Aida Mollenkamp is back with a brand new season of Ask Aida, and she’s made some exciting changes. We caught up with her to hear all about the new style and to find out what viewer question (almost) stumped this gastronomical guru.

FN Dish: The new season just premiered on Saturday. Loved the first episode! Can you give us a little taste of the rest of the season?
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Although I am the last person who should be casting aspersions on other people’s brand extensions — really? This is a good idea?

…They hadn’t seen a marinated steak in forty days. It made the boy sad that they had marinades but no steak to eat them on. The old man had taught the boy to rope the cows that once marinated would eventually become their steak. The old man had scars on his hands from the ropes used to catch cows but those scars were not fresh. It had been years since the old man had roped a cow and then marinated it. The boy said “Remember how once we roped eighty-seven cows and marinated steak?” “I remember” said the old man.

[EMD via YesButNoButYes]

Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

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Anyone who’s ever visited the Food Network’s kitchens knows just how immaculate they are: all gleaming, crumbless surfaces and floors you could eat off of. And yet in even the most spotless of kitchens, there is always something better left uningested. The overwhelming majority of these somethings cannot be seen without the aid of a microscope and, fortunately, are rendered harmless by the miracle of cooking. But every once in a while some foreign object inexplicably finds its way into the kitchen. So let me explain. Yes, in a test kitchen lowboy, on the bottom shelf, all the way back, in the plastic container,  is a LIVE VIRUS TYPHOID VACCINE. Yes, it is mine. Me me me. All mine. I did it. And I can explain.

Owing to a doctor’s error earlier this week I find myself in the possession of a rather expensive vaccine that I don’t actually need and probably shouldn’t take. And due to force of law, neither my pharmacist nor my doctor is allowed to accept it for proper disposal. So today the vaccine sits in the lowboy, in a very strange sort of limbo. And until I can determine the safest way to dispose of it, there it will stay. Help!

Jonathan Milder, Research Librarian

Brian Boitano’s new show, What Would Brian Boitano Make? premieres this Sunday! He was just in town on a media blitz, and we caught up with him for a quick chat. As promised, we asked your burning questions.

FN DISH: Everyone knows you as a skater. Why the jump to a cooking show?

BB: Before the Olympics I was on a strict regimen with a limited diet. I always dreamed of what I would make and what I would eat after the Olympics. After I won, I started having friends over and entertaining a lot, and it just grew from there. I’m actually very lucky because food and skating are my two loves. I’m still skating full time and juggling that with a show is ideal.
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This is spectacularly soothing, and probably useful if you have a sorority initiation or a Van Halen tour to prepare for…

And no, I have no idea what a discodip is either, though a quick google seems to suggest it’s the Dutch term for the opposite of hagelslag. [via]

Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

Well done FN Dishers! We were worried that we made the clues too tricky this time, but you came through and solved the mystery. Yes, those shots were from the set of Cooking for Real with the lovely Sunny Anderson.

But we made him take a picture with us anyway:

Dave Mechlowicz, Culinary Purchasing Manager

It’s time for another round of “What’s Shooting Now?” Here’s how the game works. We give you clues, and you try to guess what show is shooting in the Food Network studios. Tomorrow, we’ll let the cat out of the bag!

THE CLUES

For years, I’ve listened to all of my older relatives rave about my long-deceased great grandmother Rose’s graham cracker cake. I never had the opportunity to taste it, as she passed away while my mother was pregnant with me, but everyone loved how pudding-like, dense, and delicious the cake was.

Rose never shared her secret of how to make it with anyone, but did leave behind a very cryptic recipe card with no instructions other than “beat egg whites separately.” Several relatives had tried it, but none could duplicate the pudding-like consistency. One of my cousins recently e-mailed me a scan of the card and I found the challenge to be irresistible.

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