An Interview with Me

A couple months ago Sebastian Dickhaut (a German cookbook author living in Munich, Germany) contacted me to see if he could ask me some questions for an article he was writing about the Food Network here in the States. He had read in my Introduction that the Food Network has played a large role in my development as a cook, so it was a perfect match for the interview. After doing a little research to make sure this Sebastian was not a stalker, I gladly accepted!

The article he wrote is appearing in Conde Nast’s magazine, Myself. Unfortunately, Myself magazine is only in Germany, but those of you who can read German and live in the area can find the article in the May issue. As Sebastian explains, Myself is a mixture between Glamour and Vogue (which are two other Conde Nast magazines).

Since most of you will not be able to read the article, I thought you might be interested in reading some of Sebastian’s questions to me and my answers. So here are a few (slightly edited):

How (and why) did you come to FNW? And what hooked you to it for the long run?

I fell into watching the Food Network about a year and a half ago. The Food Network is considered a cable channel, and although I do not have cable, somehow the Food Network miraculously appears on my TV! (This may have something to do with the fact that I sort of steal my TV reception via a cable I found coming into my apartment). Anyway, excited to have this random cable channel appear on my TV, I had to watch it and I instantly got hooked!

I grew up with a mother who is very into food. Trying out restaurants has always been a very big deal with my family, so I grew up in an environment where I was able to try out lots of types of food and learn about them. We have dined at restaurants all over the Eastern part of the states that range from very high-end to little shacks on the side of the road. My mom was very good with teaching me about the quality of food and not being fooled by a fancy atmosphere.

My mother also tried teaching me to cook, but I had absolutely no interest when growing up. Therefore, when I moved into the “real world,” I all of a sudden became really scared of cooking since I had NO idea what I was doing. It just seemed so intimidating! A friend and I started cooking together every Sunday night to get ourselves more comfortable with recipes, but even then I was still terrified—mentally I could not get myself comfortable with cooking.

When I started watching the Food Network, I was hooked on Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals. Rachel Ray, who I believe may be the Food Network’s most popular TV show host, is probably in her early thirties. I instantly liked her as a person—she was someone I would be friends with so I enjoyed just watching her do her thing and listening to what she had to say. Rachel Ray has a great way of making everything look easy, and taking the scare out of the kitchen.

After becoming a fan of Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals, I began watching many of the Food Network’s other shows as well. I became a regular watcher of Paula’s Home Cooking with Paula Dean, Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis, and Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten. By watching these shows in a non-intimidating environment I was able to see that I could do what they were doing. I was also beginning to learn how to think about cooking because the cooks/hosts shared information as they cooked. So I was hooked and have not stopped watching since!

What influence had and has FNW on your cooking?

I pick-up a lot of ideas from watching the Food Network. I am not one who writes down the recipes and actually tries them out. Instead I enjoy seeing the ideas that the cooks have and taking what I like from them to create my own. I also learn lots of great techniques from the shows, which in turn help me feel more comfortable trying them out myself—like working with filo dough, for example.

Anything you would still like to see at FNW?

Me! My dream job is hosting my own show. I think they could use a magazine-like show with a young, sassy host like me. It would be much like my food blog including easy gourmet dishes to make, lessons about various types of foods, creative ideas/suggestions when hosting dinner parties, cool restaurants to try out, etc. Other than that, nothing else jumps out at me as a need for the Food Network.


That is it for questions and answers for now—I don’t want to bore yall! I will probably post more of the interview later.