SAHM a Top 5 Finalist for The Next Food Network Star
Stay-at-home mom Melissa d'Arabian has cooked her way into the top five of The Next Food Network Star. But this saucy mama is serving up more than leftover meatloaf. Week after week she's impressed show judges Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson with her culinary skills and on-camera improvements.
Melissa d'Arabian
Photo Courtesy Food Network
The road to the final five hasn't been easy for d'Arabian. Although she's consistently placed in the top of the elimination challenges, she's also taken flack from some of her professionally-trained chef competitors for "just" being a stay-at-home mom. When the smoke cleared from the kitchen, those critics were sent packing and d'Arabian remains in the running for her own Food Network show.
Stay-at-home moms can relate to d'Arabian's struggle to prove herself and we can celebrate her success. She's not afraid to cook the same recipes she prepares for her four daughters at home and serve them to Flay, Rachael Ray, Ina Garten and Food Network execs.
You expect people with culinary backgrounds to do well in a cooking competition but d'Arabian has shown good food doesn't have to be fancy. That's an element a lot of cooking shows are missing.
If d'Arabian becomes The Next Food Network Star, she tells the Dallas Observer she would like to host a cooking show for families, both SAHMs and working moms. This former career woman says her show would also concentrate on budgeting for meals.
In episode six, the finalists leave New York for Miami. Season five of The Next Food Network Star airs Sunday nights on Food Network.
Update July 12: Melissa d'Arabian is now a top four contender for her own cooking show on Food Network. Executive Chef Michael Proietti was eliminated from the competition.
Update July 19: Melissa d'Arabian is in the top three. Personal chef Jamika Pessoa was sent home after a Red Lobster challenge in Miami.
Update July 26: It's down to the final two. Debbie Lee was eliminated from the competition in week eight. Melissa d'Arabian squares off against Jeffrey Saad in the season finale August 2 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Update August 2: Melissa d'Arabian has won season five of The Next Food Network Star. I spoke to her hours after the show aired in this special interivew. Watch for her new cooking show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian, which debuts August 9 at 12:30 p.m./11:30 p.m. ET/CT.
More on Melissa:
What I’d really like to see would be a cooking show in which SAHMs prepare gourmet meals in their own environments. You know, with a toddler on each leg, Legos underfoot and an older kid asking, “Will you take me to the mall?”
I’m a Food Network addict (watching it now, even while on the comp, as a matter of fact!) As much as I enjoy watching the pros make some lovely gourmet dishes, the truth is there are very few recipes I can try to make myself, due to either budget constraints (can I really afford salmon filets, only to find out my family won’t like it?) or use of hard-to-find ingredients (things like sesame paste comes to mind.)
I’m really rooting for Melissa to win. A cooking show hosted by a real homemaker geared towards moms and families would certainly be a winner in my book!
Susan - Now that’s a reality show!
Wendy – I agree. I also love watching the pros but a show hosted by a been-there, doing-that mom would be so refreshing!
Apryl Duncan
Guide to Stay-at-Home Moms
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so encouraging!! I wish i could cook..let alone.. impress bobby flay in some way… lol
I voted for the SAHM in the poll because I like to see something new and different. But cooking shows usually come down to personality for me, so I’d have to see Melissa in action to know for sure.