Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I made this yesterday having all ingredients on hand, including the Bertoli light olive oil. I did not use fresh pumpkin puree, however I did have a really good [holiday season availability only] canned pumpkin, Lake Shore brand. I was in that fall pumpkin mood, and it was between Caramel Iced Pumpkin Cake Cookies @ Allrecipes.com, and the Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread here.......I opted for the latter. I used 2 - 9.25x5.25x2.75 large loaf pans----I prefer a large finished slice. I doubled both the raisins/nuts. Baked the loaves for 68 minutes. They came out very well.....dense, sweet, moist, exactly how a quick bread should be. We will eat one and the other is being frozen for a family get-together gift. I have to admit, though my husband and I enjoyed the bread, if we closed our eyes, we wouldn't be able to tell it was pumpkin........we tasted spices, raisins, nuts, but little pumpkin. I don't believe doubling the raisins/nuts changed the taste......1/2 cup of each for such a large batter is not that much to begin with. It could have passed for an applesauce or spice quick bread. It was good, but if you want to taste pumpkin, better off with pie instead.

Guys, you all act like a pack of wolves! So many negative people! You find something to trash and take it to a whole new level! This is a cake......a cake for crying out loud. It's 9" x 13"...........that's not 8"x8".........think about the ratios. Many recipes have that much sugar & butter and even chocolate in them. But you all get on board the "trash the cook" train like Jim Jones followers. I don't use many Paula Deen recipes either, but obviously, she's become an icon due to all her fans. Too bad no one cares what you think or want your recipes, the Lady is rich and you aren't........infact, when she reads mean comments like some of yours, she laughs all the way to her Savannah bank! You're probably sitting there adding your 2 cents while eating takeout burgers with 1500 calories half of which is fat, large sizing your spuds, and washing it down with a tall shake! Food snobs you are!

and..........all of her regular cookware as well as casserole/baking dishes are for sale @ Ollie's..........how low can you go? I guess not too many people are falling for the junk FN sells. What's with these people so much greed the a tv show isn't enough?

I'm sure this is incredible, and as a former "Butterton" family member, I would love to make it. However, I have great success with Martha Stewart's New York Style Crumb cake.....absolutely delicious! And might be a great alternative for those who want to curtail a little of the butter.

Love it, and how about adding another conservative fave................."Breyers Criers" special editon :)

Sorry Kerry.......I loved your story & your directions were very exacting.....great quality when relaying a recipe. However, in the end this was a whole lot of work for what turned out to be dry, so-so flavored Madeleines. I guess I just prefer them buttery/vanilla tasting. Thank-you for inspiring me to get that plaque back out............I will make Madeleines again soon with my old recipe.

Thanks Gina and blindowl............I will try that Boursoin this week!

Sorry, I am one of a rare breed...........I HATE BLUE CHEESE! Somebody's gotta do it. I watch my husband in total rapture when he orders anything with blue on it or in it. Here we are in the original wings/ blue cheese dressing town of Buffalo, NY & I just can't stand the flavor. My question Gina is, how would the recipe be with my favorite Fontina? I could of course just try it, but I thought you might have a good alternative. I am Italian, would love this pasta dish, & love the simplicity of the flavors.......but just with another cheese. I agree with others on idea of not tweaking......however since the cheese is the focal point, I'd just like your suggestion. Thanks!

Amen RegrettableFoodie! And the added chuckle of your "Semi-ho" acronym made my day!
I just feel with all the wares these so called chefs push [TV shows, Specials, guest spots on other TV shows, cookbooks, magazines, packaged food, pots and pans, and their own restaurants - some, more than one] they should be able to pay at least one coach who can edit/teach them the proper words involved in the vocation for which they make all that money!
To further irritate yourself, go to:
www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/06/dear-food-network-please-stop.html and read Matthew Greenberg's sucinct letter to Bob Tuschman!

