8.12.2008

Good things to greet you in the morning...

* I love dem fightin' words in the morning (post-coffee, of course). Oz and Ends socks it to G.P. Taylor, rightfully so (did you know he's the next C.S. Lewis? It's okay - you're forgiven if you didn't). Apparently Taylor likes to hit back...Oh, I hope so.

* WhileI was drinking my coffee, I sifted through the cool pile of F&Gs that I recently got from Scholastic's Spring '09 list. Barbara McClintock...Jeremy Tankard...Mark Teague...Sara Varon...At this point I am so loving my job. And then I unearthed Tillie Lays an Egg by Terry Golson, photographed by Ben Fink, which features hilarious pictures of Golson's own hens. I have no cover art or pictures because it's so new, but take my word for it: this book is a hoot. What I can show you, though, is Terry Golson's so-cool "Hen Cam" (yeah, Susan, I am totally thinking of you right now) and Ben Fink's photography site (no info about the book yet). Look for Tillie in January 2009.

* This isn't the first time I've wanted Rebecca's job over at Cooked Books: today she is featuring a menu from McDonnell's Drive-In, a popular L.A. restaurant in the 30's and 40's. A couple things: 1) what is a Broadway soda??? The text is blocked and I want to know!, 2) a double-decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich...with lettuce? Intriguing..., and 3) I love the quote on the menu - "Good food is good health." Indeed.

* We Are Never Full has a fantabulous post up re: Forbes' Top 10 Richest Celebrity Chef list. Not surprisingly, Rachael Ray is at the top of it, worth $18 million clams a year. Now, I'll confess here that Rachael Ray doesn't bother me as much as she seems to piss off most people: in fact, I'll defend her because we "perky" gals need to stick together (Katie Couric is part of our clan too). What I do take issue with is that Rachael Ray just isn't really a chef anymore. Heck, I'd argue she's hardly a cook anymore. She is a brand. Get her off this list. Here are the rest:

2. Wolfgang Puck - $16 million
3. Gordon Ramsay- $7.5 million
4. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa - $5 million
5. Alain Ducasse - $5 million
6. Paula Deen - $4.5 million
7. Mario Batali - $3 million
8. Tom Colicchio - $2 million
9. Bobby Flay - $1.5 million
10. Anthony Bourdain - $1.5 million

I was mildly surprised that Mario Batali was as low as he was, and I was annoyed that Deen was on there at all. But as a commenter said over at We Are Never Full: "All I can say is at least Sandra Lee isn’t on that list…because if she was, a vein in my head would burst…" Ditto.

Eat, drink, and make peace with Food Network's success

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, I can't way for Tillie Lays an Egg! I HAVE to get it. Thank you a million times for the heads up.

Anonymous said...

Well, laura, when we meet in real life (soon, soon, soon!) what I will probably say to you is that you seem authentically 'perky' and sweet and you aren't putting on a show. Ray-ray... that's another story. I think originally she was being herself (if you see really old episodes of 30 minute meals, she is almost kind of tolerable - but don't tell ANYONE i said that!). As her 'brand' grew, her personality just became unbearable to the point that she just wasn't authentic anymore!! it's that fake perkiness that makes me want to jump off the verrazano to avoid listening to her voice!

thanks for linking to us! can't wait to meet you in the fall!

Unknown said...

Yeah, Susan, you'll love this one! The personality of the hens really comes out.

I completely agree with you, Amy, about Ray-Ray. She used to be so refreshing...now she sort of has that burnt-out celebrity look where the smile is still there but it never reaches the eyes. Right about now she might even regret having put her personality "out there" so much...she's kind of stuck in it now, and I would imagine she's even sick of herself. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon and totally jealous of your trips "down the shore". Speaking of which, have you read Amateur Gourmet lately? There's a whole debate going on: Dungeness crab versus blue crab. Being a West Coaster, I'm all about the Dungeness...but I'm guessing you're a blue crab gal, no?