Hi Everyone


Adrian - post a link to your site, would like to have a look.


Homelovingirl - what is ceramic xmas trees on Penguin Light? it's the Penguin Light that has me puzzled :-) Hope you're well?


I see we are still missing the new episodes of Ina....maybe in the new year???


It's been manic at my end...but nice to come and say hello...


Making mincemeat tonight - it's practically Christmas you know ;-)


take care x

Congratulations JenJen so please you had a lovely day...and you were lucky with the weather!


There hasn't been anything on Good food channel worth watching. All repeats. In fact on normal tv lately it's been pretty good. We had Rick doing the Far East and Nigel is back on BBC. And then there's that annoying talking person that says bro all the time Jamie. Don't have a problem with him as a person but he always talks in a annoying way either Mockie or now a hoodie with 'bro' every 5mins!


That's my rant on Jamie's talking over with....


I still have a wedding to plan for....it seems far a way at the moment but I know things come around quickly.


I hope JenJen it goes as smoothly as yours! Post a photo or e-mail it to me.

You lucky man Adrian...dream job!!

Hello everyone...it's been a while since I popped in to see how it was going?

Hi Homelovingirl, don't over do it...don't forget the glass of wine at 6.30pm!

Hi I do hope they are new series completely meaning she doesn't just go over old recipes in a new format.

Hey, post the link to your website so I can have a look at your work.

Its funny how food can actually taste better when someone else does it! You're very lucky your OH cooks.

It's good you're busy, anyone that has work at the moment in the present climate is lucky.

Sounds like you should go ahead and replace it. I guess the manufacturers figure they would be out of a job if they made things to last!!

I'm with you on that I had fridge/freezer of the same make and it was very bad the fridge kept freezing my vegetables that were placed at the very back of the fridge!

It's certainly worth spending a little extra for good products, in the end if you buy cheap you'll only end buying again when they go wrong!! False economy!

Any cooking at your end lately?

hi homelovingirl

I see how it's gone very quiet around here....

Maybe you should tell your OH that your cooking would be so much easier if you had a new kitchen

I had posted the following comment a few days ago but noticed it got removed, I've changed the comment about how the 'show was not expensive' to see if I have a chance of keeping this post!


Market kitchen showdown is the 'GoodFoodChannel' way of how to make it look like they are not showing repeats by showing repeats!

Hi Homelovingirl

I've been busy with taking kids to their grandparents in Portugal, went to France with OH on a 4 night bike trip. Came back to rip old kitchen out, trying desperately to put new one in, only to realise it's far more complicated and difficult than either of us anticipated!! because I had to have oversized oven and hob in a shoebox size kitchen!

Then had to collect children from grandparents and we're back... with half of the kitchen contents still on the patio!

But there you go they are worse things....

I've noticed the Contessa is not with us at present

I've also noticed the 'new' series had such few programs in the series?? All the other series seemed to run for weeks and weeks this last one seemed to be over in half the time?!

JenJen - How bad for you! I feel for you.

I am intolerant to dairy but will take the mick every other week. I suffer the next day or two but love anything that has milk in it.

My middle daughter has food allergies from birth but she doesn't know what she is missing so it's unfair not being able to eat birthday cake at parties and occasionally she moans about it. The only recent developed allergy she has had was maize in the last 2 years and that is bad for her because she adored cornflakes and popcorn and I've had to ban those from the house because even the smell made her want them so much.

I hope you body will settle down and you can eat things now and again.

Your wedding menu sounds fab. Not long now!

Just watching tonight's episode but missed last night's so have to watch it later if my OH hasn't deleted the episode.

I'm with Ina on the butter - nothing taste good without it!!

Hi cornet & homelovingirl - hope you keeping cool in this weather!

homelovingirl - Hi, just watching tonight's episode of Ina sitting next to OH re-designing my food blog. How hot is it??? All I can think about is cold cold food! Cold Summer soups. Salads. Italian vegetables dishes served cold like caponata. But right this minute I could quite easily dive into some ice-cream....

I think last night's episode was the first I really enjoyed watching of this series.

homelovingirl - trust you to perk up when someone has a dig at the Goddess!!

