Yesterday it was announced that bad-boy, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is apparently having an affair. The racy details reveal that the chef has been secretly sleeping with professional mistress and Having An Affair? A Handbook For The Other Woman author Sarah Symonds for the past seven years. Although he's known in the states for his foul-mouthed, angry kitchen tirades, across the pond, Ramsay's an established family man with a devoted wife and four young children.
Neither Ramsay nor Symonds have commented on the allegations, but in her book, Symonds describes an affair with a high-profile, incredibly well known chef. While I found the news surprising it didn't exactly shock me. I've never really considered Ramsay to be the devoted husband type. What do you think about the possible affair?
Late celebrity chef Julia Child may have brought all things culinary to the masses, but there was one secret she kept from the world: She was a spy.
Newly released personnel records reveal that Julia Child was part of an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), an early version of the CIA created during World War II by President Theodore Roosevelt. Before she became a famous chef, Child helped the OSS develop shark repellent, an explosives coating that was critical to protecting ammunition used to sink German U-boats during the war.
Yesterday, the National Archives released a list of nearly 24,000 names that were in the previously classified records. Are you surprised by this recent news? Does it change the way you perceive the nation's first celebrity chef?
If you think you've got what it takes to be a celebrity chef, but Top Chef is too professional and Next Food Network Star not professional enough, then you'll be pleased to know that Rachael Ray is searching for you.
In a contest called "So You Think You Can Cook?" Rachael is looking to give a "real person" — not a trained chef — the opportunity to show everyone who they are and what they can do.
"I'm always telling people how my career was an accident," Ray told the AP. "I just wanted to sort of marry up the idea for the show that anybody who likes to cook could literally be Rachael Ray, the `30 Minute Meal' girl."
Out of all the candidates, Rachael and her producers will narrow the list down to five candidates. Those folks will enter two weeks of training and challenges before a winner is declared in November.
If you think you've got what it takes, enter now. The deadline for entries is Oct. 3.
Source: Yahoo News
I read on another blog (apologies, I forget which one now...) that the South Beach Wine & Food Festival is like Spring Break for the food industry. I wasn't there personally, but from the pictures I've seen, I'd have to say it seems pretty accurate. There was sun, sand, booze and partying. One of the events, After Hours at 212 Access House which took place on the same night as the Food Network Awards, had everyone partying down on specialty Gran Centenario Tequila cocktails. 
One of the cocktails was called the Gran Tangria (a tequila based take on Sangria), and I'm pretty sure I'm going to mix up a batch of this for my next party. To check out the recipe and see more pictures of chefs partying hard (including Tom Collichio, Katie Lee Joel, Bobby Flay, and Mikey "Top Chef" Midgley), read more
Thanks to everyone who joined us in the Live Chat Room. Today we discussed brownies, blue cheese, our favorite celebrity chefs, and everything in between. Be sure to catch the chat next Thursday at 11am PT / 2pm ET.
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