Ashley informing the other guys that she's been pining away for Bentley.

I’ve had a few comments from Gluten Freedom Followers about the fact that I haven’t yet written about this season of The Bachelorette yet. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve matured and no longer watch such trash.  I can’t honestly tell you that.  Here’s why I’ve hesitated to write:

1)    Could there really be that many people (besides me) watching this season?

2)    I do write a food blog so I thought maybe I’d try to be a little more professional and not write as much about reality TV as I have in the past.

3)    Ashley annoys me…she annoys me so much, it’s hard to bring myself to write about her.

But, I can’t completely ignore the show because I am watching and continue to be amazed by the ridiculousness of yet another season of The Bachelorette. And since there wasn’t a new episode last night, I thought I’d give you some of my reflections on the season thus far. (Just because it’s a national holiday doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get two hours with Ashley and Chris Harrison but apparently ABC feels otherwise.)

Some thoughts on this season:

If I hear “dot, dot, dot” or “insecurities” one more time, my head might explode.  Even once Bentley gave Ashley the official “period,” she still kept uttering that absurdly open ended and meaningless phrase, “dot, dot, dot.”

The 1st time Bentley dumped Ashley.

Oh, Bentley, you are scum.  You make Ashley look pitiful and you actually make me feel sorry for her.  I hope your “Play Land” business in Utah is ruined.

Hong Kong: The 2nd time Bentley dumped Ashley. Period.

Way to go, guys, for being ticked off that Ashley was pining away for Bentley, a total loser from Salt Lake City, who even Michelle warned Ashley was bad news.  While you were rowing boats for her love in Hong Kong, Bentley just waltzed in and out of Ashley’s life as he pleased.  (And, wait for it, still dumped her.)  Yes, boys, you should feel like sloppy seconds.

Don't work this hard for Ashley's love, boys.

What is up with the fashion on this season?  Ashley has managed to wear more combinations of drapey shirts and tight pants than I ever thought imaginable.  Whoever is the stylist this season is really into outfitting the guys in shirts with weird lapel thingys on the shoulders (sort of military looking).  Does anyone have a name for these?  Is this some trend that I’m completely missing? (See photo of Ames for an example of what I’m poorly trying to describe.)

Dear Ames, you are a sweetie.  We like you, Ames, but we’re concerned that you live in a bit of a dream world.  (On a whim you just decided to go to Thailand for cooking school?)  Also, you seem to be an odd combination of Frankenstein and an Oompa Loompa, yet cute.

Ames: Check out the shoulders...what do you call those?

Chris Harrison seems really annoyed by Ashley.  (As am I.)  Her high maintenance neediness is too much for this ABC host.  He clearly thought the whole Bentley obsession was over the top.  Chris attempted to counsel her that “he’s just not that into you” but Ashley wouldn’t accept it.

Is it just me or do Ben C. and Constantine look identical?

J.P., are you too good to be true?  We think you’re super cute and you actually seem to like Ashley.  You could be the ultimate winner but I don’t know if your life is sexy enough for Ashley.  I do have plenty of single women I’d like you to meet if it doesn’t work out with Ashley.

Early Favorite, JP

Who is going to make a return appearance in next week’s episode?  My money is on Mickey.  I don’t think Bentley will come back again.  I hope not!  Please, ABC, spare us.

For the five of you out there that are watching this season, who do you think is going to win Ashley’s heart?  Is it possible for her to move on from Bentley?  Are you ask skeptical as me Ashley’s sense of judgment?  Do you think there will be an engagement at the end or will Ashley’s insecurities get the best of her?

Will the relationship end destructively like Brad and Emily?  (Odds are likely.)

Look on the bright side though…at least we have Bachelor Pad starting August 8^th.  This season’s cast includes Jake, Vienna and “guard and protect my heart” Kasey (who now dates Vienna).  Let the train wreck continue.  Thank you, ABC.

I tried to fight the urge but I couldn’t…

This time next week we will have met the 25 dudes that are vying for Ashley Hebert’s (Brad Womack’s reject) love in the fifteenth season of Bachelor/Bachelorette.  I’ve got to admit, I’m not as giddy as I normally am about Monday night’s premier, but I’m not a quitter, so I’ll give it a try.  Ashley annoyed me last season and it really irks me that ABC describes her as a dentist, even though she’s yet to finish dental school.  (It’s as if I’ve convinced myself that The Bachelor is a really honest program and Ashley’s profession is the one aspect of the show that’s a lie.)

Ashley, do blonds or brunettes really have more fun?

I do find that 25 bachelors can be a bit refreshing after 25 crying, shrieking, annoying bachelorettes.  Let’s just hope that none of these bachelors are trying to “guard and protect their hearts.”  And I’m SURE they’re all on the show for the right reasons.  Go to The Bachelorette page on ABC’s website, to start placing your bets and picking favorites.  It looks like these boys are all much closer to Ashley’s age than Brad.  And ABC still gives you their tattoo count.  (Come on, ABC, give us something a little more creative.  Tattoo count is like so season 10!)