I've been busy trying to sort out my food blog problems...looking after my 3 little and helping with the running of our business. It's never ending...

Sesley - don't be put out by us we like anyone who likes Ina. We know she's big but we don't care...did you know she is in her 60s? My theory is over a certain age you either look thin & wrinkly or bigger and youthful! I'm planning for the second just like my Great Gran who lived until 92 eating and drinking everything, happy as larry... great role model!

Cornetto - tried the white choc yet?

I'm enjoying the new series because I think I've seen the old ones about 5 times each episode!! But I wish there were more newer recipes.

OK - before you lot shoot me - hear me out - tonight I saw her doing roasted shrimp again, which was in her last series. She also I'm sure did the cheese biscuits before. I think I saw her do scramble eggs too. I guess the book itself is Back to Basics and we are revisiting a few things but I preferred the other series. I'm not a traitor honest, still love Ina. Ina rocks!

having to relearn to use the board again and which way the posts go! I easily get confused

JenJen - what's your wedding menu? Fab idea to do the choc for the favours!

I keep planting herbs and then using them too much before they have a chance to grown!! I've bought two large bayleaves trees so hopefully they will keep going. I'm hoping I've planted enough thyme now to get ahead of my scissors! But I still need to find large enough pots of parsley as I use tons of that and my basil never grows fast enough. But hey if I only had a full time gardener....

cornetto lets us know how you got on with the choc bark?

homelovingirl - i had the bbq out yesterday and will do today too, have to make the most of it before Winter sets in!!! Do you realise yesterday was the longest day - and where has the Summer been??

cornetto - yes it looks like the same design as her old kitchen which is why it's a bit confusing!! If you get shots of this kitchen she has a door off the kitchen at either end where as the kitchen in her house to one end she had the wall of the fridge then to the left of that an opening to her walk in storage cupboard. Her new kitchen looks much much bigger!

Oh to have such a kitchen - it's the stuff of dreams......

Homelovingirl - carrot salad surely its too healthy?!! Just make sure you add a pound of butter!!!

your choc truffles sound nice - post them to me

I spent most of this week trying out different cake recipes for my food blog and had to give them away to my neighbours or I would eat the them all. they're is a stash in the freezer otherwise OH would complain!

Have you noticed how big Ina's new barn is???

hi cornetto here's the link:

[link]

if you have trouble with it the website is www.foodnetwork.com/barefoot-contessa

Cornetto if the recipe is not on her American site, is just melted white chocolate spread on baking parchment thickly and while still warm add your favourites toppings, nuts, dried fruit, coconut, crushed maltesees or even whole maltesers - ooh that just got my imagination going. whole malteases on white chocolate with dried strawberries would look fab in my opinion! Mmm going to try that...

I would start with around 300g of white choc but also you cold try milk or dark choc. Make certain you buy good quality choc especially white choc otherwise all you are paying for is vegetable oil and sugar. On the back it should have cocoa butter not veg oil. Usually found at cake ingredients section of supermarket or the organic Greens & Black do a very good quality white choc, with the vanilla seeds in them.

Homelovingirl your choc cake sounds nice - send me some

Adrian - totally agree with you on naming recipes if you are taking them from someone else. But as far as the white choc one is concerned Ina did not come up with that idea herself. The white choc bars with bits in it have been around for a few years in the speciality choc shops. Ina does a lot of classic recipes - tuna niçoise as an example, you could hardly attribute that to her, but for example the way she served it was a fresh idea. Chicken and thyme and lemon is not her original, its a Med classic. Steak with black pepper, onion rings made with cornmeal also done before Ina came along.

To buy someone's packet mix and carrying it off as your own is really bad though. Usually if I take an idea from someone I will acknowledge where the idea came from and the new twist I've put in. I've just finished doing a Spanish omelette today for my blog and I can hardly say I invented that!

Well, well well....It's been an interesting read. At last some action on this board it went dead for a while. I was beginning to think all of Ina's fans died of all the butter they eat including myself.

