the next food network star

I've quickly become addicted to The Next Food Network Star, currently airing on the Food Network. It's only airing for about a month, and I already know I'll miss it when it's gone. Basically, eight finalists were chosen to compete in a series of contests to determine who will get a six-part series on the network. It's not your typical reality show in that so far everyone seems to be getting along very well, with no fights in the kitchen or anything like that.

I'm a closet cooking show fan. I don't really talk about my love for the Food Network, and I don't even have any attachments to any particular shows or hosts. As a picky eater, I sometimes find it hard to think about food in new and interesting ways--sometimes I think I'd be content to just eat pasta with pesto sauce every day. Watching cooking shows gives me a little bit of the desire to try new things, and that's worth a lot to me.

Anyway, the show site is great with info if a little slow and clunky. All the contestants' recipes from each show are there (I'm excited to try Eric's potato salad, which one of the judges claimed was the best potato salad he'd ever had) along with contestant profiles and little mini-blogs.