Meet Gracie Rutledge.
The Florida resident and aspiring actress is an unabashed fan of television. Though she enjoys following Tumblr blogs related to some of her favorite shows like Parks and Recreation and The Office, there were few blogs that covered another of Rutledge’s TV loves: the Food Network.
So she decided to start one herself.
After playing with the format, Rutledge came up with the idea for Food Network Confessions, where followers can submit anonymous secrets about their feelings towards Food Network shows and chefs.
Each of the hundreds of posts on the blog takes just a few minutes for Rutledge to put together, as the 19-year-old foodie marries a confession with an image of the chef or show. Those confessions range from the hilarious to the heartfelt, as strangers whip up their thoughts about Giada De Laurentiis, Iron Chef, and much more.
Speaking with the Daily Dot, Rutledge revealed that two of her favorite posts to date are one noting Sandra Lee as an inspirational figure (“Sandra Lee gives me hope that you can be successful by doing a half-ass job at everything and getting drunk all the time”) and another complaining about Ina Garten’s heavy breathing on Barefoot Contessa.
The blog has proven successful over the last few months; it’s snapped up around 1,800 followers. Though most of the reaction to Food Network Confessions on both Tumblr and Twitter has been positive, there have been a few negative comments as well.
“Occasionally, I’ll get people telling me it sucks or criticizing me for making fun of their favorite chef,” Rutledge told us. “Not everyone understands that these confessions come from other people, not myself.”
A number of Food Network stars have conversed with Rutledge on Twitter or retweeted her, including Robert Irvine, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Chuck Hughes. Current The Next Food Network Star contestant Justin Warner follows the Food Network Confessions account on Twitter (since then, he’s been one of the few Food Network personalities to receive nothing but love from those submitting to the blog).
Rutledge counts Alton Brown, Anne Burrell, and Masaharu Morimoto among her favorite Food Network chefs, while she particularly enjoys the shows Chopped, Restaurant Impossible, and Cupcake Wars.
Though the focus of the blog is on the confessions of others, Rutledge has a couple of her own. She wishes that the Cupcake Wars judges would wait for the contestants to leave before discussing their culinary creations and making decisions.
When it comes to individual chefs though, Rutledge was a little more blunt: “I cannot stand Ellie Krieger, I think she’s the most annoying person on the network.”
Photo by Gracie Rutledge
