Cooking for Real

Move over Rachel Ray.

Finally, the Food Network has put someone on who is not as annoying as Ms. Ray, but who still embodies that friendly, accessible, (sista)girl next door feeling: Sunny Anderson (Not to be confused with NCCU alum and recording artist Sunshine Anderson of “Heard it all Before” fame).
Okay I admit, Sunny’s got that little giggle reminiscent of Ray, but unlike the Queen of Corny, Sunny’s giggle doesn’t appear at just the slightest provocation and it isn’t accompanied by annoying Rachel’isms like “EVOO” and “yummo.”

Sunny has two shows on the food network, Cooking for Real (Sun 10:30am) and How’d That Get On My Plate? (Mon 9:30pm). I don’t really watch the shows on the Food Network that feature one or two (shout out to the Neelys) cooks doing their thing. I pretty much watch the challenges and Iron Chef (comedy). I like Sunny’s style, though. She cooks in a really uncomplicated way and blends flavors from her experience living all over first as an Army Brat and as a member of the US Air Force, herself. She also cooks semi-homemade, which is taking things boxed/canned/bottled and using them in your recipes. This is imperative for those of us who like to cook, but live busy schedules. It’s okay to use a cornbread out of the box if cornbread isn’t the main dish you’re rolling with.

She so hood

Oh, and the girl eats. She’s stuffing cornbread in her mouth and talking! She’s encouraging us to drink the leftover beer after we’re done using it for batter. She’s thick in the hips (shout out to Nigella Lawson) and rocks a honey blonde weave. Hayyyy Gurrrrl!

Not only is Sunny nice in the kitchen, she’s nice on the mic. No, she’s not a rapper, but she has done some voice-overs and had a career in broadcasting which kicked off in the Air Force, landing her at HOT 97 in NYC. Vibe Magazine rated her show as one of the top 9 to listen to nationwide and crowned her, “Ruler of the Airwaves.” Sunny’s hip hop cred extends further as she was the Food & Lifestyle editor at Hip Hop Weekly Magazine.

Check out some Sunny Anderson for yourself and set your TiVO/DVR.

Sunny’s Blog. Sunny’s Myspace.

Aside: Sunny kind of puts me in the mind of Tracie Spencer. Yay or Nay?