Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sunny Sunday Cooking Shows

For some people, Cooking shows are the video equivalent of dentistry without Novocaine.  I'm in the middle of the pack with cooking shows.   There are some that I truly dislike and others that I enjoy.   Light entertainment basically.   If there's a recipe that makes me curious, I'll go to the website attached to the show, save the recipe as a PDF and give it a shot.

I'm a cook who is a little better than average.   I am an excellent baker.   You learn from others who are better than you are, so when I get to the point where I want to spend some time in the kitchen, I'll put on a show and see what the Tivo captured.

One show that I actually enjoy is Sunny Anderson's Cooking for Real.   Sunny is an ex-Airforce Airman (Airperson?) who worked at a radio station in New York before bouncing around and ending in this gig.  Her particular take is that she doesn't like fussy recipes so everything has to be on the easy or quick side.   I've never seen her make a souffle, nor have I attempted to make one, but I have seen her make Meringue.  The other thing that she's famous for at least in my mind is that she's got a warm and bouncy personality.   Cooking shows can be very dry, like that of Ina Garten who the only way I can watch her is to play a drinking game while doing it.  Sunny is bouncing around the stage talking to you in a friendly and warm manner, explaining how this particular recipe sounds hard but she's going to show you how to make it real easy.

She reminds me of my sister as well, because I've had the pleasure of sitting on the other side of her island while Pat would prepare some sort of item for a holiday meal.   I hadn't done it many times, but every time I did I enjoyed the experience.   Sunny has the same way of doing things, and she even sounds like my sister.  My sister being Caucasian, and Sunny being African American is an interesting parallel since if I look away I think I'm sitting in Pat's New Jersey kitchen listening to her prepare a bit of icing for the latest dessert treat.

Now that the Tivo restarted (The power down here in South Florida is very flaky) I'm going to finish watching Sunny make a Pound Cake and I'll find out what she's going to do with that Meringue.

Mmmm Meringue!

4 comments:

  1. :-). your post warms my heart and makes me smile. thanks so much and know that you are not alone in your comment about my voice, i've heard it my entire broadcasting career and sometimes would get asked by listeners just "what i was". too funny, diction and annunciation can really confuse our pre-conceived notions. thanks so much for watching and hanging out with me while i cook and chat away. i'm having fun and it truly isn't possible without you.

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  2. Wow, Sunny, Thanks for the complements! I'm truly enjoying watching your show, and your warm personality comes through clearly. I'm thankful that pre-concieved notions are falling by the wayside, we all have too much to learn from each other.

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  3. Hey Bill-how cool that Sunny wrote on your blog!!! And thanks for the shout out on my cooking!!1 Love ya brother!

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  4. You know, Pat, it was seriously cool! Just as I said, watching Sunny on TV and watching you cook give me the same really warm feeling... Next vacation I guess! I promise not to get in the way too... too much! :)

    Check her show out, Cooking For Real, you'll see what I mean. The links to her blog and web site are in the article (above).

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