It is safe to say that Sidney has led me to watch several television shows I never would have watched without her influence. The Mindy Project, Big Brother, and The People’s Couch are all such examples. Because of my exposure to these shows, I have actually gone on to like a couple of them. Besides those programs though, did you know there is a whole genre on television that Sidney has completely opened my eyes to? No, it is not reality TV.
I have come to like cooking shows! Yes, this statement is coming from a guy who doesn’t cook (usually). Full transparency here, I have a tough enough time boiling water. But despite my ineptness in the kitchen and my lack of desire to ever watch a cooking show before I met Sidney, I have started to come around.
Quite frequently, Sidney and I will watch The Pioneer Woman and Trisha’s Southern Kitchen. These shows have grown to make up a large part of our weekend television schedule.
Of course I didn’t like these programs right away. I constantly wondered aloud to Sidney on why they always had to incorporate some cheesy story to go along with whatever meal Ree Drummond or Trisha Yearwood cooked up. The scripted nature of whipping together a feast for the kids as they built a tree house or making a power lunch for Garth and his buddies turned me off a little bit. I also drove Sidney crazy questioning why the Pioneer Woman needed to wear that mile wide smile for the entire show. She could have burnt herself on the stove or accidentally cut off her finger and she still would have that grin spread across her face.
But these shows started to win me over.
There is just something about watching fresh food ingredients transformed into mouth watering dishes right before your eyes. As one might expect, the end product never turn out bad. The best part about the cooking shows Sidney and I watch is that we are observing the development of meals that we would actually want to eat! Ree and Trisha don’t make gourmet, hoity-toity plates. Rather, they make comfort food! Instead of watching them make caviar or exotic salads with herbs/stems, we watch them make pastas, sandwiches, casseroles, and desserts!
It just isn’t watching the making of these meals either. One of the best parts is listening to the sounds. It seems like the cutting of bread or the breaking of fresh lettuce or the grating of a block of cheese is amplified. I could close my eyes and still be entertained throughout the program.
Even though I couldn’t cook myself out of a paper bag, when Sidney and I watch these shows we discuss what looks especially good. We might offer a suggestion here and there. It is an open dialogue throughout the program that is actually really enjoyable. As I have mentioned more than once in this blog, Sid is a terrific cook, and she learns from the best. Besides her mom, Sidney has also taken inspiration from Ree and Trisha to make masterpieces in the kitchen.
If you start to watch these shows because you read this blog post, let me give you one big tip: watch them when you are hungry! It will make your time in front of the TV even more enjoyable. My fiancé and I will continue to watch and maybe one of these days you might see Sid herself on the Food Network with her own show. Expect to learn about her famous chicken bog, mac & cheese, and buttered noodles. Don’t Blink.