# Who is your LEAST favorite Food Network personality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869 "2007-02-27T13:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/21 "2007-02-27T16:39:42Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] Last week or so, I saw a promo for her show where she was sticking her tongue into a chocolate fountain. Double-dipping is bad enough, but she PUT HER MOUTH INTO THE FOOD. What does she do for an encore? French-kiss a chicken? Wipe her ass with a loaf of bread? I’m not keen on the down-homey Southern schtick, (I don’t care if that really is how she talks, or, like Larry the Cable Guy, it’s all an act) but doing something to willfully contaminate communal food is beyond the pale. [/QUOTE] I think that was her first show. It was disgusting. Pretty hard to top that. ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/22 "2007-02-27T16:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] A month or so ago I linked an Anthony Bourdain column ranting about Food Network personalities. He reserved the bulk of his rancor for Sandra Lee, describing her as an unholy creature who must be stopped, or some such. Unfortunately, I can’t find the link now; it was hilarious. [/quote] [http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/02/guest\_blogging\_.html](http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/02/guest_blogging_.html) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/23 "2007-02-27T16:52:21Z")
I’m also a Paula Deen hater. I know that she shares an accent with millions, but the sound of it drives me right up the wall. I’d rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard. And that show with her sons - it’s just a big commercial for the food venues that they visit. They go to bakeries in Little Italy or soul food joints in Alabama, and at the end of the episode, surprise! We find that you can buy the products just demonstrated from this establishment by just calling the handy number on the screen. Feh. Actually, just about everyone except Alton Brown and Mario Batali stink of being filtered through a focus group to make sure they appeal to 18-35 year old kitchen gadget purchasers. I’d much rather watch the chefs on PBS shows (like Jacques Pepin, Rick Bayless and Lidia Bastianich), and Tony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/24 "2007-02-27T17:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=Grossbottom] [http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/02/guest\_blogging\_.html](http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/02/guest_blogging_.html) [/QUOTE] That’s it. Thanks. Also, just for grins, speaking of Bourdain, I recently picked up [his _Les Halles_ cookbook](http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdains-Halles-Cookbook-Strategies/dp/158234180X), and recommend it highly. I started by skimming the introduction, and three hours later I’d read the entire book, every recipe, cover to cover. Very entertaining, with that classically caustic Bourdain tone livening up each and every recipe. (It’s the only cookbook I’ve seen that, when describing vichyssoise, cautions the cook about not splashing hot butter on oneself, because “it hurts like a motherfucker.” :D) And the recipes themselves look pretty fabulous. Definitely a good pickup. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/25 "2007-02-27T17:19:15Z")
Bobby Flay. What a pretentious, drunken jackass. “Oooh look at me with my famous restaurant putting cheese in between two flat tacos! It’s a culinary masterpiece!” Gah, hated him since Grillin’ and Chillin’ and continue to hate him until this day. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/26 "2007-02-27T17:34:51Z")
[QUOTE=Fiddle Peghead] Thanks for the info. Being from southwest Virginia, I’m not really familiar with southern accents. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I didn’t mean to seem curt about it; it sounded as if you were unfamiliar with it and your location doesn’t say “from SW VA”. Of course, Paula Deen’s from the Low Country, where the accent is different from SW VA or NW/Central Arkansas, where I grew up, although, we say “awl” there, too. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/27 "2007-02-27T17:44:38Z")
I hate a couple people. -Sandra Lee, GTFO all you did was open a can of soup and throw some other pre-made crap into. My 3yo nephew can do that crap. -“Giada “Bobblehead” DeLaurentis”, for god sakes STOP SMILING! It is ok to let your lips touch each other. Even when she is talking she’s smiling. STOP IT! Stop it right now. -Barefoot Contessa is just a smug stuck-up bitch. I want to slap her everytime I accidentally run across her show. -Rachel Ray, we know EVOO stands for extra-virgin olive-oil. YOU JUST TOLD US 2 MINUTES AGO! And 57 times on the last episode. Thats pretty much it. Everyone else I like or is OK. I miss Jamie “naked chef” Oliver that guy was cool. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/28 "2007-02-27T18:15:10Z")
[QUOTE=nashiitashii] I hated the few episodes of her show that I watched, but what really got me was hearing about the "[Kwanzaa Celebration Cake](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_25303,00.html?rsrc=search) " she made. Way to not only make a disgusting cake, but to incorporate almost every black food stereotype into a cake. I’m surprised you didn’t throw in fried chicken and watermelon, Sandra. :smack: :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Oh. Oh, dear. People, you really need to click on that link. There are CORN-NUTS on a CAKE! **Corn-Nuts!** 'Kay, that clinches it. Sandra Lee for the win. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/29 "2007-02-27T18:15:57Z")
