That's right...Ms. De Laurentiis was just a few miles away from TV Food Fan HQ and I wasn't there. I have a good excuse, though, as I was giving a talk at my alma mater, The College of New Jersey. Plus, I already did the "gawking at Giada" thing once and the massive crowd that she usually draws makes standing in line for an autograph an all day affair.

According to this story from the Asbury Park Press, the 800 people who showed up for autographs were happy to wait in line for the chance to meet the Food Network celebrity. As you probably know, she's out on tour promoting her new cookbook, Everyday Pasta, which you can conveniently purchase from the TV Food Fan Store by clicking on that image over on the right. (Sorry for the shameless plug!)

The comments from the folks who stood in line are of the usual "we love her food and she's so nice" variety, the second part of which I can vouch for personally after seeing how gracious she was to each and everyone she signed for last year.

Herman likes De Laurentiis' recipes because they are easy to prepare and appetizing. She likes her personality as well.

"She comes across as somebody you'd want to have in your own kitchen," Herman said.

I was reading the article, just bopping along, and then I came across this gem:

"Her food is beautiful, as well as she is," Vansickle said. "She makes the Food Network that much more interesting."

When I read that first sentence, I cried a little bit for the New Jersey Education System. As comedian Lewis Black once said, "How do you diagram a sentence like that? I’ll tell you how. You take a pencil, put it in a sharpener, make sure it’s pointy, and then jab it in your eye!"

In non-food-related TVFF Birthday news, my gift from Mrs. TVFF was tickets to a reading in New Brunswick, NJ, by my favorite writer, David Sedaris. If I can become one tenth of one percent as good a writer as Sedaris, I'll consider that a major accomplishment. Ms. TVFF even bought me a copy of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, which I had him sign after the show.

Actually...personal appearances in central New Jersey, quality writing and waiting in line for an autographed book...maybe my birthday story does have something to do with this post!

Labels: Giada De Laurentiis

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