Adrian - you have obviously stirred the board somewhat. As you can read they're are some hardcore fans here.

Have been enjoying watching the new series. Has anyone notice that the barn she is now cooking from looks like the same size as her house?!!

That new kitchen has doors that lead otherside of the kitchen - I wonder where they lead to?

The white chocolate with the fruit and nuts she made yesterday looked like the bars of chocolate you can get from Hotel Chocolate and they cost something like £14. Which made me think I could make that for presents! I shall go and experiment with different combinations like milk choc & white choc together and so on. At Hotel Chocolate they have things like crushed biscuits, marshmellows, nuts. I shall post it on my blog when I've made it and attribute Ina for my inspiration!

JenJen - sorry to hear you haven't been well. How's the wedding plans coming along?

Homelovingirl - where I live I can get the coconut in my local health food shop, if you have one close to you they may also sell them.

Tried yesterday to make bagels - bagel disaster !

I think I didn't put enough yeast or left in a warm enough place to rise - no patience sometimes.

I love the darn things - but they obviously don't love me back

Thanks Alc28 - rosemary lemon & garlic is one of my favourite combo with any meat on the bbq

I'm just preparing lemon thyme, garlic lots of black pepper chicken marinade for tonight's dinner, lighting the bbq even though weather is a bit risky!

I made Ina cupcake recipe again but i did it the 'muffin' way, wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in another and then mix. Instead of the coconut I put raspberry & blueberry (oldest daughter fav). they're cooling on the rack now - the smell mummm. Baking makes your house smell sooo nice!!

I also have two frosting one with just vanilla for daughter & her friend and the other frosting I cut back on the vanilla and just added a drop of rosewater, which goes beautifully with the fragrant raspberries

JenJen you are really having a horrid old time with your teeth

Homelovingirl - still working hard?

must go and make dinner - or else kids will be crying

Hi Everyone

I'm so sorry to hear JenJen about your wisdom teeth, you must had them pretty deep and stuck, I had mine out when I was (can't remember now!!!) very young and it was just with an injection - so poor you You sound like you had a terrible time! Hey on the bright side you might have lost a couple of pounds for your wedding dress!! sending a hug over the net.

Wasn't it nice that someone was being helpful with suggestions on your wedding presents?
It's nice to hear from people with contributions, and not the 'Ina uses too much salt brigade, heh?'

I'm glad homelovingirl you also liked the coconut cupcakes
!

Just had chicken on the bbq tonight marinated with lemon which reminded me of Ina's lime chicken on the bbq - glorious night, I hope you all had a good evening

alc28 is nice to hear from you....

hi everyone

I made the coconut cupcakes, sightly changed it a bit because I didn't have enough coconut and I don't think they suffered from it so I think next time I'll still cut down on the coconut quantity from Ina's recipe.

I also made the frosting just butter & icing sugar and no cream cheese cause I wanted to leave the cakes out of the fridge (as it is full of butter, cream, fatty bacon and everything else that tastes gorgeous!!!)

Ina's recipe for the coconut cupcakes follows the traditional method of victoria sponge where you start beating the butter & sugar first followed by the eggs and flour which is unusual to the traditional American muffin mixture of adding wet ingredients in one bowl and dry ingredients in another and then gently mix the two very roughly.

this surprised me a bit, I followed her method this time but next time I think I shall follow the usual muffin way as it is so easy and I don't have to get out my electric whisk (meaning less work for me), and I will let you know how I get on.

Anyone tried anything lately? Even if it's not Ina, it would be nice to share it, it's nice to hear from people again (positively)

No not at all

went to the filming of market kitchen today for a laugh - it was ok, Mathew Fort was the presenter, who I like. It would be nicer if it were Ina's Kitchen at least you would have tasted something lovely and actually been given a proper portion!!!!

must go now - cycling with the OH trying to get fit for the wedding next year - Hah Hah Hah - at least we trying though - when I get back there's a lovely bit of cheese I bought on the way home - don't you just love it?? Or in Ina's word - how bad can that be???

