Up until now, I always assumed that "domestic goddess" referred to someone who was exceptionally good at "domestic" things, primarily cooking. Their food looked and tasted better than anything anyone else was making. They weren't professionals, but they were as good as. But it seems that the term may have changed meanings and, instead of referring to someone who has goddess-like domestic skills, it might now refer to someone who is a goddess and happens to be able to cook, too. This new application of "domestic goddess" is applied to women like Giada de Laurentiis, Sandra Lee, Cat Cora and perhaps even Rachael Ray.

If part, or perhaps all, of the audience is watching the host, not the food, is this a good direction for food TV to be heading in? For al the interest in cooking shows, does it just come down to whether you look good in an apron or not? Check out Details' sexpots in the kitchen slide show and decide for yourself.

Giada de Laurentiis came from a big family, and they would all get together on Sundays as she was growing up. The dinner table would be packed not with 8 or 10 people, but with 15, 20 or even more. To feed that many hungry people, everyone in her family relied on relatively simply Italian fare that could feed a crowd, and Giada carries that same feeling over into Giada's Family Dinners. The recipes in the book are easy to read and well-presented, making it suitable for experienced and novice cooks alike. There are dishes that even picky eaters will enjoy, like Chicken Carbonara and Ravioli with Creamy Tomato sauce, because the book is not about the super-gourmet dishes that will only be appreciated by culinary experts. Most are scaled to produce quite a lot of food, so you might want to experiment with freezing leftovers or simply plan to get lunches for a few days when you make a big batch of pasta or soup. The desserts, however, you'll want to eat right away; it's hard enough to wait until the end of the meal to dig into desserts like Chocolate Pizza and Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp .

There is no question about the fact that Alicat, at Something So Clever, takes great photographs of her food. More recently, she has started to add a faux polaroid effect to her shots, which definitely give her blog a unique look and add a really homemade feel to the photos and recipes - sort of like looking into a family recipe book. These Lasagna Rolls, which are from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe, look positively mouthwatering. They are filled with ricotta, prosciutto (both of which Giada puts into every single thing she makes, it seems) and parmesan cheese, then are topped with a generous amount of sauce and mozzarella. The beauty of the rolls is that each serving comes out of the pan very neatly. Whether you want to attempt to eat it neatly is entirely up to you. You can find the recipe here.

A few weeks ago, we managed to find out that an upcoming episode of Iron Chef America would feature both Rachael Ray and Giada de Laurentiis, pairing Rachael with Mario Batali and Giada with Bobby Flay. Even the wordsmith host of the show thinks that this battle will be one for the record books, saying “The only way this battle could be better for the Food Network would be for them to have Emeril Lagasse as the secret ingredient” in an article in the Ithaca Journal.

The episode was actually filmed in January, but it is scheduled to air sometime in November, which means that Rachael and Giada have already done their thing in Kitchen Stadium – and both report that it was one of their most challenging experiences. Interestingly enough, the article also gives confirmation that the chefs learn about the ingredients in advance, as before the taping the ingredient was revealed to them: cranberries. Given the ingredient, the episode will most likely air in mid-November or around Thanksgiving, but we’ll have to wait until then to see how well the celebrity chef pairings worked together and to find out whose cuisine reigned supreme.

Statistically, the most targeted group in marketing is 15-35 year old males.They often have a large chunk of disposable income and they are considered to be more likely to spend it than to save it. It makes sense that advertisers and television networks would want to have a portion of that income reach them. It does not make sense, however, to do with utter disregard for the population that is actually likely to watch your network or your programming.

According to Sara Moulton, when the new president of the Food Network came in she wanted to make the network appeal to that new target demographic with young, entertaining shows – not cooking programs. The obvious disconnect here is the fact that the network is called the Food Network; cooking shows are a logical component of the programming. Sara even said that a producer friend of hers was told "No chefs please, and nobody with training" when they were pitching show ideas.

If you watched America's Next Food Network Star last year, as I did, you'll know that one of the points they want to make to the audience is that the food tastes good. Really good. To drive this point home, it's almost always mandatory for the chefs to taste their food, though the audience on Emeril's show is acceptable, too. Rachael Ray saves her tasting for the end of the episode, as the camera fades out. Paula Deen is great at tasting her cooking and seems to relish ever bite, often loading her spoon with so much buttery goodness that she laughs over the fact she can't speak! Giada de Laurentiis does a bit of both, but TVgasm managed to catch a moment where she wasn't at her best. Or rather, her cranberry sorbet was not at its best. She bravely went back for a second try. Check out the screenshots for the blow by blow, or rather, the bite by bite.