Cooking Television

So, I guess this is going to become a regular thing on here, commenting on my Saturday morning shows. Perhaps I should give a little background on my Saturday mornings. Most weekends I wake up just a bit before 9:30 to catch Real Simple, followed by Rick Steves' Europe, and then Mexico: One Plate At A Time. Then I've got an hour and a half before Everyday Food comes on. Obviously, not everyone's PBS station runs shows at the same time, but this is my Saturday morning line-up. I encourage you to take a look at your affiliate's schedule if you haven't seen any of these shows before. Now, I know that Rick Steve's Europe isn't a cooking related show, but he does often discuss some aspect of the local cuisine in whatever part of the continent he is in. And really, since it's gonna be quite awhile before I can afford to get there, this serves as my weekly vacation.

On this week's episode of Real Simple the cooking segment focused on 30-Minute Sloppy Joes. I ate sloppy joes as a kid on occasion, but not too often. Not that I didn't think they were delicious, but I really didn't get too excited about half the contents of my sandwich being on my hands and face. And I'm still not crazy about that. And Josh just bemoaned how disgusting the sandwiches were through the segment, so I don't think you'll be seeing a sloppy joe post on here anytime soon. That said, this month's issue of Real Simple does have some interesting looking recipes, so there isn't a total lack of Real Simple inspiration.

This week's episode of Mexico: One Plate At A Time with Rick Bayless was great. At first I thought I was in for a letdown. As it opened on a scene of a courtyard filled to the brim with dancers I thought I was about to be watching a repeat of the Merida episode. And while they were in Merida, this episode was very different. It was all about snacking- I love snacking! This show has got me thinking about ceviche again, especially since Josh's dad delivered some trout to us last week. I honestly didn't take notes during this episode, but it was filled to the brim with some of the most delicious looking Yucatan snacks that I doubt you could go wrong with making anything from the episode.

Everday Food seemed to answer the age old query, "Where's the beef?", this week with a steak filled episode. They did a lime marinated skirt steak with chili sweet potato wedges, shell steaks with parsnip fries, and a chili rubbed steak with salad. They also made a heavenly looking strawberry tart, which I can only imagine to be a fantastic dessert for any event this time of year. I must admit that all these recipes have been floating around in my head since watching the show, and a couple since before that, having seen them in the magazine. I have never in my life considered eating a parsnip, but they've got me mulling it over.

Did you see any of this week's episodes? Have you made any of the recipes featured? Please share if you have!