Giada De Laurentiis Suggests You Buy Her $99 14-Piece Knife Set

Raise your hand if you never want to hear the words “CYBER MONDAY” again? Holy crap. I scanned my emails yesterday and I bet every other one rolled in with a CYBER MONDAY deal. (Although I did indulge: NYT digital subscription.)

With these CYBER MONDAY specials come lists. Lots of lists from lots of famous people telling us to buy lots of crap. Take this gift guide from Giada De Laurentiis. She started a line with Target. The list is posted on Target’s blog, A Bullyseye View. Out of fifteen items De Laurentiis recommends, FOUR are from her own line.

Welcome to the spirit of giving.

(Photo: A Bullseye View)

UPDATED—Endless Questions: Giada Talks Clinton, WillKat and Mike Isabella

 

UPDATED: Giada is right. Giada told Endless Simmer’s Russell Warnick that Top Chef Alum Mike Isabella planned to open a new restaurant in Georgetown. Simmer’s Stefanie Gans (gansie) called Isabella for confirmation. He denied it. Turns out, the scoop was meant for Washington Post’s dining critic Tom Sietsema and the restaurant is actually in the works.

Eater has the dramatic play-by-play of the restaurant announcement.

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This past weekend DC hosted the 6th annual Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show, a collection of salsas, olive oils and oddly, British cashmere scarves. Not only is it an opportunity for small businesses to present their products to the masses, it’s also a chance for your favorite celebrity chefs to hawk a few books. Guy Fieri was presented to 2,500 military spouses by Dr. Jill Biden while Paula Deen pimped out her Caribbean cruise and Smithfield Ham. The envy of every straight guy out there, I got to speak with Giada De Laurentiis, and yes, she’s as hot in person as she is on TV, even with the cold she was suffering at the time.

Giada spoke of her time cooking for Prince William and Kate, what she’d cook for Bill Clinton and a little gossip about DC’s very own Mike Isabella…

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Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Food Network Gets Animated

jeffrey

Have you been watcing Next Food Network Star?  I have.

Well, technically, I’ve had it on in the background as I try in vain to beat my mom’s top score in Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.  How does she get so many damn points?!?!

So I’ve been kinda paying attention to this season.  I know that Debbie is gone, which means we won’t hear the word “Korean” every 14.7 seconds.   Anyway, the fact that I’ve not been 100% focused doesn’t mean that I’m not pulling hard for Jeffrey.  Why?  Because he’s just a severe overbite and some bright yellow skin away from being a Simpsons character, and I think the Food Network needs to diversify into animation.

Seriously, they don’t have a single cartoon character on the network — unless you count Paula Deen.

Zing! Pow! Smörg!

Bourdain does Baltimore and a local complains about the hatchet job, saying he should have sat down with Duff Goldman.  Yeah, that would have gone well.

– Food Network is still going gangbusters during the recession despite dips in restaurant revenue.  This is because staying home and licking your TV screen is significantly cheaper than the prix fixe at The French Laundry.

After the jump…so close yet so far with Giada, “Is that Emeril losing at video poker?” and everyone’s favorite Italian cheftestant woos you with wine.

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Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Welcome to the Rock

keller

Let me start off by making something perfectly clear:  I don’t give a rat’s ass who wins on any reality competition show.  For the most part, I think the contestants on these shows are the equivalent of tissues — made to be used and discarded as quickly as possible.  I don’t find these people in the least bit interesting and if your most impressive “skill” is your ability to get chosen to appear on American Idol, or that sewing show that used to be on Bravo, I have no interest in following your exploits after the season is over, even if you are the big winner.

And although I pretty much feel this way about Top Chef Masters, I’d say I only have about 99% apathy.  Why?  Because I totally want Hubert Keller to win this thing.

Two reasons:

  1. He’s a PBS show host and I always like seeing those guys get props.
  2. He looks exactly like Sean Connery at about the 14 minute mark in The Rock.  After he washes off the prison grime but before getting the full make-over by the barber.

I figure this as good an excuse as any to root for him.  Oh…brainstorm!  We need a Michael Bay-directed food movie.  Given his love of fire and slow-motion, that is going to be one AWESOME crème brûlée scene.

Enough silliness…on to the smörg.

– I pray to you, oh Flying Spaghetti Monster, let there be a reality show involved:  Human Train Wrecks Rocco DiSpirito and Jeffrey Chodorow could hook up again?

– How can you tell that a controversial issue is reaching the mainstream?  Shaq tweets about it.  Er, I mean:  When the folks in the industry embrace it.  Chipotle will be screening Food, Inc. at locations around the country.

After the jump…the vocal stylings of Mr. Mario Batali, a link to a story that includes the words “Giada” and “testicles,” and confirmation that Food Network and a former Olympian are completely in on the joke.

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