I think what i have is what you describe - it's the size of a big microwave I can roast a piece of meat but not the spuds for 5! and it has two rings on the top of it.

went to look for the new oven last week i think i know what i'll get but it's a lot of money and while i get on with my mini oven i'm sort of putting it off....but eventually i'll want a roast with roast potatoes but then i also want a big fridge freezer american style it never ends - basically i could just move into Ina kitchen and i'll be happy....

good luck JenJen tomorrow - ouch I can feel your pain already!!!

Well that was an interesting thread I've missed..... ....anyway

Love Kitchen Aid because they're so sexy so sexy in all those colours....very expensive...and you're right homelivinGirl I was looking at one versus getting a Kenwood which I've always had (getting on a bit) and the motor on the Kitchen Aid is slower which surprised me as you see on the TV used by the 'professionals'.

JenJen - Braun is good for chopping but I would also say the kenwood I've had (food processor) is excellent at chopping the veg etc.

At the moment though all of that is just a dream 'cause my oven broken down, I'm using one of those mini ovens!!!! for a family of 5!! not fun but heh it could be worse. I've adapted my style! And before the kitchen aid I've got the bathroom to do and so on and so on...but even in my mini oven I still churn out muffins and cupcakes so it's not so bad

Glad to hear from you lot though things went dead for a while - JenJen when are you back?

I thought I was the only silly twat who went around john lewis looking at my dream kitchen gadgets

Hey leave Bill alone I know he's got a cheesy smile and I don't usually take a liking to blondes but well he's kinda OK with me - maybe it's the house overlooking the sea - maybe it's the fact the man can cook - I don't know he can cheesy smile to me

nice to hear from you

Anty - no one seems to know

HomelovinGirl - are you still around?

are you talking about food safari with Maeve O'Meara? If so click on the link below but sometimes it takes a while to connect, the website can be a bit slow at times.

[link]

hi - yes i would say all purpose flour is plain flour, i've just checked other recipes of hers and she add baking powder to it, so i can't imagine it could be anything else.

i've just printed out the coconut cupcake recipe funnily enough for my shopping trip tomorrow morning, i'm missing the buttermilk.

I was just on the food network site and they had other coconut cake recipes (other cooks), some using desicated coconut in the mixture other using fresh coconut so i shall make it my mission to try them and will let you know how they turn out.

JenJen - thank you so much I thought I was going mad....apparently not yet :-)

I couldn't agree with you more on MK fillers - can't stand it when they talk about what celebs favourite food, who cares? Or some other irrelevant matter....

zehra - my family criticise me all the time, saying, ' the tv in this house only has one channel, the food channel!' I have it sometimes as background noise and pop my head round if anything interesting comes up...

I can't see how your OH can complain...what I tell my lot is, 'well you all benefit from my watching cooking programs don't you?'

don't get me started on 'come dining with me' some of the people on there are horrid, really rude and some of the rubbish the self proclaimed foodies cook is shocking!

i enjoy watching food safari with Maeve O'Meara - find it interesting knowing about different cultures telling you their traditional dishes, I feel like I'm getting a bit of culture as well as picking up a new recipe

SO SORRY - everyone looks like there was a delay for some reason in my postings and I have now repeated myself Ooops

Anyway as I was saying yesterday before my posting got evaporated….

I know what you mean about her nervous laugh. I put that down to the fact she hates doing the TV presenter thing. In the article I read she wasn’t keen on doing her TV show because of her experience on Martha Stewart show and it wasn’t until someone sent her Nigella’s tapes that she decided how she was going to do it.

I also find the way she ropes in her friends into the fake dinner parties very forced tv lifestyle at times BUT I don’t mind….her friends are rubbish at acting naturally but it’s difficult to act natural when you have a guy pointing a camera at you.

I find her best moments are when she is showing a recipe she seems very natural and at ease which comes across.

INA IS GOOD BECAUSE….. for an experience cook like me who’s than every type of recipe going, you sometimes get stuck in your ways of doing the same thing. Example, when I saw her presenting a big platter of nicoise salad she did in groups of food and looked really nice and fresh and appetising and I though, ooh I’m going to do that next time, better than the usual way of mixing everything up.

