The Barefoot Contessa - Butter, mixed with butter, sprinkled with more butter!

[SVZ]

Holy cow does this woman like to use FAT in her food!!!

Today she's making some sort of icing...half a cup of sugar, a stick of cream cheese, then 2 and a half cups of whipping cream!!

Crap! It did look good though...

[SammysMom]

HEHEHE Im watching her right now. She is doing dishes inspired by her trips to Paris.
Oh watch Paula Deen. I think Ive only seen one show where she did not use butter or cream cheese. I can feel my arteries harden just from watching her cook. HEHEHE

[jj1]

I enjoy watching her. Love her laugh.

[pacific breeze]

Most chefs use full fat everything for that great mouth feel/taste. I noticed that people use a lot more full fat in Europe and nobody seems that concerned about their weight. Curvy is the norm, there.

[Laurent]

^^I've always heard people in Europe use "real" everything, but their portions are just much, much smaller.

Oh watch Paula Deen. I think Ive only seen one show where she did not use butter or cream cheese. I can feel my arteries harden just from watching her cook.

I love Paula. I visited her restaurant in Savannah and it really is worth the $$ and the forever long wait for a table. You need a long nap after, though.

[SammysMom]

Oh dont get me wrong I love watching Paula Deen, loved watching her show when she was in Paris. Her husband is so romantic and seeing the last of the show I was crying for her.
Oh I love Ina also. She is sooo cute to me.

[pacific breeze]

^^I've always heard people in Europe use "real" everything, but their portions are just much, much smaller.

The portions are generally smaller, and rich food is a lot more satisfying so you tend to eat less of it. And Europeans generally don't snack between meals as much as North Americans.

I managed to lose about five pounds and two inches around my middle while I was there and I didn't diet at all. Now I just need to keep it off.

[NoDayButToday]

^Same situation here. When I was in Europe for a month as a music exchange student we stayed in people's homes, so we ate as they did. With all the real butter, cheeses, etc. all the girls were sure we wouldn't fit in our performance uniforms by the end of the exchange (a very unflattering, unforgiving, and not stretchy pencil skirt that doesn't even burn if you wanted to-we tried to have a bonfire at the end of tour and it didn't work, those things were horrible). Most of us realized as the trip was going on that the skirts were getting looser on us and we had to safety pin them to keep them from falling too far down during performance.

[aabbcc]

The portions are generally smaller, and rich food is a lot more satisfying so you tend to eat less of it. And Europeans generally don't snack between meals as much as North Americans.

Absolutely!

I am a big fan of Nigella Lawson, but I find many of her recipes very, very rich. Even when I do major tinkering of her dishes to lower the fat content, I can only eat a small amount and I am left wondering how anyone could manage the original.

[pink.hearts]

I LOVE watching cooking shows the majority of them are making things you'd gain 50 pounds if you took one bite.