"giada de laurentiis" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• The King of Texas graciously shares his tips for grilling steak.
• Giada remains svelte by eating whenever she wants -- you can too.
• Enjoy these cupcakes instead of the hackneyed wedding cake.
• The Best New Chefs bring it at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.
• Pepino el Pyu is the perfect Colorado cocktail.
• Exclusive, revealing shots of the Voltaggio twins.
• Even chefs can rough it in tents.

New York Times food writer Kim Severson recently published "Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life." In this touching and witty food memoir Severson serves up the lessons that an octet of female cooks and writers -- Marion Cunningham, Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, Marcella Hazan, Rachael Ray, Edna Lewis, Leah Chase and her own mother, Ane Marie Zappa Severson -- taught her about sobriety, fulfillment and happiness.

Slashfood: How did you come up with the idea for the book?
Kim Severson: I was thinking about older women cooks who were really the home cooks of that generation who would research cookbooks and write them, like Marion Cunningham. An agent called me and we went out for lunch. I was telling her some funny stories and she said, "Why don't you write more about that?" So I looked at women I had written about for the San Francisco Chronicle or the New York Times and why I was attracted to them. And I realized I was interested in these women at different times because they taught me something or something was going on my life that I needed to figure out. So I decided to hang a structure on these women.

This Sunday marks the return of Food Network's talent search, The Next Food Network Star.

Since its inception five years ago, the show has found on-air food talent from the likes of Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Adam Gertler to last year's winner, stay-at-home mom Melissa d'Arabian. And let's not forget Season 2's winner: Guy Fieri, who's exploded into a brand of his own since launching Guy's Big Bite and Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives.

For Season 6, The Next Food Network Star is going Hollywood. "By moving it to L.A. and giving it that backdrop, it gave us many more locations to work with," Bob Tuschman, General Manager and of the Food Network tells Slashfood. "We got to open up a whole new world of challenges." Prior seasons have featured New York as the main backdrop but now contestants will be seen at a Grammy party for pop musician Colbie Caillat, working with Paula Deen in conceptualizing their own food trucks and cooking at Eva Longoria-Parker and Todd English's restaurant Beso.

While the show relies on a revolving cast of Food Network stars making appearances and helping out with challenges now and again, the mainstays are the judging panel. Joining Tuschman once again are Susie Fogelson and Bobby Flay. Tuschman evaluates the overall promise of transitioning into a television personality, Fogelson looks at the marketing and branding potential of each contestant and their "culinary point of views" and Flay makes sure their cooking skills are up to snuff.

The Daytime Emmy Award nominees were announced yesterday, with four shows in the "Outstanding Culinary Programming" category: America's Test Kitchen and Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth, both PBS series, followed by two Food Network mainstays: Giada De Laurentiis's Giada at Home and Tyler Florence's Tyler's Ultimate.

In 2009, Giada at Home won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary Program.

Of the programs nominated, Gourmet's Adventures of Ruth is the new kid on the block, debuting in October 2009. It's also a coup for Gourmet magazine, as the show is one of the last extensions of the brand. The show follows Ruth Reichl's culinary exploits around the world, exploring traditional cuisine with famous actors. Not a bad way to make a living. Besides being Gourmet's former Editor-in-Chief, Reichl has also worked recently as a producer on Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie.

In the "Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host" category, the usual suspects are up for Emmy's: Bobby Flay for Grill It! With Bobby Flay, Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, Paula Deen for Paula's Best Dishes, Giada De Laurentiis for Giada at Home and Martha Stewart for The Martha Stewart Show.

The Daytime Emmy Awards are scheduled to broadcast live on June 27 via CBS.

Marinated and then glazed with a sweet and savory mix of balsamic vinegar, honey, soy sauce and brown sugar, these chicken drumsticks are über-moist finger food.

Although we often think of Asian cuisine when we hear sesame chicken, this recipe, from Everyday Italian's Giada De Laurentiis (and photographed by jpellgen, who cooked it up himself), pays tribute to Italian flavors not only with the balsamic but also the rosemary and parsley. A scattering of sesame seeds adds nutty flavor, and gives the tender meat a nice crunch.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot of having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.