While on Vaca with my wifes family in The Outer Banks I have the unique experience of witnessing the “best cooking show ever”. This week-long extravaganza of beach, many beers, sibling rivalries put to the test in contests of wit, cards, drinking cooking, and eating. “its like food camp” says one cousin says after couple of bloodymary’s. 40 to 50 family members descend on the outer banks every year as the kick off to summer, the ages range from 4 to 74 and every one has a good time, in the 4 to 5 houses that we rent for the week. There are the pool days , the beach days, the golf days, the (young) cousins outing and “the” party. The party changes every year but is always a celebration of an anniversary or milestone in one of the families’ lives. (IE Aunt Jans birthday is a 1960’s themed party complete with tie-dye shirts by the kids, a vodka jello mold and decor of the era.)

One of best things of the week is the fact that every one in our house takes a meal to prepare. This is the advent of what I believe could be the best cooking show ever. I mean , just imagine three sisters, their Italian mother and danish father prepping for the next days meal at 11 o’clock at night – half in the bag after a day of drinking. Sharing (read yelling) the importance of hash browns with brunch and the merits for their personal parenting techniques and weighing in on the latest crop of new boyfriends making a mark on the family and the memories of some now ex-family-members being a better fit for the family. This “cooking” show has more drama intrigue than any reality show could capture and more laughs than a Thursday night comedy and more instruction on life and cooking than anything on TLC.

next year we bring the HD discovery production crew.