Some Thoughts on The Food Network's Future New Channel & Food Blogging Today

The Food Network's, Cooking Channel will be debuting later this month and while we'll be seeing some very familiar faces (Bobby, Rachael, etc.) they're banking on the notion that we, (the viewing public) want more emphasis on ethnic food and drink, cultural cuisine and lifestyle, and are indeed craving a dose of advanced cooking skills and techniques (something often shied away from on their 24/7 sister station, The Food Network.) My first thought was Fine Living meets History Channel meets Bravo ~ a sort of prestigious graduate school for foodies!

The author of an extremely young food blog, there's no doubt the foodie market is ginormous! I often spend countless hours behind this screen perusing through other food blogs - some good, some not so good, and many that are spectacular! I actually read somewhere, the demise of Gourmet Magazine can be directly linked back to the food blogging community - it's gotten that popular. I often wonder why I blog about food? There's always another blog out there 100x better than mine and just when you think you have a novel idea, you're simply two clicks away from discovering, "Joe Shmoe The Cooking Guru" at worldpress.com, thought of that years ago! (And honestly...how bourgeois?!) But something keeps me coming back. Something continues to wake me up in the middle of the night leaving me yearning for my computer...and it's that same something, that day after day has me standing in front of my stove, donning apron wondering how I'll describe to the reader "the meal" and what it ultimately meant to us while eating and preparing. (As if anyone really cares?!)

In a world today where cooking has taken on an almost religious connotation, I do think there's room for yet another channel devoted to food. And while some think the food blogger will eventually (decades from now) dwindle down to the survival of the fittest, I'm not holding my breath. So to "Joe Shmoe the Cooking Guru" - I'm reading you, learning from you and working each and every day to be better than you. And to the Scripps Network and their new Cooking Channel, I say bring it on! We're foodies in numbers too large to count and you can rest assure...on May 31st...we'll be kneeling at your alter (dressed in caps and gowns)...ready and eager to watch!

What do you think????