I think Ina does simple in a good way….and I think she’s about showing how to simplify things so it makes your life easy when you’re entertaining, she’s saying ‘hey, why complicate things?’ make life easy for yourself and your friends will enjoy the food just as much and see you throughout the evening more.

I totally agree with the healthy eating program, I to see no point of doing a chocolate recipe with no chocolate – what’s that about? Wanna be healthy drizzle chocolate over berries, but at least use gorgeous chocolate – I’m all about the chocolate…

just noticed my posting got removed

Hi All

I'm about to sit and watch tonight's episode, toddler time clashes with her show so I always have to record it.
HomelovinGirl I know what you're talking about with her nervous laugh. I would put that to trying too hard to do the TV presenter thing, which in the article I read she hates. In fact it said she was put off doing her own show by the experience she had on Martha Stewart show. It was only when someone sent her a tape of Nigella that she decided to do it. She is much more natural and interesting when she is showing you how to cook, there's an ease about her that comes across. The nervous laughter and other forced situation like when she gets her friends roped in to appear, are all TV lifestyle but so what? there are so many dull shows out there....if you ever had the misfortune of watching Gordon Ramsey's wife cooking on tv, you'll be begging for Ina!

I totally agree with you JenJen the produce - if only we had it here. My parents live in Portugal and when I visit I devour the tomatoes, they simple do not taste the same here. And the fish is unbelievably fresh.

If it's any consolation JenJen, we have much much better dairy products here, the American butter and cream is no match on the English. We also can get our hands on the most beautiful English, French, Italian cheeses

The woman in healthy appetite how irritating was her voice? you're so right if you want chocolate mousse make it out of chocolate if you want to be healthier, then berries with a small amount of chocolate drizzled over them, at least you still tasting the chocolate. I'm all about the chocolate

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT INA - when like me you've cooked for a while and tried loads of recipes and get stuck into how you do things then along comes Ina and says hey this is how I present nicoise salad (she presented in one large platter with all the tomatoes, beans...in their separate pile) and it made an old recipe look fresh and interesting and appetising from the usual.

I find her style more of trying to show you how to simplify things so your entertaining is easy and stress free.

JenJen - Delia; good recipes (old books) but wasn't she dull?? School mistress or what? and what on earth she been doing lately with her last books??

I wish some would stop treating us like we don't have a brain just because we love to watch Ina - what's that about??

Because we love to watch Ina - therefore we can not tell the difference between eating healthy and not, and are not capable of having a balance diet

Because we love to watch Ina - it makes us suckers into her lifestyle and somehow conned, the woman happens to have stolen my dream kitchen! She has a walk in room for her plates and things - that's what I want (one day)

Because we love Ina and are happy to watch her we somehow have to be told we are idiots (not have a life) to watch her

Here's my thinking - if you can be bothered to come here and tell us all how we should be then perhaps you are the one that doesn't have the life!

Zehra - do not give up we like to hear from you, I'm sure JenJen and HomelovinGirl and others on here would say the same. Just ignore them, they love it, irritating people on the forums it's what gives them a high.

I have not come across anything to suggest they have kids and I'm sure by now it would have come up. so I don't think they have.

Moet we are all suffering the recession I should know I run my own business....and yes all channels have to fill it with repeat unfortunately.

None of us are that naiive to not know when our heart strings are being pulled with regards to the lifestyle Ina is portraying - Need I remind you of Jamie Oliver or Nigella?? But I think you are missing the point WE like it otherwise her program would not be the most watched on the foodnetwork channel.

there is a NY times article on her I read (I goggled it) which states just how popular she is. so she has the market out there waiting for something like what she is offering, simple, that's what people want.

You are right she is very well off from her books and tv but before she got there she also spent 20yrs grafting in her food deli that she took from a little local deli into a branded well oiled operation before selling it.

