I feel terrible for those foodies in the New York Tri-State region who have had the Food Network removed from their cable line up. So here is a survival guide for you to get by while the negotiations are going on.  The good thing is there are a lot of foodie shows on other networks.  Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern are there for you on the Travel Channel.  Luckily if you are in for the long haul, Bourdain’s new season starts on January 11^th. PBS often has cooking shows on as well, typically on Saturday mornings.  If you are into grilling, Primal Grill is a great show featuring Steve Raichlen.  The guy grills anything and everything! Martin Yan and Ming Tsai are often on PBS with great Asian cuisine as well.  Avec Eric featuring Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert is also on PBS and has fascinating recipes.  BBC America features Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey.  This is a far better show then Hell’s Kitchen. I prefer to watch the original British version; however Gordon has a new series fixing up restaurants in the US.  Bravo currently is running a show called Chef Academy and there are always any re-runs of Top Chef that you may find.  If you get really hard up, you can always DVR the Today show or Rachel Ray to see some of your favorite chefs. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to watch Martha Stewart. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone!  

    If there is still nothing on, turn to the web.  There are tons of foodie blogs out there just like this one filled with great pictures and recipes.  You can use these as a base to create your own food at home.  That’s better then watching someone else do it any day. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and find your inner foodie.  Cook up a storm! If you do not feel like cooking, go out and find your own drivers, dine-ins, and dives. You will be glad you did. You might even have a surreal foodie experience that could not be obtained by merely watching the Food Network. After all, smell-a-vision has not been invented yet. You might even forget about the Food Network, if but for a moment.  Ok I know. You can’t forget.  You are currently in the middle of a nervous breakdown crying over your copy of Giada’s Everday Italian cookbook, still furious that the Super Bowl of Iron Chef Challenges passed you by. It’s going to be ok. The Food Network will return.  I know I speak rationally, because I still have the Food Network.  If I lived in New York, I would be beating down the door of Chelsea Market by now until they gave me my network back.  Anyhow, that is not the answer. Use this as an opportunity to put down the television for a moment and find your inner foodie again.  Hopefully, the Food Network will be back by the time you can dry the tears from your cookbook and scream Giada De Laurentiis!