Hey guys, with all this in-fighting, how about this one? Tyler, Paula, Guy, & Michael Chiarello all say...............MAR-SCA-PONE instead of the correct MAS-CAR-PONE. Now I could understand Sandra & Paula.........but Chiarello & Fieri [yes, for all of us Food Channel alumni, his name used to be pronounced Fieri, not Fieti]........hmmmmmmm wonder why that change???
And yes, total agreement with the masses.....it is indeed ESPRESSO!

OMG Michele........the only thing more enticing than your writing, more humorous than marchpane's comments, and my unfathomable lack of understanding towards lexophile's dislike for tomatoes is the idea of making this simple yet outstanding idea of a recipe with my absolute favorite fruit/vegetable in the world.......the TOMATO! [take a breath].... Never met a tomato I wouldn't call friend! Will get those Romas tomorrow..........[can't wait until my two Roma plants ripen], & make this heavenly dish. I have homeade fettucini from a little Italian store in my hood that would be a perfect marriage for this recipe. I work for a Toronto based artisan bakery & have full reign of Ciabatta & baguettes, however I, like you will go straight to the pasta........and be assured, I will not change a thing in this recipe.

For a short time I was a “Food Network Panel” member. After I felt the whole premise of the so-called panel was a farce, I started jotting down [thus, the 2008 date] all the little irks within not only the FN, but also with the FN website. The following is that letter, which I forwarded to Matthew Greenberg. I had been intending to send it to Bob Tuschman…..[fortunately, I edited this copy more accurately] & have followed through with sending it now after Matts inspirational article.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Dear Mr. Tuschman,
I am an avid Food Network viewer………having watched since your inception. I have your station on whether I am actively watching & even as background when not. My husband will frequently view with me as well if I am actively watching. My favorite person is Ina Garten, & I have every one of her books, even though I can get her recipes free @ your site. In fact, I liked her show so much that we used to program it so we can view it @ dinner every night. I also like Alton, Giada, Tyler, & used to watch “How to Boil Water” with the French chef who was assisted by Jack. I watched Martha Stewart when she used to be on, as well. I used to watch Paula @ times for her “down home” type recipes. I no longer watch her since she got married - she seems to have gone off the deep end.
I guess you can see I do have some complaints about your content.
• Please……..no more boobs!!!!! I’m talking Giada & Sandra Lee. I know Giada was pregnant. However I’m sure that for both of these “chefs”, it has little to do with pregnancy [although in itself, that would be a pretty skanky reason to be flaunting cleavage anyway]! Every time I tune into Giada, I am forced to look @ cleavage! Come on, this is a cooking show, not “Girls Gone Wild”. It really detracts from the program, & makes me wonder if it’s just a ploy to attract more male viewers perhaps? Sandra Lee in particular has an episode where she is in the park I believe, sporting this goofy little Bo Peep get up complete with pigtails, & I’m waiting for her “store boughts” to fall out like…….. muffins in a well greased tin. Doesn’t anybody critique the shows before they go on? No one chose to comment on her going on air with that Halloween get up? Totally tasteless. Now today I tune in & there’s Rachel with her little boobs half out [competition maybe]………..what gives?

