CLAVERACK–A new TV cooking show called “Farmhouse Rules,” hosted by local resident Nancy Fuller (a.k.a. Nancy Ginsberg), premieres on Food Network Sunday, November 17 at 11:30 a.m.
“Farmhouse Rules” brings viewers into Ms. Fuller’s kitchen and the local farming community that supplies it. She said in a brief interview last week that the series of six episodes were produced “primarily in my kitchen and my home,” a centuries-old Claverack farm. Ms. Fuller, who grew up on a dairy farm and still owns a dairy farm in Copake, has 6 children, 13 grandchildren.
She and her husband, David Ginsberg, own Ginsberg’s, a multi-million dollar food service distribution business headquartered on Route 66. It’s the largest business of its kind in the Hudson Valley, Mr. Ginsberg said.
The press release from the network announcing the series said that it will show Ms. Fuller as “she gathers the best the land has to offer and feeds her friends and family classic, farm fresh meals.”
Ms. Fuller said her approach to meal preparation is straightforward, “I’m a pretty rustic cook–it’s chop, chop, put it in the pot.” As for the TV series, she said, “The premise for the show is simplicity and comfort food.”
That, and some advice on topics like manners and etiquette. She said she doesn’t give in to children’s requests for something to eat different from what’s set on the table. On a farm, she said, there is “no time for extra meals.”
But she said the main thrust of the show is “educating people not preaching to them.”
Ms. Fuller ended up with her own mini-series–and the prospect of additional episodes if the first ones catch on–after she unexpectedly met someone from the network. A press contact for the network put it this way: “We’re looking for personality.”
Ms. Fuller said that in addition to cooking, the show will include sequences about selecting food and where the food comes from. “The irony is I really don’t watch television,” she said.
The Food Network is a basic cable channel available to many cable and satellite service viewers. The shows will be repeated Mondays at 5:30 p.m. The website for the Food Network is www.foodnetwork.com, which offers the network’s programs online.
