Credit: Oscar Einzig

When it comes to major conventions and trade shows, the music industry has South By Southwest, the publishing industry has Book Expo America, the comics industry has ComiCon, and then the housewares industry has the International Home and Housewares Show, held in Chicago every March. It’s the nexus for everything new and cool in the housewares industry, which includes everything from kitchen products to bedding to cleaners. For Food Network purposes, of course, I stuck to the kitchen side of the show.

Credit: Bonjour Gourmet

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This past week has been super busy for not only FN’s Studio A, but also a few outside shoots, as well!

The Big Bite personality that is Guy Fieri has been cooking up a storm with some of his closest friends (hint – there are TONS of special guests in the upcoming episodes of Guy’s Big Bite). But not only that, Tyler Florence is back with another special, and it’s all about burgers coming in May! And this past Saturday, I got to hang out with Daisy Martinez of Viva Daisy. We shot around the Union Square Green Market and a few amazing locations in Jackson Heights, Queens (not too far from where I live!). One of the most classic moments happened at Daisy’s shoot when Mario Batali walked right pass all of us – we weren’t rolling at that moment, but it was still pretty hilarious.

Now that you’re caught up with whats been keeping our cameras busy, here’s an update on my little garden! While fairly upset that I had no sprouts last week, I started dreading the idea of only having 2 large pots of dirt on my desk. My friend Jon built me a shelf which lifted my spirits, but still, no sprouts… just bowls of dirt. And then it happened!!! This morning I came in to find some green stems popping their little heads out of the soil – BASIL! (Thankfully my little garden at home is strong, green and beautiful!)

Until next week – Cheers!
Kendra, Operation Foodie

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Most New Yorkers are showing their Irish spirit by marching through the streets of the city and sampling beer & food from various pubs. The FN team is here and enjoying a Green Bagel & Irish Soda Bread Breakfast put together by our Employee Activities Committee – so we are all very excited!

In honor of today, here are some traditional foods to try:

1. COLCANNON – Mashed potatoes with onions and greens. Get creative – my favorite combination includes red skin potatoes (mashed with skins), sauteed kale & onion, and a bit of garlic.
2. BOXTY – A mixture of raw and cooked potatoes.
3. IRISH STEW – This particular recipe from our FN Test Kitchen inclues lamb and goat cheese.
4. CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE – Paula Deen’s fast and delicious recipe.
5. CURACH – An Irish dessert consisting of toasted oats, whiskey, raspberries, and whipped cream (how can you go wrong?!).

What are you cooking up for St. Patrick’s Day?

I hope you have a fabulous day!
Kendra, Operation Foodie

These days, we’re all scrounging around our couch cushions for nickel and dimes. So how considerate of Oprah to feature Tyler Florence and Iron Chef Cat Cora showing easy, tasty and budget saving home made meals for us to watch, while we pat down the sofa! You can catch a rerun of the segment here.

In case you missed it — there were three family interventions, if you will.  Being the guilty, quick-fix TV dinner girl over here, I tended to relate to the first family, who ate almost entirely from the freezer to the microwave!  Once the chefs demonstrated the whole slow cooking thing that’s been all the rage lately, I started to consider dusting off that crock pot hand me down (thank you cutey pa tootey Tyler Florence). Check out both Tyler’s family favorite recipes, as well as Cat’s complete 7-day menu, which includes a week’s worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes for all under $150.

Oprah’s not the only day time gal teaching us how to save some dough while watching dvr-ed shows. Sandra Lee just finished taping her first 13 episodes of Sandra’s Money Saving Meals which premieres on May 10th (2 days before SC’s B-day, in case your curious). We did get some behind the scenes on Ms. Lee, so keep a lookey-loo out for that video on here. Let me just say, even with the dollar scrimping, her plates don’t make any color cuts.

Tell me dear readers what is your “recession budgeting” tips for tasty meals? We’re all in this together and as much as I’m loving my slow cooker, it’s uh, a bit slow. Let me know. Heres to keeping it real and hot!

Yours truly,
Secretary Confidential

Have you ever been surprised when you find out your work friends (the friendly people you have water cooler time with) have a life outside of work? I really don’t like the work phrase “in my prior life,” but sometimes you run across those rare peeps that really had an interesting prior life. Neil Perry, FN Sound Designer/ Music Composer, is the perfect example of this.

Click ahead to see what celebs Neil HASN’T worked with.

