TVSquad

The normal icy stigma against appearing on TV for film stars has been thawing as of late. Damages has Glenn Close, Saving Grace has Holly Hunter and now PBS has Gwyneth Paltrow.

Paltrow, the star of Shakespeare in Love and the upcoming Iron Man movie, will be traveling to Europe this fall for a new cooking show exploring the usually overlooked world of Spanish cuisine.

Inspired by this article, I decided to make a list of my top five favorite Food Network shows. None of that silly Top Chef or Celebrity Cooking Showdown nonsense. Just straight-up Food Network.

1) 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray: Okay okay, Rachael Ray is incredibly annoying. Her voice is always raspy, she always finds a reason to giggle, she constantly says "Yum-O!", and she firmly believes that "EVOO" takes less time to say than "extra-virgin olive oil". But, I've got to admit... those Cordon Bleu burgers were pretty damn good. Really, I have tried out several of her recipes without any problems, taste-wise or time-wise (always under 30 minutes!). Granted, I don't sample all of her recipes, but the ones that I've made so far have been fantastic. Once I got over her excessive enthusiasm and too-bubbly personality and gave the actual food a try, I was able to enjoy the show a lot more. Maybe you anti-Rachael people should give her recipes a go instead of just complaining about her oddly-shaped body (eh, I'm not gonna lie... It didn't make a great FHM spread, even after the extreme airbrushing).