We all know that we learn best from our mistakes. No reason you can’t learn something from other people’s mistakes, too. On “Worst Cooks in America,” the Food Network’s new show featuring a few skill-challenged recruits, you are invited to do just that. The self-proclaimed klutzes are there to get better at making crêpes and pasta – yes, from scratch – and to potentially win the Most Improved Player grand prize. How often do you make fresh pasta or crêpes or win a cool $25,000? All right then. The jury is still out, but it may be that this kind of anti-aspirational convention teaches us more than the scores of flawlessly executed ones we’ve been watching for years. And if you don’t know the first thing about using your stove, it may make you feel like giving it a go.

Like Rosalind Russell said, “Flops are a part of life’s menu and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.”

Don't cry over scorched milk!

As I was interviewing people and watching TV shows for WWWE, I tried to figure out why all these professional/celebrity cooks are so interested in having us all cook at home. I mean, the exhortations can be brutal at times, can’t they? Why do they care so much? It makes sense that they love sharing their passion, and of course, I suppose, what would be the point of most  cooking shows if they weren’t inspiring us to cook? I came up with what I thought was an acceptable answer (see last chapter of the book), but I admit that the question still nags at me at times and most answers leave me wanting. One of the better set of responses I’ve seen so far is from Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, creators of the “crowd-sourced” cookbook project, food52. If you go to this page from their site and skip down to the list after “Because:” you’ll see what I mean. And see if you agree with me. If you want to start a conversation on this or any other food/TV topic, I exhort you to become a fan of WWWE on Facebook and post your mind.

Why is Mario always bossing me?