I've Got a Crush on You

At this very moment, I am glued to my Twitter feed. Normally, on a Friday night, I don't do much. I come home from work, cook dinner, poke around facebook, and just generally relax. I'm not ready to be social yet. I just like to decompress and not get too riled up about much of anything.

Tonight, however, is different. Tonight is the James Beard Foundation Awards. And one of my favourite food people EVER won an award. The one I've been giving him in my head for several years, every single time I see him.

Now, I don't pretend to be the most connected foodie. (Honestly, I don't pretend to be the most connected ANYTHING.) However, I do read as much as I can about food, I have a crazy number of food blogs bookmarked that I read with general regularity, and I'm kind of ridiculously addicted to reading Twitter comments from chefs and restaurants and food bloggers. Even the ones I'd never heard of before Twitter. If someone on Twitter is talking about food, I feel like it's imperative that I read it.

Obsess much?

But in all this time being in love with food, and cooking, and all things culinary, there is only one food "celebrity" I've ever crushed on. That person, my friends, is this man:


Julia Child is my hero. Jacques Pepin is like my television grandpa. But it wasn't until I watched my very first episode of "Good Eats" that those little cartoon lovey dovey graphics swirled around my head.

And the James Beard Foundation says he's the Best TV Personality. I couldn't agree more, JBF. I couldn't agree more.

There will be other winners tonight for whom I will have secret warm fuzzies, but my little black foodie heart will always belong to Alton.

Who is your culinary crush? Share!