 who would be assigned to the same kitchen. After looking through a good handful of them, I found a recipe for what I tried last night. It turns out that the "intensely flavored whey and cream" that I tasted has a pretty good dollop of sour cream in it as well! I look forward to experimenting when I get home.

The whole communal kitchen thing in Amana is pretty amazing to ponder. In the six villages that made up the colony, there were 60 kitchens. They served breakfast at 6 AM, lunch at 10:30 AM, dinner at noon, lunch (yes, that what they called it) again at 3 PM and supper at 6:30. No proteins were served until dinner (which is probably why they needed a mid-morning pick-me-up, blood sugar wise), coffee was served at each meal except dinner, when tea was served, and soup was featured three times a day. The soup stock recipe I found called for a pound of beef for every half gallon of water, so it must have been pretty substantial. They also made good use of "rindfleisch" extract, which consisted of a half pound of beef sealed in a small jar which was then put in cold water, brought to a boil and simmered for a couple of hours. The juice from the jar was poured off and used to flavor other dishes. (Yes, they had ice boxes!)

Interestingly, except for Sunday supper (which was packed in metal boxes to carry home) the kitchen to which you were assigned was unlikely to be the one other members of your family were assigned to. With all that back and forth all day long, you were assigned to the kitchen closest to where you worked or went to school. When I raised my eyes at that, the guide quipped, "How many meals do you eat with your family each week?" Touche!

@RoCK,

Clementines...that about had me pass half a beer through my nose!!

thanks for the great laugh.

Hey All,
Stay dry up there. Weather down here has been ABSOLUTELY beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. No humidity and highs in the mid 80s.

Its Pool Time tomorrow!!

More on cottage cheese (who'd'a thunk it?): So dinner tonight was at a place recommended by a colleague, called "The Seven Villages." I had scoped out the menu yesterday and was hankering for the schnitzel. As soon as I ordered they brought out the little bowls of cottage cheese, coleslaw and the basket of Amana bread (rye & white, baked in the communal bakery). They were nowhere as good as those from last night. Each kitchen obviously does their variation on the local standard, and I got lucky last night. By the time the entree was out, I had nine little bowls in front of me including the above plus gravy (+), peas and mushrooms (-), sauerkraut (+), potatoes (+/-), beets (++), macaroni salad (--) and butter (?).

Subtle (you don't pronounce the 'b') humorous moment of the evening: The wine in these parts is sweet and often made from fruit (though I could learn to enjoy the "piestengel," rhubarb wine) so I ordered a "Beefeater martini, up." It came, I sipped, supper (see posting above) came, I sipped some more. The waiter came back and, instead of asking how the meal was, asked, "Is your drink okay?" Yes, it was fine, and in fact a little generous for $ 5.00. "Good," he said, "neither the bartender or I knew what you meant when you said 'up.' We guessed it meant chilled without ice."

God Bless America ... please!!

Eeeeesh...do we REALLY need a Rachael Ray clone? Not hardly!! The only FoodTV I watch regularly is anything with Alton Brown (yeah, he's a geek, but he's an entertaining geek), Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives (don't know why...some things just can't be explained), and sometimes Ace of Cakes (Duff Goldman's cutely weird or weirdly cute, not sure which). The "challenges" and next Food TV (whatever) bore the [expletive] out of me!

Dottie, I like Alton too, and Guy and Duff. Even the Pillsbury or other "amateur" competitions aren't too bad (hate the marathons of 'em though) but check out some of MPT and the Travel channel for some other better cooking shows. Once in a while MPT still has Cooking with Julia which featured Julia Child in her later years with the newer "star" chefs. I know Alice Waters cooked with her at least once on that program. Sara Moulden was on a few times and of course, Jaques Pepin was on numerous times.