Not Food Networks best effort, in my opinion. Guy has been here twice doing his shows, and the only negetive I heard was he didn't really participate until the final filming was done. Even the corvette showed up seperatly in a car van.I wish they would come up with something different that the same competitions and obnoxious hosts. They lost their creativity along the way, for my tastes.

This thread, which I didn't catch the first time around, made me think. In general, I cook to eat and feed my family. However, I do enjoy baking for special occasions. I think that if I didn't work outside the home I would cook more...and be more adventurous. But, I work and have a long commute so by the time I get home I have to make fast meals with little time for creativity or major prep work. So, we eat a lot of frozen veggies--as is out of the bag, pre-cooked meats warmed up, pasta, soup, occasionally waffles/pancakes/eggs, potatoes, etc. I.e., for the most part things that I can cook fast. One up side to this is that our meals haven't changed that much w/o a kitchen since we do have a MW, Toaster Oven, and hot plate to cook with! One very big downside to this, though, is that my children are not learning to cook like I did from my mom. Back on topic... After finding this site and reading about zones, I realized that one thing that I really wanted was a baking center. So when my kitchen was being designed I had it in the back of my head that whatever we ended up with had to have an area I could designate my "Baking Zone", preferably near the ovens--with room to roll out dough, spread out cookie sheets, and have cookie cutters spread out all at the same time! The other thing I got from this site was our window...having the window down to the counter (OK, not cooking-related, but a very important design element!) Our very first plan that our KD came up with had input from us...but a very naive/ignorant us! (Before GW...BGW!) Then....I found this site.....and the changes began. Actually, I posted that original plan and asked for help (and also asked my KD to start over w/no island) Many, many people here helped me come up with a plan over several weeks (months?). We finally came up with a plan that has changed little since then. Interestingly, when I took away the island "must have", my KD came up with a plan very similar to what we came up with here. The only 3 differences were (1) no mini peninsula, (2) a 36" pantry cabinet rather than a corner pantry, and (3) no separate Message Center cabinets. My KD wasn't completely happy w/our differences, but she, wisely I thought, told me to go home and mock up what I wanted to see how it would work (same advice I got here!) Well, the mock up was great! It proved that I did indeed want the mini peninsula (I liked it so much I left the mock up in place until demo and used it!) When I told her the results, she didn't argue, she accepted it telling me it's my kitchen, so ultimately it's up to me. So in the end, my design was/is based on what I wanted, not what the KD wanted. [If only someone else had measured my kitchen and she was given more authority, I think a lot of subsequent problems would have been avoided.] Our kitchen isn't done yet, but it's close...so I can't yet tell you how it is going to work for us...but we are so...

I actually don't find that many of the kitchens that extreme -- only the megastars like Dion, which I recall from a tv interview as being very massive and being filled with two puzzling barrier islands in the working kitchen behind the show kitchen. I think a few of them get used, at least occasionally, and not just by the personal chef. There were views of the NPH home (or former home) in an interview on Oprah's Next Chapter. It's linked below, with plenty of kitchen shots. Here is a link that might be useful: NHP and DB on ONC

I'll chime in here. I haven't been to this forum in years but started lurking when I wanted to put some granite in my breakfast room. My first reaction when I started looking at everyone's kitchens is--wow--I don't see this in California, even in expensive homes. There rarely is enough space, lots are way smaller but the upside is you can use your outdoor space year round. My daughter lived in the midwest while going to school, a nice house could be had there for $200-$300 that would go for 2 million here (unless you are Waaaay far from town in an undesirable area) and still would be on a smaller lot. For communities that are close to employment, homes tend to be older, smaller and on small lots. You would be shocked at the homes in the Beverly Hills/BH adjacent area. It's rare to get a starter for a million, usually the ones I've looked at for around a million you wouldn't put your dog in. The kitchens would make you cry.