Recipe to Riches

Recipe to Riches

How much do I like my friend Dana McCauley? I like her enough to bump my weekly Modern Family fix to watch her in action. Dana is one of the judges on the new Food Network show Recipe to Riches. She joins a distintguished panel of judges including Laura Calder, who just happens to be an award-winning cookbook author and the star of French Food at Home.

Recipe to Riches is a cooking competition where regular people make their best recipe in hopes of winning a quarter of a MILLION dollars (yes, that’s $250,000) and the chance for their recipe to become a President’s Choice product. According to the press release, here’s how it works:

Each week, Canadians will have the chance to sample category winners’ products in-store [Loblaws]. After all category winners have been determined viewers will have the opportunity to vote online for the best of the best and, during the exciting finale, witness who will take home the $250,000 grand prize – the largest cash prize in Canadian reality television history.

Kicking myself for not entering! Oh well, I think my friendship with Dana would have disqualified me. And the false moustache never works. Fortunately, I get to grab a tiny bit of the limelight as one of the official bloggers. I’ll be making the occasional winning recipe and reporting back on the show this Thursday.  The theme this week is Sweet Pudding and Pies. They had me at “sweet”.

For those who are curious, you can tune in to Recipes to Riches on The Food Network, Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM EST. If you can’t tune in then, check the schedule for other airing times.

 

 

No Comments
  • Dana McCauley
    Posted at 13:23h, 18 October

    You better be PVR-ing Modern Family! That show is golden!

    Thanks for the support Charmian! You’re a good friend, indeed.

    PS: your cheque is in the mail.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 13:31h, 18 October

    Right back at you (about the good friend thing, not the cheque).

    And yes, I’m PVRing Modern Family, but at a later time. For you, I’m willing to watch my favourite comedy the next day. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is. 🙂

  • Amy Proulx
    Posted at 15:09h, 18 October

    Yes, I would have loved to enter, but would have needed a fake mustache and a wig too. Some clause about industry professionals not being allowed to enter…

    I’m looking forward to having Dana over for lunch in two weeks. Yes, it’s work related, but I’m such a fan, it will be fun!

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 16:45h, 18 October

    Enjoy your lunch with Dana. I’m jealous — even if it is work related.

  • Robin Smart
    Posted at 21:24h, 18 October

    Don’t worry about not entering Sister Dear, as it would have been too hard to decide which one of your glorious creations to choose.
    Love from your now ginger eating sister.
    PS the idea to micro-plane the ginger was brilliant.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 16:14h, 20 October

    Thanks, but I’d have likely ended up tangled up in one of their industrial-sized machines! I’m barely capable of operating my stand mixer.

    Glad you’re enjoying the frozen ginger microplane trick. It’s one of my favourite tips. Kudos to you for embracing my must-have spices — even if it’s under doctor’s orders.

  • UrbanEater
    Posted at 03:50h, 23 October

    I watched my first and only episode of this show. 1) There is no ethnicity in this show. Everyone is white. This is why a lot of Canadian Shows don’t work. The shows are not urban enough. They don’t cater to non whites. 2) Jesse probably did better has a football player than a host. Why is he always talking with his head bent downwards? He also has no spunk. They need to get rid of him. 3) The music played within the show made the show kind’ve dull. 4) Galen Westen needs a haircut and dresses better in his commercials. 5) If I see this dessert in the store I will definitly buy it to try it, but I guess it’s the only one I will ever try since I don’t plan on watching the show again 🙁

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 20:23h, 23 October

    Mijune Pak, who created the pie in a jar recipe, is Asian. I checked out the Recipe to Riches finalist page and there looked to be a mix of ethnicities.

    As for the host and music — I faced a similar dilemma with So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Hated the theme music and found the host (and certain judges) annoying. But I really liked the dancing. So I used my PVR to fast forward through the parts I didn’t like.

    For me, the concept of the R2R is intriguing so I will watch. I also like that they aren’t trying to make contestants look stupid, as many reality shows do. Also this is one show where the winner could actually make a difference in my life. So, I’ll continue to watch.

    Thanks for taking the time to comment.

  • Janis Flewelling
    Posted at 22:17h, 30 November

    I am a huge fan of Recipe to Riches. The concept is great and I look forward to it every week and following the contestants in their journey. Having said that… I must comment after watching tonights’s show… it seems to me that a lot of the contestants are having a hard time with their marketing strategy. You don’t like the names that were chosen for their recipe, or the way they went about their strategies for getting people to try their products. Tonight – you really came down hard on Robert. Marketing is not these people’s area of expertise! That is why you are giving them a marketing team to help them. So – why are these marketing people not coming up with better names and strategies for these contestants??!?!? This is supposed to be their area of expertise, but yet, they put a guy smoking a cigar on the logo for Robert’s pulled pork?? Wow. I think you guys need to get new marketing companies to help these people market their products better, as clearly, these two companies are not cutting it for the contestants. You talked to Eva about the wording of her lobster mac and cheese. The marketing company should have thought about the fact that the lobster should have been more prominent in the name/logo. I hope you take my suggestion into consideration. Why have these marketing companies help the contestants, when – more often than not, it seems like they ‘re really not helping. I feel sorry for the contestants, because you’re coming down awfully hard on them for something that is not their area of expertise. Thank you, and I look forward to future episodes and hope this becomes an annual show, as I am really enjoying it.

  • UrbanEater
    Posted at 22:42h, 30 November

    Yea, maybe they have a couple of contestants that are non-white and there is nothing wrong with that. But when you see 4 judges and a host that is white, you are already limiting your audience. Sad, but very true, and unfortunately Canada never picks up on that. I never become loyal to a show where they show people of one race as being the most superior being. Underlying racism it is 🙁 Especially when this country prides itself on being a muticultural society. Get rid of at least 1 of the judges and put any minority in it’s place and I’m sure more people would watch.
    I will agree from the one and only show I did watch, it was refreshing that they didn’t make the contestants look like idiots or speak down to them.
    Still not watching 🙁

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:52h, 03 December

    I’m glad you like the show. I love the concept too. Just so you know, I am not involved with the show beyond posting a review.

    I do agree that the marketing is a bit off. Concepts take weeks to create, not a day, so that is one of the issues. Also, with all reality TV, drama is key.

    I’ve noticed that the winning dishes have totally new packaging by the time they hit the shelves. Can’t say I’m enamoured of the branding they’ve used, but it certainly is easily recognized. This makes me wonder just how crucial the initial branding is beyond testing the waters.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I, too, hope they make this an annual show.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 12:56h, 03 December

    I see your point. I was thinking about the contestants and not the show regulars. Have you shared your thoughts with the Food Network? If not, I think you should since this is the kind of feedback they need. Voices can make a difference. Please, let yours be heard by the people who made the decisions. Good luck!