I’m sure it’s the same in offices across the country, but this week in the Food Network Programming department, you can quietly work and watch the tumbleweeds roll by. Holiday gift giving is over, everyone is on vacation, and only the few of us who are truly – truly – dedicated are holding down the fort, here at the Chelsea Market.

So how do the professionally food obsessed spend a quiet holiday week? Burgers! There are food perks at FN, food perks being in the Chelsea Market, and then there are food perks just being in this neighborhood.

In that spirit, here’s a quick tour of the burger offerings in our lovely hood that will make any carnivore happy. Note: it doesn’t hurt that we border the Meatpacking District.

Across the street is the legendary Old Homestead Steakhouse with the famous cow above the door. Next door to O.H.S. is Pop Burger, when you only need a small slider. One block down is The Diner, a rather more upscale version of it’s name. A few blocks away is Cafeteria, Tyler Florence‘s old haunt, and in the other direction there’s Corner Bistro, a truly old school tavern. Also in walking distance is the now mega-famous Spotted Pig, gastropub to the stars. You can find nearly any kind of food in the world in Chelsea, but it’s clearly a burger kind of town. You may not want to hit all of them in the same week though…

~ Fay, Programming

Photo: Thomas Censani

Since we’re all home enjoying the holidays, we wanted to share some holiday memories from your favorite Food Network stars…

Tyler Florence: Best gift — moped as a ten-year old…and then, “…whatever my wife got me last Christmas. Thanks, honey!”

Sandra Lee: Best gift — a love letter from her honey.

Guy Fieri: Best gift — His horse, Rebel was his first thought. However, he changed his answer to his two sons instead.

Alton Brown: A jet from his wife. That’s right, a REAL jet.

Sunny Anderson: Beebee bear from her mom.

Danny Boome: Skiing lessons. Worst gift: Hospital bills after the skiing lessons.

Watch all the holiday memories from your favorite FN stars.

Here’s a toast to all of the FN Dish’ers!
And if your glass needs a great companion…
try Paula‘s Mama’s Eggnog. YUM!

Happy Holidays!
~ The FN Dish Staff

Food Network stars tell The FN Dish what’s on their holiday wish lists!

When people visit Food Network, they are often surprised, and I’ll venture to say disappointed, that they don’t find delicious heaps of food for the taking by our offices. I guess one can rightfully assume that one of Giada’s awesome, mouth-watering plates would just be waiting for them in a grand buffet line. Alas, this is not the case. [We do have coffee though.]

Unfortunately, we must whip up these plates of heaven on our own. And speaking of an amazing Giada plate, give her Sea Bass alla Fiorentina a try…

Full confession: I am by no means gifted in the kitchen. New husband will happily attest to this. But I recently tried out Giada’s Florentine-take on sea bass and I cannot tell a lie — it was unbelievably good. You have to try it! It’s so easy and I am now one with the beauty of canned tomatoes…and the magic of flour; a little dusting and the fish tasted just right.

Next, I’m attempting Tyler’s Ultimate Holiday meal….
Have you taken on any amazing plates lately?
~ Kristen, Programming Coordinator
PS — Wish me luck with Tyler.

Operation Foodie here, with an insider look at production — on set at the Food Network Studios.

Just as recipes range from second-nature to baker-perfection, so does food television production. The dependents upon what make it a cinch vs. the need for more elbow grease vary… Shows like 30 Minute Meals are well-oiled machines that literally take about 30 minutes to shoot. The crew is small, Rachael is very low maintenance, the set practically builds itself, and the days fly by. These are what I consider the “Sunday Sauce” shows: consistently good and something the whole family finds comfort in.

Others take more managing, prep, and creative organizing. I call these the intricate “Turkey Mole” shows. The ingredients are particular, measurements precise, timing is specific, and attention to detail is immense.  Our “Turkey Mole” shows range from the new, like Guy Off The Hook, to the veterans, like Iron Chef America. Crew sizes are much larger and there are a million things on the stove at once (literally and figuratively).

Guy Off The Hook was my first show in larger Studio A, and I recall how much prep work was required just catering for the audience.  I was amazed at how much our team genuinely cared about the experience each guest would take home. From the moment Guy walked on the stage to wild cheers, I knew we’d achieved much more than we had hoped for.

That’s all for now! Back up to the studio to check in the crew for Tyler’s Ultimate!

~ Operation Foodie