Some easily answerable questions to get you ready for the premier:

• Will Monday night give us the most dramatic rose ceremony ever?  Probably not, but ABC will do its best to convince us otherwise.
• Will Chris Harrison continue his upward trend of getting more and more personality each season and sharing his snarky comments with us, the viewers?  I sure hope so!
• Will Ashley cry at least once an episode?  Most likely.
• Will at least one of the bachelors have a fledgling music career?  Almost definitely.
• Will it be revealed that one of the dreamiest guys has an old flame at home who he still has a texting relationship with? I’d be willing to place bets.
• Will I be watching the premier on Monday, May 23?  Chris Harrison, you had me at hello.

Please don't cry Ashley. It's not like you're actually going to end up with any of these guys.

Who are your early favorites for Ashley?  Any clear duds after reading the Bachelor bios?

And, just to get you in the mood:

Bachelor Nick

From Nick’s Bio (age 26, personal trainer/former Yankees player):  What is a typical Saturday night like for you? A pair of tight jeans, cowboy boots, country music, good friends, and line dancin’!

I would like to follow up with this question: Nick, does your typical Saturday night involve you in the hip huggers or a female sporting the tight jeans?  It’s a little unclear.

Bachelor West

From West (age 30, lawyer from South Carolina).  Yes, there’s another dude named West on the show.  It went so well with the first one:

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you bring with you and why? A boat? Why does no one ever say boat or a radio transmitter? Okay, I’d bring a lifetime supply of pizza, Mila Kunis, and a volleyball. Mila and I could play volleyball and if something ever happened to her I could name the volleyball Wilson and talk to it.

Really good way to pick up chicks, West.  Talk about how you want to be stranded on a desert island with one of the hottest girls in show business who happened to have a hot and heavy girl-on-girl scene with Natalie Portman, the next hottest girl in Hollywood.  That’s your sure ticket to get a rose, West.

PS: Does anyone know what’s going on with Brad and Emily?

David and I love watching sports.  All kinds of sports.  A good weekend involves some type of athletic competition and at least one “S.I.N.” (a “sports induced nap”).  I prefer college basketball; David would probably say his favorite is college football.  We have an ongoing debate in our family as to what the greatest month of sports is.  You know, the best combination of athletic events found in a one month period.  David’s favorite month of sports is April because you have the NCAA Final Four Tournament, the Masters, NBA playoffs, and the start of baseball.  I tend to go with January because you gt the tail end of the college bowl games, NFL playoffs, and you can find college basketball on your TV almost every night.  (And really, I just want lots of college basketball…March is a close 2^nd for me.)

The summer months tend to be a bit of a drag for me in the wide world of sports.  I really could care less about the NHL and baseball is such a long season.  Fortunately, Strasburg is now pitching for the Nationals and the World Cup will make this summer much more exciting.  In fact last Sunday I felt like it was football season again as I watched Germany handed it to Australia on my friend Chris’s flat screen, while David took a “S.I.N.” on the couch.  (Remember, we don’t have a TV this year so we mooch off of our friends.)  Weekends revolving around sports are the best.

Since Wilbon and Tony don’t have a ton to talk about on “PTI” in June, besides the ever-changing Big 10, my media focus moves to the reality TV genre.  I’ve decided that while January is the best sports month, June wins the award for the best month of reality TV in 2010.  Why?  Good question.

“The Bachelorette” is in full swing and Ali is finally down to just 10 men so I can actually tell the difference between each of them.  There’s not a whole lot of diversity in the group on first glance so you have to get to know them.  I now have my favorites and my least favorites.  I’ve chosen my predictions for Final 3: Chris L., Roberto and Frank.  You clearly know at this point who is crazy (can we say Kasey with a “K”?) but it’s not too far into the season that Ali has finally convinced the producers to get rid of the whackos.  (Well, the weatherman did leave this week.  It was time.)

I Heart Roberto.

“The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat II” aired its final episodes this month.  For those of you that didn’t watch (and I’m sure that includes most of you), the exiles were insane and the final challenge involved climbing a mountain with ice picks.  Lots of whining and F-bombs were also present in the final episode.  Not as much drama as usual though.

The final reason why June marks the greatest month for reality TV this year is the premier of “Top Chef: DC.”  Premiering tonight, I’m eager to see where they filmed, what they’re doing, and who are the next big stars in the culinary world.

What are your thoughts on the reality TV world?  Is it a dying genre or do people like me keep it in business?  Am I the only one still watching?