• Speaking of Sandra, I have to admit the minute she comes on, I change the channel. I do like some of her ideas but cannot bear to lis-ten……… to……………. her……….hes-i-ta-tive………..way……….of……….speak-ing!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s obvious she cannot do two things [cooking & talking] at a time……….doesn’t anybody let her know how absolutely aggravating her diction is? Her show does go off when I hear that voice – it truly is aggravating.
• Paula used to be worth watching, however, she has, like I said, gone off the deep end. Her recipes used to be down home basic with a nice Southern flair. She even allowed us to chuckle @ times. Now, it seems her old fashioned charm has been replaced by her obvious change to compete with the real chefs. Southern country has made way for false eyelashes and excessive finger bling. I definitely can’t watch her “party” show………she’s licked one too many audience participants faces for me. What’s with these people………..they don’t make enough money……….they end up doing “party shows”, “at home shows”, and so called “back to basic” shows? They resort to nepotism, selling books &magazines, along with cookware, and packaged foods?
• Now, alas, my favorite……….Ina. I love her home, the way she & Jeffrey seem like a couple of love struck teenagers. I have all of her six books. However, she is not without aggravations as well. It isn’t hard to see that she is an island unto herself------she has different rules from the rest of the FN stars, somewhat of a “Queen complex”. Her cookbooks are more expensive, & don’t seem to participate in the holiday shows [unless you edit her show into the group]. The new “Back to Basics” is nothing more than taking the same old recipes & changing lemon juice to orange juice, or “really good vanilla” to Frambois”……….definitely not rocket science! Somewhat of a rip off. Please, no more of the “really good vanillas”, “don’t have too much fun without me’s”, “how good is that’s”, the ok, ok, ok, ok’s, & the ha, ha, ha, ha, ha’s [we counted, & it’s always 5 ha ha’s]! We really don’t need the repetitious reminders of what she’s making, i.e. “and that’s the biscuits ready to go in the oven, to go with the berries, to go with the whipped cream, to go with the sauce, that goes with dessert, that will be so good”. The biscuits are going into the oven & that is all we really need to know.
• One more thing about all these supposed college educated, “professionally trained” chefs…….please address the subject of correct pronunciation of two frequently used words: Mascarpone cheese is spelled, Mas-car-pone, not mar-sca-pone……..please, Michael Chiarello, you’re Italian & don’t know how to pronounce the word correctly? I could understand Sandra Lee not being familiar with proper pronunciation, but Tyler, Paula, & Guy also say Marscapone?
• To Guy & Paula: Paprika is 3 syllables, not 4 so therefore, it is pronounced Pap-ri-ka, not Pap-ar-ik-a! It has nothing to do with being Southern [Guy isn’t from the South] – rather, it’s about education. Also it’s Es-presso, not Ex-presso! Please have Alton or Giada do some pronunciation consultations with these five! Honestly, they have their own shows, but speak Ebonics……where can I sign up?
• Speaking of Guy…….like him a lot, but why is it “Fieti” now instead of Fieri? I am Italian, & know that his name would be pronounced with a T rather than R in Italy. However, we are not in Italy, & to change his name @ this point seems a little pretentious. I’m assuming he was tired of being called a fairy?
As far as the Food Network website:
• While I like the new set up, Please, you went to all that trouble to introduce us to all the staff on the web site! Instead, you should spend a little more time having the recipe editors actually do some editing. How many times I have read/written reviews & found, along with others, that many recipes are inaccurate! If one is unable to actually watch the show when the recipe was used, they would be lost---------the TV version is frequently very different from the FN site recipe. If you actually read the recipe reviews you would see that many people have expressed the same complaint as I am. Don’t your editors watch the programs they are editing or read the reviews?
• In addition, you have censured a few of my recipe comments [ I never do negative or directing comments]……yet allow others [ usually “anonymous”] to write both negative, and personal remarks……I always wonder how these idiots get away with it. Sometimes they even cause the ratings to go lower on a recipe review as well. One of the best features of the recipes online is that most people accurately rate the recipes & it helps all of us get a better idea of how it will turn out. When you allow the idiots to make phony comments, they ruin it for all of us serious cooks.
Finally Bob, I will let both you and Natalie know that I WAS a Food Network Panel member and felt pretty proud of that………..not anymore. You falsified the premise of that offshoot. You allowed us to believe you actually listened or cared about our feedback. If that were true, we would see our old favorite show hosts with some desperately needed new material. Instead, we see this constant barrage of new people with show content we could care less about. They never really have anything new to offer.
As the program director, in my opinion, your job should be to take something good & make it the best it can be instead of just adding more junk to make more money.
These are my remarks. Do what you want with them.

Addendum: 5-30-09
I totally agree with Matthew Greenberg’s recent comments @ True/Slant.com…………and I guess a lot of others do as well. Just check the link @ SeriousEats.com: Memo to Food Network: Your programming is going rancid

Sugarbrown you are toooooooooooo funny...............ditto on Homer!