In this article you'll also read how if Ina wanted to take Barefoot Contessa brand into a huge empire she could, Ina could be the next Martha Stewart but she does not want to do it, because she feels her life balance would not be worth it. She still wants to have time for her friends, and apparently doesn't do early morning meetings and I say good on her - she's got it right - Ying & Yang - it's all about balance. You have to enjoy this life, no enjoyment no point

I agree with you for someone like me some recipes are simple, I've been cooking for a long time but there are people out there she is reaching who probably never boiled potatoes, who had never given their kids a home cooked meal...

If you notice her recipes are usually for entertaining, large crowds.
For the family I watch my fat content on a daily basis but when I entertain I do the full fat version cause it's worth it

JenJen

I had a Creuset pan that I managed to burn the bottom of it with sugary stuff and it was so black you would not believe it could be rescued - but it was, I left to soak, put water in it and just boiled it again and slowly I managed to scrap the black off. The same happen last week with a non stick pan and that had to go in the bin!! So I think you're safe with Creuset

I cooked a live lobster last December for the first time and even though I'm not a squeemish kind of person, being brought up with my Gran having chickens, pig and cow, (when I was little helped kill chicken for supper) I still felt really bad. I had this picture of them making a screaming noise but the fishmonger who was very nice advised me not to put them in the freezer and the most human thing was to put them in boiling water. I did and it was fine they didn't make any noise and they did taste fantastic but I do agree with you it's better when someone else can do it!

Going back to the recipe of the cooking the potatoes with just butter - didn't she put a tiny amount of water in it? or am I dreaming? I shall go through the books and see if I can find it.

It sounds like you put yourself under pressure with such only a few months to plan the wedding - I've been engaged for 6 years! wish you a fantastic day and hope you have a sunny day, it will make the photos look lovely.

HomelovinGirl - I have the butter out of the fridge to make cupcakes later so I'll join you in your diet afterwards!!! I'm sending most of them with my daughter to school for her friends...thank goodness!

JenJen - when are you getting married in September? I'm getting married next year in August

HomelovinGirl

the link below is for cheddar dill scones from her homepage on foodnetwork

[link]

told you the good looking ones always are

but I can't complaint about my OH is gorgeous too

thanks for the tip where to find the Indonesian chicken...

Is TR that handsome one that likes champagne? Yeah well I wouldn't mind drinking champagne with him either but he's probably gay....too good looking

the only way I managed to resolve my problem with printouts / cutouts of recipes was getting myself a folder and those plastic things forget what you call them to put the printout inside!! this was out of desperation as I love to collect recipes and now I have 5 folders of the stuff - so you can imagine what hideous pile it created.

Best thing with the people like that is to ignore them - it won't be long before either same person (under different nickname) or someone else comes back with the same comments. there will always be people who think we want to read their whining - how dull is that?

thanks HomelovinGirl

I was given Back to Basics and just looked for the Indonesian Chicken but can't find it! I can find Tuscan Lemon, Coq au Vin, Bouillabaisse but not that one - and I really would like to try it, I shall go on her website and see if its there. I cook chicken so many times I get bored with the same routine so it's nice to a few new twists

Thanks JenJen I like the sound of the scones and lemon chicken very much. the scones is also something my middle daughter can have using her margarine as it doesn't use eggs - difficult to find baking recipes that don't rely on eggs.

Did you see Rachel Allen this week on MK doing scones rolled out like pastry then spread with jam and rolled like a swiss roll and then cut into portions? Looked nice.

Going back to Ina - love reading her books, I love reading a cookery book with a cup of coffee like you would a novel and thinking about which recipe to try first. I like it when a cookery writer gives you a bit more info about a recipe other than just the method.

Thanks ALC28 - maybe that will be the end of that

I would like to hear from anyone who's tried a recipe they liked?

WOW....I haven't been here for a little while and things seem to have gone from bad to worse......

We are all so aware since we are ALL adults of how much salt/cream/butter we should be using. For that reason I don't think we need to spell it out how bad it is etc....I don't bake a cake everyday

I am in total agreement that everyone has right to their opinion BUT this is a link if you care to click back to: 'Your favourite food program' and perhaps that's why so many of us on here taken criticism of Ina badly - after all it is a link for those of us who love her program and just like 'alc28' I too use it more for inspiration - However, I do intend to bake all her cakes though, with less icing (Americans love their icing) .