I have a little obsession with “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”  I think it’s because in college we made a big deal about “Bachelor” nights and viewed it religiously, season after season.  Watching episodes of this program was always ‘an event’ for us and of course, that’s what you do in college: use anything, even a TV show, to have an event.

As I’m getting older, I find myself holding onto things that make me feel like I’m still in college and this nostalgia for my youth tends to manifest itself in the form of television shows that I like to watch.  While sadly the “OC” ended a long time ago, fortunately for me, MTV keeps airing new seasons of “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” and ABC continues to set single folks up on “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”  Yes, it’s shameful, I know.  (I must admit, I’ve given up on “The Real World” as its trashiness factor is too high, even for me, but how can I resist T.J. Lavin’s awkwardness and my washed up old favorites, like Paula and Wes on ‘The Challenge?’)

Ali: The next 'bachelorette'

Can these shows be defined as quality television?  Absolutely not.  Do I identify with the people? No.  Is there anything valuable to learn?  Not unless you count “don’t ever go on a reality TV show” as a lesson.

But I continue to watch them.  I still enjoy making an event of watching “The Bachelor,” even in my old age.  When we lived in Virginia, we watched each week with my brother and his wife, Rob and Alden,  but now they live in Japan, I’m in Georgia, and I don’t own a TV.  Thankfully, I’ve been fortunate enough to find a group of friends that also enjoys spending two hours on a Monday night watching what my mom refers to as ‘trash TV.’  I moved here in the fall just in time to watch last season’s ‘Bachelor’ starring Jake.  Those of you that watched (and I don’t think there are that many of us) will probably agree that it was terrible.  Jake lacked personality and can really only be described as a goober.  Also, minimal drama always leads to disappointment.  I could have told the show’s producers that Jake would be a less-than-mediocre bachelor after his super-cheesy, and even pathetic, role on Gillian’s season on ‘The Bachelorette’ but no one asked my opinion.  Even Vienna couldn’t save the season.

But I don’t let one season get me down.  I’ll be there, ready for the premiere this Monday night.  (It won’t be nearly as awesome/wonderful/amazing as the ‘Lost’ finale the night before, but more on that later.)  Since the producers of “The Bachelor” have adopted the trend of using a reject from a previous season for future seasons, next week Ali will be the new bachelorette.  Now Ali isn’t technically a reject since she chose to leave Jake’s season because of her job, even though she said, “I’m smitten with the boy.”  (Lame!)  Now Ali’s back and I guess her boss gave her the ok this time.

In honor of next week’s premiere of the new ‘Bachelorette,’ David and I hosted our viewing group for dinner this week.  We thought it would be fun to cook dinner and go through each of the 25 men that we’ll meet next week on the premiere.  Why not give even more time to the show than I already do?  You can go to ABC’s website to check out the bachelors yourself.  A word of warning: this group of men includes very little ethnic diversity, unless you count Canada.  Of course we thoroughly enjoyed analyzing each contestant and reading the comments that others had posted.

So now to the food…For our dinner party, I enlisted David to make one of my favorite grill meals: Grilled Salmon from Martha Stewart’s Cooking School. I hesitate to order salmon in a restaurant now because this version of salmon is so good and David cooks it perfectly.  It’s so simple, fresh and beautiful.  I love the presentation.  An added bonus of this dish: We share a communal grill with all of the residents in our apartment building so the bed of oranges and lemons keeps the salmon safe from gluten contamination from the grill.  Perfect for a warm summer night and great for entertaining.

Grilled Side of Salmon (Serves 8 easily)

Ingredients:

• Sunflower oil or other neutral-tasting oil
• 4 lemons, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
• 2 oranges, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
• 1 small bunch of basil
• 1 bunch of oregano (use whatever herbs are in season…lemon thyme would be great too)
• 2 piece wild salmon, (2 ½ – 3 lbs.)

Heat the grill to medium.  Once it’s hot, scrub with grill brush and lightly sweep with olive oil.

Arrange the lemons and orange slices on the grate, then add the the basil and oregano, making a bed for the fish.  Lay the salmon skin side down on the herbs and season with salt and pepper.  Cook salmon 20 to 30 minutes.

Use two large spatulas to transfer the salmon and bed of fruit and herbs to a large platter.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  (I prefer my salmon hot.)

As a side dish, I served quinoa with sweet onions and roasted carrots.  I used regular quinoa and red quinoa, as well as both orange and red carrots.  Mary Stuart and Victoria made a delicious salad with greens, blueberries, beets, and even beet greens.

And of course, blondies for dessert.

So think of me next Monday night as I spend two hours watching Ali meet Chris H., Chris L., Chris N. (yes, there are three Chrises, not including host, Chris Harrison) and the 22 other bachelors.  There’s sure to be a plethora of cheesy lines, awkward moments, and maybe the most dramatic rose ceremony ever.  I’ll be loving every minute of it.