Food Network Tidbits: Welcome to 2006

First off, I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Mine was hectic but a lot of fun - good food and good friends.

Next, I'd like to welcome everyone from the following sites: Something So Clever, Kitchen Mage, Cooking with Amy, Zen Foodism and Red-State.com.

Here are a few Food Network-related items that will get us through the post-holiday funk:

• A funny Sandra Lee - Bell Biv Devoe mashup (MP3 format).
• Rachael Ray is Not God: wherein our hero meets Rachael Ray in person and then gets fired for blogging about it.
• Food Network's Top Ten Recipes of 2005: I'm not sure what they based this list on, but the score looks like this: Giada 1, Alton 1, Paula 8. As much as I hate to say it, I think Paula Deen is going to be the Rachael Ray of 2006, at least as far as overexposure goes. Let's hope our gal handles it with grace and decorum.
  

Finally, I made Giada's Macaroni and Cheese over the holiday and it was one of the best dishes I've ever made¹. I served it with french bread and a side salad and it was divine.

I recently discovered a fun pastime that I'll share with you later in the week. All I can say is: Sandra Lee is the gift that keeps on giving!

¹Please note that the recipe on the website is incorrect: use 2 TBSP of flour instead of the 1 TBSP listed or else your mac and cheese will be runny. No one likes runny mac and cheese. Also, what is up with Giada's picture on Foodnetwork.com's recipes? Looks like her hairline starts about 6 inches above her eyebrows.