Cooking Shows are Evil

If you ever watch cooking shows, you know what I mean. Just add these few ingredients, that everyone should have - presto & alakazam - a fabulous meal in under 30 minutes. Of course, I never have all those ingredients and never, ever have all the tools they have either. So this means at least a trip to the market, if not to our shiny Bed, Bath & Beyond. (remember: small town so this is a big deal that we have one!). What has triggered this out burst, you may ask? Watching a cooking show (Simply Ming) where they made all these fantastic looking tempura. Yum!

As a novice cook, they inspire me to try things that I would never think of trying. I've tried making tempura once before, and it was...well, okay. It turned out to be such a mess with batter and oil splashing everywhere too. Luckily, Keith stepped in and made the remaining tempura for me (which of course was significantly better than mine). Now back to my rant - after watching this show it has reignited my desire to buy the most useless and space-wasting kitchen appliance ever - a deep fryer. I love the idea of being able to control the temperature of the oil, keep everything neat, and make frying things so much easier. And supposedly you can store the oil in it too, but seriously that sounds like a mess.

Every once in a while I will see a show or a recipe and feel the urge to run out and purchase a deep fryer. For some reason it sneaks into my mind that it is this one appliance that will launch me from a hit or miss cook to one that really knows what she is doing with all those random spices and ingredients. And I blame cooking shows for giving me such hope. I have even looked and lusted over them at various cooking stores, but thankfully reason always wins. But if I didn't watch these darn cooking shows, with their three course meal made in minutes I wouldn't feel like such a goal would be so reachable.

So you must think I hate all cooking shows. Not true. There are two that are worth their spit. One is Good Eats with Alton Brown. If you have seen it, you know why I love this show. If not, here's the best summary of it: sarcasm + science + food. Seriously a must watch. The best cooking show ever? My O'bachan*. Watching her cook and present a five course meal gives me hope of putting together my own fabulous meal. Then she teaches me recipes that are yummy and insultingly easy that even I can manage. My favorite lesson was when she asked if I knew how to make rice. Of course! Have I not been making rice since before time?!? Apparently not the correct way, and after a short lesson now I can make the BEST RICE EVER. Seriously. I may not always be able to make a full meal, but I can now make the best rice you'll ever have.

The conclusion of my rant: Cooking Shows are Evil, but O'bachans are Saints.

*O'bachan is Japanese for Grandmother.