"semi-homemade" news and stories

Have you ever bought take-away food and tried to pass it off as homemade? As James mentioned before, it seems to happen with a fair amount of regularity. Too bad that the survey couldn't cover how often the eaters of the semi-homemade meals were actually fooled.

One thing that the survey did reveal was that young British women said they were more impressed by a man who could cook than by a man with a flashy car. Since cooking classes are significantly cheaper than cars, it could be well worth a shot, guys. But don't ditch that car entirely. One of Freud's most famous questions was "what do women want?" after which he concluded that "women were meant to be loved, not understood." Since women in the survey were twice as likely as men to pass off take-out food as homemade, it seems that perhaps some women don't value actual cooking ability as much as the appearance of it.

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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: