Good Eats Episode Tonight: Cran Opening

Whew!  The holiday crush has been keeping me busy lately!  While running around trying to clean the kitchen, run some laundry, and keep and eye on my daughter rolling around and chewing on everything within reach I realized it was Monday already!

Monday!  Time for some new Good Eats adventures!  Tonight's feature is cranberries.  I don't recall this episode though it is listed as a season 11 show on the Food Network website; maybe it slipped past me or could it be one of those strange cable season delays that they like to confuse us with?  Anyhow: cranberries.

I'm picturing Alton Brown up to his waist in a bog with Deb Duchon ala the Ocean Spray commercials.  Maybe he'll pick up a new juice contract!  Looks like we're in for a treat with a cranberry cosmopolitan recipe mixed with some homemade cranberry granita.  Then, of course, the holiday cranberry sauce.  Luckily, I already have a bag of cranberries in the fridge.

Tonight's Good Eats Schedule:
8:00pm The Alton Crown Affair (lamb crown roast)
8:30pm Cran Opening
11:00pm The Icing Man Cometh (buttercream and ganache)

Good Eats and Holiday Treats

Whew!  The rush of relatives is gone and while I can enjoy some peace and quiet, many of you are just gearing up!  If you haven't caught an episode yet, Food Network has been airing the "Dear Food Network" series featuring many of the regular show hosts.

    I haven't watching any of the holiday cooking shows in a while and it was noticeably different from past years.  Gone was the strange 'family' gathering of FN hosts replaced by more informative and mixed cooking segments.  Each episode has a main host and then a one or more others present an added dish to spice things up.  Thanks to the Blessed DVR, I was able to watch a few minutes between cleaning, cooking, and entertaining this week.  The Guy Fieri feature was good, but a little disappointing since I had just watched the Big Bite show where he prepared the same turkey pastrami.  Ina Garten still isn't my taste, but Alton Brown topped it off.

The turkey episode which Alton Brown hosted was a treat.  Besides providing a nice peek into the Good Eats studio kitchen, we had almost a full hour of Alton and his usual antics.  He seemed to be in what I imagine, having never seen him in person, is his natural personality.  Not too much new in the show for those of us who watch GE all the time, but it was noticeable that Alton, and not Emeril, was featured prominently on FN.  Years of consistent quality and variety finally has paid off for him.  My only worry is that soon he will outgrow Food Network as Emeril and Mario have done in the realm of cooking.

I also, finally, had a chance to watch the latest Good Eats episode.  Bowl of Creole was what I think of a classic Good Eats: witty yet focused on the food, enough science to give some background but more food preparation for the substance.  I never heard of using pickled pork in the mix; anybody from the Bayou agree with that one?  I kept waiting to see somebody dressed in the sausage outfit from the River Run.

Merry Christmas

Hopefully you all are enjoying your holidays! I had to cover the midnight shift last night and just got home around 7AM. However, I already carved up the Honeybaked ham and the bone is on it's way to creating a delicious pot of pea soup! A hearty soup is great with the wind howling outside; blowing snow scross the fields behind my house. The majority of the next two days will be well spent curled up in front of the computer and TV.

So, Merry Christmas everybody! No matter what situation you find yourself in this winter; try to take a few moments to enjoy life.