Published: August 03, 2008 11:03 pm            

Mark Maynard: Cooking up some new habits

For years, the television set was the man’s domain.

Give a man a remote and his favorite beverage and nothing else seems to matter.

For hours at a time, nothing else matters.

For weekends at a time, nothing else matters.

A friend once told me his idea of “roughing it” was a day without the remote. I say amen.

Look what ESPN has done to us. In September, the all-sports-all-the-time network turns 29 years old. ESPN is far removed from its offbeat roots of 1979 when it went on the air with some obscure programming such as dart contests and truck races. And can we ever forget Australian rules football?

Of course, back in ’79, a lot of people still used an antenna. This was all sorta new. Cable hadn’t quite gripped the nation like it does now.

But while cable and satellite television has expanded our horizons — not to mention our sports viewing habits to almost ridiculous levels — it’s also given women a reason to grab (hide?) the remote.

They want equal time. They want the Food Network.

But just like women adapted to watching all-sports-all-the-time when ESPN was born, men are now also relegated to watching cooking shows these days. Equal time, don’t you know.

Food Network started in 1993, and it’s done for cooking what ESPN did for sports. And with two women in my house — and my son now living in Cincinnati — we watch almost as much Food Network as we do ESPN (OK, maybe not quite, but we do stop on the Food Network a lot as were buzzing through channels).

I now know the Food Network stars — Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, Sandra Lee, et al — like I used to know the ESPN anchors. You learn to like the cooking shows and marvel as they create these incredible dishes in less than 30 minutes. It’s inspiring to watch — and I’m no cook.

My wife and daughter are both excellent cooks who didn’t need the Food Network to teach them. My wife learned from her mother and my daughter from her mother and her two grandmothers, either of who could teach a thing or two to the chefs on Food Network. Trust me, they all know their way around the kitchen.

But ever so often, my wife and daughter come across a new kind of dish by watching the programming. Both of them like to experiment and, frankly, I don’t mind being the guinea pig — pig being the operative word here. Usually what they come up with is pretty good eatin’ although not really any better than the regular fixin’s that have become our favorites.

For the most part, sports still dominates our television viewing. Old habits are hard to break, I suppose. But if you wander into my house some day, don’t be surprised if there’s something good cooking on television.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.

        

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