All photos by Laine Doss

Christmas cookie snowman -- with a slight bite.

​Close to 40,000 families and revelers converged on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale for the 49th-annual Christmas on Las Olas celebration.

The streets between SE Sixth and SE 11th streets were packed with people wearing Santa hats, kids wearing reindeer antlers, and dogs wearing ski sweaters, as local merchants handed out samples and sold holiday goodies.

The first Christmas Cookie Battle was a success, as people flocked to donate money for the American Lung Association in exchange for cookies baked by local bakers Tea for Two Cookie Co., Cindy Made Them, and East End Eats.



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​There's no denying that we're still enamored with meals on wheels at various food truck rallies. And we want to support these fledgling businesses as much as the next person.More >>

Paula Deen wants to go lip-to-chin with Jay Leno.

​We love Paula Deen, and when we grow up, we want to become just like her -- eternally buzzed, with a constant cackle and stylish stretch pants. Ladies like this eat life. Their joy is infectious, so when they do completely inappropriate things -- like try to make out with a married talk-show host in front of 10 million home viewers -- we laugh it off as adorable!

Last night, Paula Deen was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to make her famous cheeseburger meat loaf (wouldn't it just be a cheese loaf?). As she and Jay get into the meat, Jay brings up Deen's being named Maxim's hottest female television chef. Paula translates this into a clear sign of attraction, and starts flirting with Leno in her own unique way -- she asks him what his cholesterol level is and if he likes her new outfit (from the Paula Deen clothing line -- oy vey).

Then, because the lady had never been known for her subtlety, she turns to Leno and says, "I want to kiss you." Leno, creeped out by the pass, says "not with those meat loaf hands." And that, as they say, is television gold. Watch here:
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Travel Channel

Girls, girls... there's no reason to lose your heads over Anthony Bourdain. He's married.

​No Reservations has had Anthony Bourdain travel to some interesting places, like Cuba, Ghana, Liberia, and Cambodia. Imagine our surprise when last evening, Tony was seen driving a vintage Thunderbird in the California desert.

Tony meets Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, who grew up in this no-man's land somewhere between Los Angeles and Palm Springs to take in a little local color tequila and try to get a new soundtrack for the show.


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Oh, reality TV. Amid countless stunts and larger-than-life characters, it's so easy to forget the reality part -- but last week, the LAUSD school district voted (for real) to ban flavored milk. That means no more chocolate milk, no more strawberry milk. The 5-2 vote by board members was seen as a way to help curb childhood obesity.

The issue was just one of the school lunch platforms chef Jamie Oliver has been pursuing on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. 

OK, now on to the show...

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Master Chef is back again. Contestants battle it out to win $250,000 and the title of Master Chef. The judges: Gordon Ramsey (of course), Graham Elliot (youngest 4-star chef in America), and Joe Bastianich (owner of multiple wineries and 24 Italian restaurants -- you got to love the way he sniffs every bit of food he samples).

Last night featured try-outs --and contestants ranging from totally nutty to a total hoot. Which was Albert, the alligator guy, who won a coveted spot on the show? Haven't quite decided, but even Bastianich was impressed by the flavors in Albert's sausage and gator jambalaya dish and called his first bite ever of alligator, toothsome. Albert earned a unanimous vote to continue on in the competition. 

My personal favorite had nothing to do with gators, and everything to do with lamb heart. That's right, this Scottish contestant preparing haggis was a trip. Her vibrant personality shone through the reality TV snippets and you can see why Ramsey said she had posh.
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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution continues with its third episode. This one was jam-packed! It included Jamie's food quizzes for students (See above and tell me the guacamole Q&A isn't a l'il bit funny). But seriously, a lot going on in this episode. It starts with Jamie's culinary class at West Adams Preparatory High School preparing an alternative lunch at their school. The team is super-psyched to share their whole wheat pasta mac n' cheese, salad, and roasted chicken with the school, but before they can, they get pushed to a far corner of campus. A school leader tells them they had to put them as far from the cafeteria as possible so as not to be seen as competing with cafeteria food. He also informs Jamie that his class is no longer allowed to cook. A bit of an obstacle, eh?

No worries, Jamie pushes on,  teaching students about food and where it comes from. His lesson? The ice cream sundae. He goes so far as to create his own authentic sundae using what really goes into the artificial toppings. He brings in the live lac bugs that shellac is made from (used to make sprinkles and hard candy shiny!) as well as hair and duck feathers (used in cookie dough ice cream to keep the cookie dough soft). He tells the kids if you see long words that you don't understand on the ingredient list, just don't buy it. "Dead simple," Jamie says, before treating the kids to his own simpler sundae which uses 9 ingredients instead of 271 (his includes milk, cream, sugar, crushed strawberries, and caramelized sesame seeds).

But all that ice cream talk was far from where the emotional core of the episode was. The most dramatic turn came with Deno of Patra's fast food restaurant...

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flckr/eworm

Mouthwatering meat... sizzle, sizzle.

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Calling all carnivores! Take note of a local meat dish gaining national attention. Last night, South Florida's chef Michelle Bernstein discussed meat on the Food Network show Meat and Potatoes. Host Rahm Fama focused on "meat on the bone" at three restaurants in different parts of the country.

Fama visited Hank's Fine Steaks in Las Vegas, Soul Fire in Boston, and Michy's in Miami where he tasted a dish so popular that Michelle Bernstein's restaurant gets upward of 500 orders of it each week.
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Gael Green always with hat, even when hot.

​The cheftestants walk into the kitchen and see headphones, a blindfold, and a nose plug. This could only mean one thing - a late night of partying with the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. (wait - it's not?) OK, then the blindfold means that the cheftestants need to identify flavors by only one sense.

Quickfire

The first round is taste. The cheftestants have to put on their masks, earphones and nose plugs. They have one minute to identify the following: water chestnuts, Worcestershire sauce, papaya, cashews, and mustard grape.

Floyd identified none correctly and he's out of the competition.

We move on to smell with Epoisses cheese, hot sauce, root beer, rice vinegar, and mayonnaise. Traci got none right so she's out. Now touch with okra, gummy bears, Arborio rice, chayote , and blackberries.

Celina and Naomi are out. Hugh and Mary Sue are the two left in the quickfire.

We've got sound with Rice Krispies and milk, breaking celery, eating potato chips, shucking an oyster and buttering toast.

Hugh says he hears only compliments not complaints - love him.

Hugh wins the quickfire, but sadly I have to report that neither contestant identified the Rice Krispies sound. Really?

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​The cheftestants walk into the kitchen to see Curtis and gourmet ingredients. Curtis says these ingredients are heavenly...

Quickfire Challenge

The table is full of heavenly ingredients like foie gras, scallops, and prime beef, and nary a bug or canned good is in sight. The catch?

Remember the quickfire challenge when Tom Colicchio set the bar by making a dish in eight minutes? Well, the cheftestants have to make a dish in seven minutes.

Wait -- it gets better. They have to make two identical plates in the "seven minutes in heaven challenge" (Get it? Seven minutes in heaven? Where you make out with someone in a closet for seven minutes à la junior high school?)

The chefs are going nutso. They're running around. Hugh is making tuna and says he might be making the most elaborate cat food of all time. Hah! Hugh has all the one-liners. Without him, this season would be a snorefest. These "serious chefs" are too "serious." In another kick in the head, the chefs have to judge each other (in other words, they couldn't find a muppet to guest-judge tonight's quickfire).

The chefs have to rank each dish from one to seven -- one being the best, seven the worst.

• Hugh makes tuna two ways chopped with caviar
• Traci makes tenderloin beef carpaccio
• Naomi prepares seared foie gras with lady apples
• Celina makes diver scallop crudo
• Mary Sue cooks scallops with pink salt, lime, and cilantro
• Alex makes prawn ceviche
• Floyd prepares prawn with Serrano chili

The results are as follows: 

• Hugh gets three sevens, including from himself (that's right -- Hugh gave himself the lousiest score possible)
• Traci gets great scores
• Naomi gets a 1 from Hugh, but Floyd gives her dish a 6
• Celina gets lousy scores
• Mary Sue's dish gets lukewarm scores all around
• Alex is the only one who doesn't like his own dish
• Floyd likes his own dish the best

Celina is at the bottom, and Traci is the winner.

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