Cheer for the twin mom on The Next Food Network Star

Photo: The Food Network

Parents of multiples have to stick together, right?  So that's why you need to go watch The Next Food Network Star Sunday night at 8 PM CST. 

 

The show is pretty much what the title says it is.  It's a cooking reality show and the grand prize is your own show on the Food Network.  The reason you should watch.... one of the remaining three contestants, Melissa d'Arabian, is a mother of twins.

 

Melissa hails from Texas these days, and she's a mother of 4 girls ranging from the oldest at 4 years old to 18 month old twins.  Her trademark so far on the show is a high energy personality and presentation style.  So high energy that the judges (Food Network star Bobby Flay, and two network executives) have been counseling her to take it down a notch, which is a new thing because the judges are infamous for pushing for a more high energy performance.  You kind of have to wonder where a mom of twins, much less twins plus two gets that kind of energy.  She must be channeling all the energy normally used to get through the day with 4 little ones into the competition instead.  Makes you wonder what her husband went through while she was filming the show.

 

Melissa is an underdog of sorts because she's one of the few contestants without professional experience as a chef, resteraunteur, or caterer.  Though feeding a family of six and coping with the picky culinary tastes of 4 toddlers seems to be working just as well for her since she's made it from a field of ten to become one of the last three.  She has been using her mommy tricks to good advantage during the competition and seems to pride herself on tweaking traditional family food to make it a bit more exotic.  One challenge involved food for children, and while she didn't win the challenge she did bust out some techniques for getting children to eat brussel sprouts that impressed the judges.  She also did well (but didn't win) in a challenge that involved grocery shopping for a large dinner party on a budget.  Come to think of it, she has only won one challenge, but she consistently seems to be in the top finishers

 

Melissa herself is 40, and she has been a mom for only 4 years so she's been other things a lot longer than she has been a mother.  Her online bio mentions culinary experiences in Italy and Turkey, and she spent an extended period of time in France where she met her husband so she isn't quite what most people consider to be the stereotypical middle class stay at home mom.  Of course, those experiences are what make her interesting to watch.  If she wins her way through to the end her new show will probably be on at our house from time to time.

 

So go watch the show and cheer on the twin mom.  Or at least drop by her Facebook page and send some luck.

 

Edited to add:  Apparently Melissa just moved to the Seattle area and is hosting a viewing party for this weeks episode.