Actually, on with movie star gorgeous Giada this morning on Today was, not only Jade (too cute!), but Matt and Meredith during a Mother’s Day breakfast dem. And there was a quick on-camera sighting of Todd, plus Al and Ann came in at the end.
Jade was sitting next to the dem bench in a high chair and I got extremely nervous that with no adult nearby she would stand up and fly out of the chair. MATT (not Meredith, who was standing the closest) realizes there’s a problem and goes right over. Jade doesn’t like this strange man at first, but then she warms up to him.
Hold it a red hot minute! Giada is showing us how to use a BOXED waffle mix?!! Oy! That is NOT what I paid for!
I’m just going to watch the baby. Matt is feeding her pieces of waffles, which is far more interesting than the nothing-to-write-home-about recipe, although the espresso nightcap (strange name for a brunch drink) looks good. Giada, cooking anything, is at least a feast for the eyes and that baby is hard to resist.
This pound cake recipe, shown later in the morning, is definitely worth a try and unusual with the addition of cream cheese.
6 comments:
Mmm pound cake.
She used a waffle mix?! Yes, oy! I would be watching Matt feed baby Jade waffles, too.
We love Giada (and we've finally warmed up to her new show, although looking back we should have liked the first season as well) but this was one of those cooking demos gone wrong. The waffle stuck, baby Jade's safety was in jeopardy, the Today show anchors suddenly (but typically) didn't know how to do anything in the kitchen. It's what we've come to love and sometimes get irritated with in the three and a half minute cooking segments they do on their program. I'm a little shocked that she went for the waffle mix because anyone who's followed Giada's cooking would expect her to easily rock out a from-scratch recipe before she could say mah-scahhr-poh-nay! It's still great that she's crossing over to Today and she's clearly got great charisma with the rest of the crew over there.
Giada isn't Sandra Lee, but she has reached for the box o'mixes more than once. I've seen her use pancake mix, cake mix, and a frozen pie crust. Each time I just had to scratch my head in wonder. Pancake mix? When you have to add the milk and eggs anyway? Chocolate cake mix? When you're going to cover it in whipped cream, mascarpone, and hazelnut brittle do you really want that gumminess too? The frozen pie crust was maybe the worst. She made a crostata crust from scratch that's virtually identical to pie dough not long afterward. Maybe it depends on the dinner guests :-) Given all the available fast-forward photo montage techniques, they could just as easily show her making the real thing.
The live cooking demo snafus are kind of funny. It makes me realize just how scripted, multiply-filmed, highly edited, and unspontaneous her show really is, although she is engaging enough to make it seem a little less so. I still don't really think Giada "at home" is any better than "at the studio," though.
What was up with that baby "high chair"....it looked more like a baby "squeeze chair"....very treacherous looking indeed....made me nervous...I only looked away to see the pancetta.
Hi Em,
Yeah, we don't need to see anyone using a waffle mix!
Hi GL,
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was worried about Jade.
Giada DOES have good chemistry with the rest of the gang. And it WAS funny, but someone should have called her out on the simpleton waffle mix. Actually, Meredith (or Ann) said at one point, normally you would make these from scratch, wouldn't you? And Giada didn't answer.
Tom,
Yes, yes and YES!!! Why IS she using mixes?! There is NO excuse, really. If something is too complex to make in the time allowed, then MAKE SOMETHING ELSE! As I think about it, I cannot think of one baked good where there is EVER an excuse to use a mix. The furthest I'll go is to allow young mothers and fathers - and children, who are baking - to use garbage-y canned icing. And THAT'S only if it's just for kids and they tell you at 8pm that they need cupcakes the next day. (You don't think I'm too rigid, do you?)
Good point about the difference between live television and the-every-second-planned food shows. However, think about someone like Paula and there is less difference between the two.
Hi Lynn,
Luckily, there wasn't much cooking to pay attention to. Matt certainly didn't miss anything as he was holding on to that chair for dear life.
After watching the video, Giada used the boxed mix because she assumed most guys making that meal for their wives for Mother's Day would reach for the boxed mix rather than ingredients to make breakfast from scratch. So, I think this time, the boxed mix is okay. ;-)
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