Lou Is No Loser on Celebrity Cookoff

I told you a couple weeks ago that I wasn’t overly impressed with the Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cookoff, and the reason for my unhappiness with the show is based on their choice of celebrities. Last night, the final two epsiodes of the series were shown, and while I’m glad a $50,000 donation was made to a charity on behalf of the winning celebrity, I’m not sad to see this series end. Should they decide to have a second season, I do hope they find celebrities with better personalities.

The first episode from last night had Lou Diamond Phillips and Taylor Dayne from Team Rachael compete against each other for a spot in the final epsiode. Coolio and Joey Fatone from Team Guy competed for the other spot in the final episode. Lou Diamond and Coolio were the winners, but all wasn’t lost for Joey and Taylor, who had a cookoff. Joey won and received a $5,000 check for his charity.

I was disappointed that Coolio beat Joey. While this wasn’t my favorite Food Network show, since I was watching, I chose Joey and Lou Diamond to be the two I’d like to see in the final episode. At the end of the show, I was glad Joey beat Taylor and glad to see her gone.

Immediately following the first episode, Food Network aired the season finale. As it started, I was still cheering for Lou Diamond to take out Coolio. The next thing I know, Rachael and Guy give Lou Diamond and Coolio an assistant to help with the formidable task for the final challenge. Just when I thought I was Taylor-free, she popped back in to be Lou Diamond’s assistant. Joey, obviously, returned to help Coolio.

The final task was for each man to set up his own fine-dining establishment. Joey and Taylor were placed in charge of decorating the restaurant with items chosen by Lou Diamond and Coolio. Decorations and supplies were provided for them. Ten minutes into the episode, Coolio was calling Lou Diamond and Taylor “Deco-hogs” because he thought they were monopolizing all the chairs. Then showing his vast degree of maturity, he aruged, “quit” and walked out after Taylor chose a chair he wanted.  Here’s the thing. All the items were up for grabs, on a first-come, first-served basis. If he wanted the chair, he should have taken the chair before she did. Considering the ultimate goal of this show was to win $50,000 for a charity, it’s very childish to walk out over a chair, when you’re that close to winning.

After coming to his senses (or perhaps somebody backstage reminded him why he was there), he returned and chose some items for the decor so Joey could go to work. Coolio and Lou Diamond went to the kitchen and started cooking while Joey and Taylor decorated. Finally, time expired and Taylor and Joey were greeting guests. At the beginning, Lou Diamond’s restaurant, Blessings, seemed to be doing well and Lou Diamond took the time to greet his guests. Over at Coolio’s restaurant, Chez Coolys, Joey had to tend to guests who had an extended wait period and when Joey went to try to get Coolio to do something so the guests could be served, what did Coolio do? Why, act like Coolio the stubborn little child again.

Coolio did make an impression on the judges Rachael and Guy brought in, though. Of course, no one has disputed he can cook. Based on everything they’ve said on the show the entire time, Coolio can cook, but I just don’t like him and his attitude. Lou Diamond, though, had much more personality, and his food looked much better to me. And I’ll freely admit, I’m biased. I’m more of a Lou Diamond fan than a Coolio fan.

Finally, Rachael and Guy were ready to deliver the results. And when the results were revealed, I was very pleased to see that Lou Diamond had a resounding victory over Coolio, with a score of 28 to 23. Coolio’s charity of Music Saves Lives will receive $10,000 for his second-place finish, and Lou Diamond’s charity of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign will receive the $50,000.

And now that this season of Rachael vs. Guy is over, I can say I’m only looking forward to another season if they get some celebrities with better personality. What I’m really looking foward to is the next season of Worst Cooks in America.

Deen’s Critics Not Sweet on Her

For some reason, Anthony Bourdain enjoys making Paula Deen the object of his critical comments. He doesn’t like the way she cooks. He doesn’t think it’s healthy. And in the wake of her revelation about having diabetes, he’s decided to use her illness against her as well. In fact, from headlines I’ve seen, others are also being critical of Paula Deen because she’s had diabetes for three years and has just now revealed it. Let’s consider some things.

First, she’s a chef with several cooking shows on Food Network. She’s published several cookbooks, and she owns a restaurant or two. For those who think she should have revealed her diabetes before now, I ask, “Why?” Really, what business is it of ours what health issues she has? If she’d been fighting cancer for three years and just now told us, would the critics be as up in arms? I doubt it. Just because she’s a celebrity chef does not mean she has to reveal her private health issues to us. We are all entitled to privacy concerning our health, and cooking on TV doesn’t remove that right.

