"Vox Humana" wrote:
> I like the show, but not enough to record it or to arrange my schedule so
I
> can see it. I think the food is generally sound and uncomplicated --
> falling to the class of comfort food with a little flair.

I know, Vox, but I expect to see more from someone who joneses on saying
she'll *show us how* to prepare different and spectacular fare. She can't
live up to her own publicity.


> In some ways Ina
> reminds me of Martha Stewart. She has what I would call an east coast
> attitude. You can read it as reserved but confident or you can read it as
> snobbish.

No. I grew up on "East Coast attitude" and that ain't it. What she and
Martha both have is LIA, Long Island attitude... yes Martha is in
Connecticut, but which part of Connecticut? That's right. The tony Great
Gatsby part across the Sound. LIA says "snob" in capital letters.

Worse, Ina doesn't project confidence at all, especially when Geoffrey is
around. She seems to become fawning and servile, mixed with ego spurts when
she tells him about how special the food is and recipes she's diddled around
with. Top that off with giggling cutesy-poo, and the whole picture is
pathetic indeed. I've been tempted to shout at the television "All right
already, you sad example of womanhood, he loves you! NOBODY needs a man this
much, okay??"


> You might be surprised at how many people would benefit from Cooking 101.
> Kids are growing up in homes with parents who have multiple jobs and in
> single parent households. Kids don't take things like Home Economics in
> school like they did 50 years ago. If you look at what people have packed
> into their carts at the supermarket you will see that for many, cooking
> means opening boxes, cans, and jars and heating prepared foods. Many
people
> eat several meals each week at places like McDonalds and KFC. Salads come
> from bags. Mashed potatoes come from a box. I'm sure that a good many
> people wouldn't have a clue how to make meat loaf or pot roast.

Okay, but she's not even doing Cooking 101. She's off in the Culinary
Twilight Zone, where Key Lime Pie is made in the freezer with some lime zest
and all there is to roasting meat is pounding some seasoning on a cut of
beef and preheating the oven... everything in between prep and putting it on
the table just happens while she's off buying flowers.


> I think her house and kitchen are wonderful. Someone complained that the
> kitchen never looked messy. I can't think of any cooking show where the
set
> looks messy.

Even Giada's kitchen looks like someone actually uses it. In contrast, Ina's
looks like the house is up for sale.


> I do find the staged events with "guest" to be stilted and
> contrived. I think that is the worst part of the show. The guests seem
> very uncomfortable and I sort of feel sorry for Ina. It makes her look
like
> she has to bribe people to get them to visit her. One the other hand, it
> appears that she is using her friends and family as props for her show.

I have difficulty believing that she knows any of the people she uses on her
shows, except for Geoffrey.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched still another episode in the Must Please
Geoffrey saga. She had arranged some kind of "romantic" chow down that would
be consumed in the living room seated on the floor in front of a blazing
fireplace. Chocolate-dipped strawberries were featured, hardly a
groundbreaking notion and not at all difficult to do. The show was badly
lit, so dark that we couldn't clearly see what was going on and, most sadly,
when Ina was in the foreground we couldn't see the fire in the fireplace*

(* Reference comments to her weight below)


> I
> think the show would be better without guests. She should just set-up the
> party as if people would be arriving momentarily like Julia Child did in
her
> early days.

Agreed. Or maybe she should just turn it into a Happy Homemaker scenario:
Waiting for Geoffrey.


> I have seen a number of posts here that citizen her because she is obese.
> There is no denying that she is large, but I think she has a lot of good
> qualities. She is pretty, intelligent, and a successful business person.
I
> don't think it is any more valid to dislike a person because of their
weight
> than it is to dislike them because of their skin color or nationality.

I don't think anyone dislikes her because of her weight. I've commented on
it, because of the times we've been treated to watching her eat on the show
(shudder) and because she seems to know more about eating food than
preparing it. But I don't *dislike* her because of her weight.


> In the end, if you can't stand her, then don't watch.

I watch her for the same reason people are drawn to accident scenes. The
need to see how bad things can be overwhelms revulsion and better judgement.
It's how the Lifetime channel survives.


> I don't care for
> Bobby Flay and I turn to another station rather than watch him. I find
> myself watching fewer Food TV shows for one reason or another. I don't
like
> some hosts like Flay. I'm burnt-out on Emeril and Sarah. I don't think
> that "semi-homemade" cooking is worth the time.

What? You don't prize canned frosting and pudding from a box?!


> The Naked Chef is too dirty
> looking for my taste. I've seen all the Martha Stewart segments when they
> aired on her MS Living program. I already know "How to boil water." The
> food on the Iron Chef turns my stomach. As they say around here "that
don't
> leave much."

Wolfgang Puck?