Kitchen Tools

Oh, Jamie: You're such a ham. Wrapped in Prosciutto.I've always been sort of fascinated by Jamie Oliver. Years ago, when I first stumbled upon his Food Network show The Naked Chef, I was mesmerized. It wasn't a cooking show so much as it was a "lifestyle" show with recipes. The "naked" referred to his (so called) "stripped down" recipes, most of which I found to be pretty inaccessible (Sea Bass Baked in a Bag? Huh?). Still, there was something so compelling about him. A young British guy, purporting to teach me how to cook? What? I've been a vegetarian for a long, long time, so most of his recipes were unfit for my diet all those years ago (he does things like Chicken Wrapped in Bacon, and Salmon Wrapped in Prosciutto. You get me.), and even less relevant to me now that I've gone vegan (must every salad and bread contain cheese?).

Anyhoo, there's still something darling and inherently watchable about his contrived cockney and sincere passion for food. He's got a new show slated with Food Network, scheduled to premiere in its regular time slot on Saturday, January 12 at 9:30am ET/PT. Called Jamie at Home, the new, half-hour series will follow Jamie around his home as he demonstrates recipes made from ingredients that he grows in his very own kitchen garden. How green of him.

A sneak peek of the new show will air on Sunday, January 6th at 10pm ET/PT, after Oliver's debut on Iron Chef America, where he goes up against Iron Chef Mario Batali.

There's no explanation for this video, but if you're like me, it'll make you squirm:

Jerry and JessicaRemember how Jessica Seinfeld lies to her children? By mixing butternut squash into macaroni and cheese and beets into chocolate cake? Well now you can watch five videos of her being sneaky in her kitchen.

I must admit, these videos are pretty great. She even mixes broccoli puree into bread crumbs for chicken nuggets! This idea is starting to grow on me. I'm even thinking of trying it out for myself. If I put spinach in my brownies, they're healthy! That means I can eat 10! Squash in mac and cheese...I could eat the whole box! I like where this is going...

But Patricia Pliner, a social psychology professor at the University of Toronto, doesn't think Seinfeld has the best strategy, according to an article in this week's New York Times:

There is the issue of being found out, at which point a child might not trust new foods the parents present. And hiding foods doesn’t help a child learn to appreciate new tastes.

What we want children to do is like a lot of different foods. If squash is perfectly disguised, children are not learning anything. Well, they are learning something, but it’s not to like squash.