Second, I’ve never heard Paula Deen claim that she cooks the healthiest dishes. She cooks with butter, cream cheese, butter, heavy cream, and more butter. She likes to deep-fry foods. On the shows I’ve watched, she’s never claimed the dishes are healthy. She’s also not encouraged viewers to eat those dishes every day. On the flipside, though, she also prepares vegetable dishes and grilled dishes, which are healthier. Anybody who watches her shows and uses what they know about healthy cooking will realize it is inadvisable to eat those kinds of dishes every day. Here’s the thing. Each chef with a show on Food Network has a theme. They sometimes demonstrate dishes that are outside of their normal cooking routines, but most often, they stick with the theme. Bobby Flay will grill, Rachael Ray will give you a 30-minute meal, and Melissa d’Arabian will show you how to feed four for less than $10. Paula Deen’s theme is comfort food. And comfort food is fattening and is not considered healthy. That’s what makes it comfort food.

If it makes all her critics feel better, her son Bobby has a new show on Cooking Channel called Not My Mama’s Meals where he reduces the fat and makes the dishes healthier for you. If you want to eat the healthier version, use Bobby’s recipe. If you want or need the comfort food, use Paula’s. If you want to eat Paula’s version every day, that’s your business. But don’t get upset because you’re not following a healthy diet.

Paula Deen’s job is to share recipes with you. She does that. She doesn’t make any false pretenses about those recipes. Her critics need to move on. Her health issues are her business, not ours. Her recipes are her business. If you don’t like them, for whatever reason, don’t use them and don’t give her grief for sharing them. If you’re just watching her show so you can give her grief, maybe it’s time for you to change the channel.

Celebrity Contestants Lack Key Ingredient

Food Network keeps coming up with new ideas for competitive cooking shows. The most recent offering is the Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cookoff. The concept sounds interesting enough: Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri mentor the celebrities on their teams in cooking challenges. The winning celebrity’s charity of choice will receive a $50,000 prize. Even though my husband and I are watching the series, it’s not the best one we’ve watched. We get more excited when the commercials for the upcoming season of Worst Cooks in America air.

Part of the fun of Worst Cooks is that the people on there seem to know absolutely nothing about cooking. They burn water. The mentoring of returning champ Ann Burrell and her new competitor Bobby Flay will be some true mentoring, and it’s fun and interesting to watch the progress these non-cooks can make over the course of the series. On Rachael vs. Guy, they chose celebrities who can cook and who enjoy cooking, but they are not professional cooks. They, too, do need the mentoring to get through the challenges they are presented. This could be an interesting show. The problem is, even though we’re still watching, it’s not the most interesting show.

The challenges aren’t the problem. As challenges go, they’re as interesting as anything that shows up on Next Food Network Star, Worst Cooks, or Chopped. The mentors aren’t the problem. Rachael and Guy are two of our favorite Food Network hosts. The judges aren’t the problem. The first challenge was judged by a group of 150 guests and was based on taste and entertainment. The second challenge was appropriately judged by students ready to graduate from pastry school. The third challenge was appropriately judged by three of the Chopped judges – Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Marcus Samuelsson. So, if the problem isn’t the hosts, the challenges, or the judges, what is the problem? The celebrities.

The eight celebrities who started the series were divided into two teams of four. Rachael’s team included musician Aaron Carter, Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders, musician Taylor Dayne, and actor Lou Diamond Phillips. Guy’s team included Miss America Alyssa Campanella, musician Joey Fatone, musician Coolio, and actor Cheech Marin. It’s just hard to choose anybody from this particular list to get behind and root for.

Part of the problem is personality. While they may be really good at whatever talent made them famous, they’re not as inspiring as celebrity cooks. Most of them are so lacking in personality that I think the only reason Jimmy and I are still watching is habit. We watch Food Network, and we like Rachael and Guy, so we keep watching. I’ve had a hard time trying to decide who to root for, but I finally decided to root for Lou Diamond Phillips on Rachael’s team and Joey Fatone on Guy’s team. I simply dislike them (as contestants on this show) less than I dislike the other celebrities on the show.

I’m sure we’ll keep watching until the end, but if Food Network does this show again, I strongly suggest they consider some celebrities who will present some more personality with their cooking. That’s one of the things they look for in their series The Next Food Network Star. It wouldn’t hurt to consider it for this show as well.