**Grossbottom** nailed my feelings about Marc Summers. He just squicks me right the hell out and means he secures my number one spot (although I still like, and watch, the show itself. Second place would have to go to my only viewing of Sandra Lee on a Halloween special. What a terrible blaspheme! She did the multiple costume matching the decor thing for that too. It was hideous and I vowed on my mother’s vanilla fudge to never darken her television persona soaked program again. On the plus, I instantly heart Anthony Bourdain. And despite the fact that I don’t/can’t cook, I gotta have that for the motherfucker factor alone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/30 "2007-02-27T19:26:06Z")
I’m sure (well, positive, actually) that I’m in the minority for saying this, but I do not like Alton Brown. I can stand him on Iron Chef America, where his schtick is somewhat subdued. Not so on his own show, although his recepies are interesting. Oh, and not to hijack, but why doesn’t Martin Yan have a show on the Food Network? ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/31 "2007-02-27T19:29:57Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Oh. Oh, dear. People, you really need to click on that link. There are CORN-NUTS on a CAKE! **Corn-Nuts!** 'Kay, that clinches it. Sandra Lee for the win. [/QUOTE] This is why I spent a few minutes to find the exact recipe before posting when I saw the thread. It is, by far, the most vile, disgusting recipe I’ve seen on the Food Network website. Then again, I think most of the food she makes is nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/32 "2007-02-27T19:30:55Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Sorry, I didn’t mean to seem curt about it… [/QUOTE] My fault, actually. Got up on the wrong side, I guess. As for Sandra Lee, she does have the most boring recipes on the network, but I am at a loss as to what the “black food stereotype[s]” are in the Kwanzaa cake that **WhyNot** alludes to. Just curious. Bobby Flay never bothered me too much (though he is seemingly a bit arrogant). I have eaten at his Mesa Grill restaurant in NYC. Pretty damn good, if, inevitably, a bit overpriced, but it _is_ New York. And the food he grills on his outdoor show usually looks amazing. I always enjoyed Grillin’ and Chillin’, but mostly because of Jack McDavid’s down home charm (and of course Jack’s preference of charcoal over gas!) ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/33 "2007-02-27T19:34:17Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] That’s it. Thanks. Also, just for grins, speaking of Bourdain, I recently picked up [his _Les Halles_ cookbook](http://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bourdains-Halles-Cookbook-Strategies/dp/158234180X), and recommend it highly. I started by skimming the introduction, and three hours later I’d read the entire book, every recipe, cover to cover. Very entertaining, with that classically caustic Bourdain tone livening up each and every recipe. (It’s the only cookbook I’ve seen that, when describing vichyssoise, cautions the cook about not splashing hot butter on oneself, because “it hurts like a motherfucker.” :D) And the recipes themselves look pretty fabulous. Definitely a good pickup. [/QUOTE] I just had it handed to me about an hour ago by my post(wo)man, and am trying to clear my decks to delve into it…can’t wait!!! 😃 Kitchen Confidential is following on its heels, tomorrow probably. Life is good!!! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/34 "2007-02-27T19:37:55Z")
That would be **nashiitashii** , and not **WhyNot** regarding the black food stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/35 "2007-02-27T20:19:00Z")
[QUOTE=faithfool] On the plus, I instantly heart Anthony Bourdain. And despite the fact that I don’t/can’t cook, I gotta have that for the motherfucker factor alone. [/QUOTE] Not to mention his habit of referring to the reader as “dipshit” and “numbnuts.” 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/36 "2007-02-27T20:24:27Z")
[QUOTE=supervenusfreak] Sandra Lee. I wonder why she still has a show. [/QUOTE] Nobody doesn’t like Sandra Lee ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/37 "2007-02-27T20:50:12Z")
Doesn’t ANYONE but me remember when Paula Deen got her start on television? She was a guest on Oprah. It was a show about braaaave people who started their own businesses and cashed in big. The other guests were Taryn Rose, and the Sugar Rush guy. Paula’s story was that her dirty ol’ hubband done dropped her for a newer model, and lef’ her with two babies to feed! She made and delivered sandwiches 26 hours a day and damn near died of it. Except that her story now is that she started the sandwich business while still married, also ran a hotel restaurant that was enormously popular, her boys were out of high school and did all the delivery work, and… _she_ divorced her \*husband \* because he wasn’t good enough for her anymore. I sort of liked, or was okay with, both Oprah and Paula Deen before I saw her “updated” biography. I now loathe both of them. But not as much as I loathe Rachael Ray. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/38 "2007-02-27T20:52:31Z")
Rachel Ray. I wish she would shut the fuck up. How does she maintain her appetite when she’s on crack all the time? ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/39 "2007-02-27T20:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=Fiddle Peghead] My fault, actually. Got up on the wrong side, I guess. As for Sandra Lee, she does have the most boring recipes on the network, but I am at a loss as to what the “black food stereotype[s]” are in the Kwanzaa cake that **WhyNot** alludes to. Just curious. [/QUOTE] From what I’ve heard from black people on other online communities, it’s a “fairly common” stereotype that black people love Corn Nuts. Not having known what Corn Nuts were before this bit of information, I just kind of assumed it was another stereotype that I hadn’t heard of before. But yeah, either way, the cake is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869/40 "2007-02-27T21:17:06Z")
Sandra Lee is an abomination unto the Lord. However annoying the other food shills might be (and they are), at least some of their food is occasionally edible. Not so, Sandra Lee. I can rarely endure watching that show for very long, but every time I can spot some potentially-fatal food mishandling – handling raw chicken and then not washing, undercooking shrimp, if there’s a way to kill someone, Sandra will find it and demonstrate it for us. But she drinks so damn much alcohol that any bacteria are apparently as pickled as she is, and can’t do the world the one little favor they could do us. Although her show has no food or cooking value, it _does_ have its entertainment value. In checking to see if her expensive and completely unused stand mixer matches her color scheme and tablescape (it always does). Watching her make a mess of icing cookies or cake or whatever, only to be miraculously perfect in the next closeup featuring someone else’s disembodied hands. Wondering if her breasticles could possibly sag any lower. It’s kinda like “Real Housewives,” but on foodtv. Also: Jamie Oliver. His recipies look okay, he’s an interesting personality. But I’m squicked out every time he opens his mouth to lisp some instructions – he’s surely spraying his spittle all over the food he’s making. Ugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-least-favorite-food-network-personality/393869.md?page=3)