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I’ve never actually watched the Food Network prior to this month. However, both my mother and brother fell sick in the first week of June, and as daytime TV is atrocious, they both watched the Food Network to pass the time while they were ill. Not only did they become addicted to the Food Network, but I did as well! Cooking shows are always addictive, and the Food Network has some really great ones that I really love.

• Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
  I love Bobby Flay; I think he’s a talented chef and has a very lovable personality. Throwdown! is great because not only does it challenge Bobby’s versatility as a chef, but he challenges all sorts of different chefs and their dishes to throwdowns, ranging from paella to pad Thai, jambalaya to fried fish escovitch. Bobby doesn’t always win, but either way, both his dish and the “original” always looks so incredibly delicious!
• Chopped
  Hosted by Ted Allen of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame, four chefs are challenged to make a three course meal with mystery ingredients in a limited time frame. The process is hectic and stressful, testing each of the chefs and their inventiveness and time management. Some of the dishes they make are pretty amazing, too. Not many people I know can take boxed macaroni and cheese, cola, and bacon and turn that into a tasty three course meal.
• Food Network Challenge: Cakes
  The challenges on the Food Network are not always cakes, but they are my favorite ones. Four pastry chefs compete to make a cake that in eight hours for a client that must be at least three feet high. The cakes that these chefs make are nothing short of spectacular. My favorite chef is Jason Ellis, owner of Cakes by Jay in Long Island, NY. I would LOVE to taste one of his cakes!
• Ace of Cakes
  My love of cakes is obvious, so of course I would also love the show Ace of Cakes. Duff, the owner of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, MD, where Ace of Cakes is filmed, is not your typical baker. He and his team of rock musician bakers make up to 20 cakes a week, all of which require hours and hours of work! I love Duff’s team. They are a great eclectic bunch, and their cakes are just… they render me speechless.
• Iron Chef America
  In Iron Chef America, the two competing chefs for the title of Iron Chef have to make a five course meal in a timed setting, each of which has to feature the theme ingredient. Octopus was the theme ingredient in the first episode I watched. I am not much of a seafood fan, and I am very, very wary of octopus, but the way the chefs cooked and presented the octopus made me want to reach through the screen and try it! The Iron Chef competitors are all talented and have immense experience in their field, and regardless of who wins, the finished dishes are always superb.