‘Entertaining’ Cooking Show Hosts

A trend I've noticed in the past few years is the increasing proliferation of entertainers as hosts of the Food and Cooking Channels cooking shows. They provide refreshing changes from professional chefs, which is understandable because they've previously been welcomed into our homes on a regular basis.

Here are the ones I've noticed so far:

Patricia Heaton (Patricia Heaton Parties, Food Channel): She's best known as Raymond Barone's (Ray Romano) wife, Debra, for 10 seasons on the Emmy-winning CBS sit-com, Everybody Loves Raymond. I've seen every episode. She currently stars as Frances "Frankie" Heck on the ABC sitcom, The Middle, which I don't watch. Verdict: A-

Tia Mowry (Tia Mowry at Home, Cooking Channel): Tia played teenager Tia Landry on the ABC/The WB sitcom, Sister, Sister. She's a vegan. I've never seen her acting work; her cooking show is pretty average. Verdict: C

Valerie Bertinelli (Valerie's Home Cooking, Food Network): Best known as Barbara Cooper Royer on the CBS sitcom, One Day at a Time, (watched this regularly), Gloria on the CBS drama series, Touched by an Angel, and Melanie Moretti on TV Land's sitcom, Hot in Cleveland. Verdict: A-

Trisha Yearwood (Emmy-winning Trisha's Southern Kitchen, Food Network): Tricia is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer whose signature song is "How Do I Live." She is married to country singer Garth Brooks. I watch her show, and especially like it when her sister Beth guest-cooks with her. Verdict: B+

Tiffani Theissen (Dinner at Tiffani's, Cooking Channel)): Tiffani currently stars as Elizabeth Burke on USA Network's White Collar. Young adults of the late-'80s and '90s will remember her as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's Saved by the Bell (1989-1993), and Valerie Malone on Fox's Beverly Hills, 90210 (1994-1998). I wasn't a great fan, but I did see quite a few episodes of each. Verdict: B-

Debi Mazar (Extra Virgin, Cooking Channel): Debi has a recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on HBO's Entourage. She's appeared in dozens and dozens of movies and television shows, usually playing a sharp-tongued "Jersey"-type woman. Her husband, Gabriele Corcos, co-hosts with her, preparing standard Italian dishes. She doesn't cook much on the show. Verdict: C+

Haylie Duff (Real Girl's Kitchen, Cooking Channel): A teen star, Haylie played Sandy Jameson on The WB's 7th Heaven. She has performed several times with her younger sister, Hilary, and has appeared in many television shows and features. I've watched a few of her cooking shows, but I'm not enamored of her. Verdict: C

Patti LaBelle (Patti LaBelle's Place, Cooking Channel): This multi-Emmy Award winning R&B singer is quite famous — most of us have at least heard of her. Rolling Stone put her on their list of "100 Greatest Singers." Unfortunately, I have never seen her cooking show. Verdict: Incomplete

I can't recall any male entertainers who host cooking shows.