Friday, November 04, 2005

Mollie Kuhn's cabana is bigger than my house

And I'm happy for her! And for all others like her who customize their kitchens with high-dollar appliances they'll never, ever use. Some call it "'range envy' – the desire to show off decked-out trophy kitchens to friends and party guests," but it has to be, in part, FoodTV fallout. Who among us can watch Ina Garten day in, day out and not feel the need for a built-in fridge and marble countertops? Rachel Ray's knife? Just the tip of the icemaker.

But this much is clear: the FoodTV audience isn't cooking. You can tell because prime-time is devoted to lifestyle, travel and remodelling shows. The most frequently downloaded FoodTV recipes are simple ones. The most popular hosts aren't formally trained chefs. And new shows have titles like Semi-Homemade and Good Food Fast.

So. It looks like there are two ways to get rich. Either make expensive gadgets then pay for placement in a TV chef's show. Or become a TV chef and don't use them.

2 comments:

SuzanH said...

Totally guilty of range envy.

But then I think . . . I don't like to cook. And pretty stuff isn't going to make that go away.

Irene Done said...

It's like Rachael Ray cracked some kind of code and now FoodTV is foisting all these quick-and-easy replicants upon us. But they aren't as fun. Or as appetizing. Canned pie filling, huh?

And I too suffer from range-envy. But I never knew until now that I also have cabana envy. A cabana! That's just so Grace Kelly-High Society that I could weep!