I love to try new recipes and if like me you don't want eat the whole cake do what I do and give it away! your colleagues will love you

HomelovinGirl I am sending a big virtual HUG


If this doesn't stop soon my suggestion to us fans would be to start a new fan thread - I have just been given for my birthday 4 of her books and would love to talk to anyone else who has baked from her books - thinking of starting with her coconut cupcakes - if anyone has tried them would like to know how they came out.

Maureenj - you just made me laugh out loud with your pig tail and cow heel soup phrase! very funny, especially when like me you've just been reading the thread with everyone else's very serious or stressing comments about their dislike of Rhodes.

I remember Rhodes way back from what was then this new exciting program called Hot Chefs, his first appearance on tv - he was annoying then too, insulting his sidekick assistant (I believe the BBC got phone calls about that). And I have followed him not because of his personality but because I had eaten in the restaurant (Greenhouse) where he was cooking then, loved the food, ate the best bread & butter pudding ever, bought the first Rhodes Around Britain Book to cook the Bread & Butter pudding recipe, and it tasted just like I remembered.

I stuck through the Gary Rhodes annoying habits over the years like driving ferrari or alike throughout Rhodes Around Britain. Watched his annoying habit of turning recipes ever so complicated unnecessarily in Cookery Year and Rhodes at the table and then I JUST GAVE UP.... he just made everything chefy and fiddled about with the recipe just that little bit over the top! When everyone else was and is simplifying recipes - don't get me wrong I like long recipes when necessary but Rhodes does it when it's not necessary.

I was really excited about a new program on China - ooh great, love to know about the different regional cooking in China and then he did it again and just like everyone here has already stated, he got in the way. I was hoping it would be more like that Australian Chinese chef when she did her travels through China's regions.

BUT having read through this thread I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS because I shall reconsider the caribbean program and watch as I would love to find out more about the different cuisines and you lot have wet my appetite just reading about it. Any suggestions on how to tolerate him better would be welcome


He still has in my opinion the best bread & butter recipe ever (traditional that is, not talking about new interpretations ie panettone)

Maureenj - you just made me laugh out loud with your pig tail and cow heel soup phrase! very funny, especially when like me you've just been reading the thread with everyone else's very serious or stressing comments about their dislike of Rhodes.

I remember Rhodes way back from what was then this new exciting program called Hot Chefs, his first appearance on tv - he was annoying then too, insulting his sidekick assistant (I believe the BBC got phone calls about that). And I have followed him not because of his personality but because I had eaten in the restaurant (Greenhouse) where he was cooking then, loved the food, ate the best bread & butter pudding ever, bought the first Rhodes Around Britain Book to cook the Bread & Butter pudding recipe, and it tasted just like I remembered.

I stuck through the Gary Rhodes annoying habits over the years like driving ferrari or alike throughout Rhodes Around Britain. Watched his annoying habit of turning recipes ever so complicated unnecessarily in Cookery Year and Rhodes at the table and then I JUST GAVE UP.... he just made everything chefy and fiddled about with the recipe just that little bit over the top! When everyone else was and is simplifying recipes - don't get me wrong I like long recipes when necessary but Rhodes does it when it's not necessary.

I was really excited about a new program on China - ooh great, love to know about the different regional cooking in China and then he did it again and just like everyone here has already stated, he got in the way. I was hoping it would be more like that Australian Chinese chef when she did her travels through China's regions.

BUT having read through this thread I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS because I shall reconsider the caribbean program and watch as I would love to find out more about the different cuisines and you lot have wet my appetite just reading about it. Any suggestions on how to tolerate him better would be welcome


He still has in my opinion the best bread & butter recipe ever (traditional that is, not talking about new interpretations ie panettone)

I get the impression that some like the sound of their own rant.......

The trouble with ranting is you soon stop making any sense.... anyone who thinks IG program is aiming at Orthodox Jews is ignorant of one of the most basic principals of Orthodox cooking, which is you don't eat dairy and meat at the same meal! And one thing Ina does is cook dairy in almost every meal!!

