"best of 2005" news and stories

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:

Food trends aren't sudden and flashy like the styles clothing or iPods; they tend to ebb and flow; few foods gain universal acceptance, few ever die out entirely. The trends of one year will overlap with those from the year before. You'll see many of these on the lists of 2004 and 2006, and probably a few on 1952, 2035. There were some undeniably 2005 phenomena, like cold sake and sous vide. Others are just a bit more hip this year than last.

The food fashions of 2005 run the gamut from the saucy to the silly to the sublime. Our ratings? They're completely subjective. Let us know what you think.

Clever piece by C. Monks, where he lists the top 10 utensils of the year. No big surprises on what he picks; the surprise lies in why he picked them:

3. Whisk: I admit that Whisk has an unfair advantage because I simply love saying the word "Whisk." But that aside, Whisk had another solid year. While its versatility is limited, it is great at what it was made for: whisking things.

9. Steak Knife #5: In past years I've found it terribly difficult to select one steak knife above the others, but this year it was no contest. Steak Knife #5 makes all the other steak knifes  (especially the overrated and pompous Steak Knife #2) look like butter knives at a Dull Convention.