Giada De Laurentiis' Gigantic Head

Whenever I'd like to feel bad about my cooking inability and simple meals, I'll watch the Food Network. It does have some nice shows like "Good Eats" with Alton Brown (thanks for the steak receipe!), but there are a few shows/hosts that are unwatchable. Certainly, for a station like Food Network, a show's success has a little to do with the food prepared, and a whole lot to do with the host's personality. A nice amount of easy, medium, and hard cooking shows must be struck. I'd imagine the majority of viewers are confident with their skillset and want to watch a show that's one level above them. Therefore, many shows are just above basic/generic homecooking. A channel of professional chefs would alienate typical viewers, while too many episodes of "How to Boil Water" would be insulting.

On "Everyday Italian", Giada De Laurentiis takes the usual homemade Italian dish and spices it up (too easy, I know) with some nice twists. I really only have two issues with the show. I'm not one to speak about someone's hairstyle (though I've got a relative who should), but I'm going to anyway. Giada could really use a different hairstyle that doesn't actually accentuate her incredibly large forehead. Stop pushing the hair behind your ears, you're not doing yourself any favors. Don't get me wrong, she's still easy on the eyes, but a slight change would do wonders. The way things are, her head looks like a fully-inflated helium balloon attached to a helium tank.

Of course, let's pretend the Food Network only puts cooks on TV because of their abilities and not appearance. You can stop laughing now. No, it's okay, I'll wait. Are you done? Ok. Now back to our friendly "Everyday Italian". The cooking is well done and looks like it would taste great, but the production is too distracting. When Giada says, "I'll mash the potatoes in this bowl," the camera does a very tight shot of the bowl and the mashing. It's an abrupt move that disorients the viewer. If they could just zoom out a little bit before taking the shot, viewers would easily orient themselves. Otherwise it's too jarring. I know closeups of cooking actions are key to a cooking show, but it shouldn't be used for every onion slice or dash of salt. It's as if the producer has a fetish for her hands and must give them as much facetime as the food.

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