Just watched IG tonight cook a loin of pork for neighbours, so what you don't see her eat pork? I could list a few TV chefs who don't cook certain ingredients through the dislike of them.

It's absurd to be critical of a cooking program because of its lifestyle, when the majority of them are all about the lifestyle - gone are the days of Delia style 'school mistress' program. I'm sure we can all recall endless footage of Jamie on his moped, shots of his wannabe girlfriend. Ramsey showing his kids, Stein and dog & going on a around the world holiday with the occasional recipe (one of my favourite chefs). AWT and his family....the list is endless

So far with one exception the signs on this forum have been for supporters of IG to gather and exchange ideas, (repeating myself) that is how the link started back in 2008. To come here and criticise the whole premise of the program is not welcomed.

I shall do a cheers to you as I sip into one of Ina's cocktails and sit down to watch her programme with my middle daughter who also loves her and keeps calling her the 'Barefoot Cassandra' - we don't know why, bless her!

I keep hearing that she is doing a new series and would love to know from anyone who knows dates?

It's funny reading everyone coming on to the forum, to say how we should be talking about the food but then spending the whole reply not talking about Ina's food! (I include myself in this!!!)

The butter/salt/cream issue has obviously got everyone strong opinions out.

Although I've found this thread interesting, the reason I first linked to this particular forum was because of the link to 'your favourite programme' and NicNac2 stating how they loved the programme back on 9/10/08. So I guess the answer to the question is 'Yes' this is a IG Appreciation Society!

And I don't want to read bitter comments about how pink & fluffy her programmes are, what's the point? It's not contributing to anyone's culinary knowledge. Everyone is capable of sour comments like that but why click on a link to your 'favourite programme' to then trash it.

As I've already stated I love Ina style, she's living my dream job, cooking for family and friends for a living! In her defense - all cooking programmes have fillers because they average out about 3 - 4 recipes per programme. Jamie Oliver, Rachel Allen, Rick Stein, Heston Blummenthal, etc, and even market kitchen has rubbish fillers on guess what famous people like to eat.

I can cook any cheffy recipes when I have the time and inclination but it's lovely to do simple tasty stuff for my kids and hubby, as a busy working mum I get incredibly bored doing the same meals and it's nice to watch Ina and get inspired for our family meals.

And you get good/rubbish/innovative/old fashioned food in the States the same way you can get it here. Her recipes are based on classic recipes which she adds her twist. Food fashion comes and goes, remember '80s and Nouveau cuisine'? but a classic recipe has and will always stand the test of time, if it's tasty, whouldn't you want to cook it?

So please leave followers like me happy on our sofas watching our fluffy and pink programme dreaming of the day we are going to have all the time in the world to cook and eat all these delicious recipes and sip her delicious cocktails!

I would like to agree with many of you, Ina's programmes are fab. Don't care about the amount of butter/cream she uses as I have common sense and I will adapt/ twist or change amounts where I can to suit me or whoever I cook for.

Her recipes are so good because they are very straight forward and the sort of ingredients we can get hold of on our weekly shopping. You just know by looking at the ingredients she chooses, that what she cooks will taste delicious because they go together. She chooses very classic recipes that have stood the test of time and then just gives her little sometimes subtle twist on them.

Like a lot of you have already mentioned my advice to those who are of a nervous disposition - just don't cook the buttery/creamy recipes very often. In my opinion there is not point in being human and having the ability to cook and no now and again bake a gorgeous, luscious cake to share with family/friends. Just do what I do and work harder in the gym the next day!! Life is about the pleasure we can get once in a while.

I know of a few people who are ultra thin and live on rubbish, no fresh fruit/veg but on the outside we would look at them and wouldn't think they're unhealthy just because they're thin! Crazy world we live in.

Ina is great because she gives me ideas how to very simply change the way to present say a nicoise salad for a large group of people and makes it look appetising and new. She is not annoying like some presenters, and seems to be solely interested on how something tastes - which in my opinion is what food is in the end all about. Even my middle daughter loves watching her with me and she can't even eat most of the things Ina cooks because of her food allergies!