It's that time of year, the time to look back on the
stories that made 2005 great. Our countdown began with God and moves
on to - what else? - TV.
It all began in 1998. My obsession with the Food Network. I was hanging out in New
York awaiting the beginning of business school. I'd quit my job and, other than boning up on the calculus, I had
absolutely nothing to do. I scheduled my life around Too Hot Tamales, Ready Set Cook! and
Cooking Live with Sara Moulton. In those days, the Food Network was all about cooking, especially cooking at
home. I mean, Cooking Live - Sara would list the ingredients the day before so you could be prepared to cook
along with her. People called in and they were actually in front of their stoves, yes, cooking live.
It was
gradual, but the channel has changed over the past seven years. A couple of major things happened this year that indicate a
turn away from the original core audience - people who liked to cook - to a new and (for whatever it's worth)
bigger audience. People who eat.
The Food Network, it seems, is divesting itself of the foodies and embracing
food, of the edible and eye candy variety. And this is such a shame. Some of the big changes that spell doom for the
home chef: