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Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag

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Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag
Title card of programme.
GenreInfotainment, Cooking show
Created by
Developed by
  • Anna Wallner
  • Kristina Matisic
Directed by
  • Nicholas Treeshin
  • Erin Redden
  • Jennifer Little
  • Michael Margolis
  • Jordan Kawchuk
Creative directorLionel Goddard
Presented by
  • Anna Wallner
  • Kristina Matisic
Theme music composerGraeme Coleman
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4[1]
No. of episodes78 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Anna Wallner
  • Kristina Matisic
Producers
  • Joyce Sawa
  • Heather Hawthorn-Doyle
Production locationsVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CinematographyCarl Alcock
Editors
  • Robert Lawrenson
  • Erin Parks
  • Jennifer Lee
  • Michael Ellis
  • Jessica McKee
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Production companiesWorldwide Bag Media, Inc.
Original release
Network
ReleaseSeptember 3, 2008 (2008-09-03) –
November 27, 2012 (2012-11-27)

Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag was a Canadian television series that aired on the W Network and OWN Network in Canada, as well as 13 other countries around the world.[2] Similar to the series The Shopping Bags, produced and hosted by Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic, this series focuses on the kitchen, putting cookbooks, kitchen products, and cooking ingredients to the test.

Synopsis

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Each episodes focuses on hosts Wallner and Matisic testing one cookbook. They make several recipes, usually consisting a full meal from appetizer to dessert (except for speciality cookbooks such as a dessert cookbook) for a special guest chef (and occasionally, non-chefs) while explicitly following the book's recipes & instructions. The meal is prepared within a strict time limit which ends when the guest chef arrives on set, and is determined by the preparation/cooking time listed in the cookbook. At the end of the program, each host will declare the book a "Buy" or a "Pass" depending on whether they feel the book has delivered in its promise and purpose based both on the cook day experience and their individual pre-testing of the cookbook. If both hosts give the book a "Buy", the cookbook will earn the "A&K Stamp of Approval".

Throughout each episode, Wallner & Matisic also perform product testings of several kitchen gadgets and/or food items to provide a side-by-side comparison between different brands, make or variety, similar to how they tested products on their previous show, The Shopping Bags. These product tests usually pertain to ingredients or tools they are using in that episode. In addition, the episodes are intertwined with interviews with the guest chefs, who share their cooking tips and tricks.

Episodes & testing results

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Main article: List of Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag episodes

Series overview

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Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 13 September 3, 2008 November 26, 2008
2 26 January 7, 2009 October 21, 2009
3 26 September 22, 2010 April 20, 2011
4[3] 13 September 4, 2012 November 27, 2012

List of books with Stamp of Approval

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Below is a complete list of cookbooks that have received the Official "A&K Stamp of Approval" by having both Wallner and Matisic give the book a Buy rating at the end of the episode.

Season Book title Book author(s) Cuisine type or Genre
1 Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 Julia Child, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle French cuisine
1 Cooking with Jamie Jamie Oliver Fresh & Organic cooking
1 Mangoes and Curry Leaves Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid Indian cuisine
1 How to Grill Steven Raichlen Grilling, Barbecue
1 Everyday Italian Giada De Laurentiis Italian cuisine
2 Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Marcella Hazan Italian cuisine
2 The French Laundry Cookbook Thomas Keller, Deborah Jones French cuisine
2 Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen Rick Bayless Mexican cuisine
2 Deceptively Delicious Jessica Seinfeld Kid-friendly dishes
2 The Oprah Magazine Cookbook O: The Oprah Magazine editors General cooking
2 The Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker General cooking
2 Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes Jennifer McLagan Cooking with Fat
2 The Cake Bible Rose Levy Beranbaum Baking, Cakes, Cake decorating
2 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics Ina Garten General cooking
2 The Flexitarian Table Peter Berley Flexitarianism, Vegetarian cuisine
2 Gourmet Magazine Gourmet Magazine editors Magazine, General cooking
2 Chef Daniel Boulud: Cooking in New York City Daniel Boulud French cuisine
3 Lucinda's Authentic Jamaican Kitchen Lucinda Scala Quinn Jamaican cuisine
3 Bon Appétit, Y'all Virginia Willis Southern US cuisine
3 Gordon Ramsay's Family Fare Gordon Ramsay General cooking
3 The Pleasures of Cooking for One Judith Jones Cooking for one person
3 Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook Bobby Flay Southwestern US cuisine
3 The River Cottage Meat Book Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Cooking with meat
3 Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking Michael Ruhlman Ingredient ratios in cooking
3 A16: Food + Wine Nate Appleman, Shelley Lindgren Italian cuisine, Neapolitan cuisine
3 Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook Mark Robinson Japanese cuisine, Izakaya food
3 Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook Anthony Bourdain French Bistro food
3 Canyon Ranch: Nourish Scott Uehlein, Staff of Canyon Ranch Healthy eating, Spa food
3 My Father's Daughter Gwyneth Paltrow Healthy eating, General cooking
4 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know Cindi Leive General cooking
4 Absolutely Chocolate Fine Cooking Magazine editors Desserts, Dishes with chocolate
4 The Babbo Cookbook Mario Batali Italian cuisine
4 Mourad, New Moroccan Mourad Lahlou Moroccan cuisine
4 The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria Ferran Adrià General cooking
4 Whitewater Cooks with Friends Shelley Adams General cooking, Al fresco dining

"Three Sisters Around the Greek Table" episode

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After the airing of the season 3 episode "Three Sisters Around the Greek Table" on November 10, 2010, where the book received a "Split Decision" rating with a "Buy" vote from Matisic and a "Pass" vote from Wallner, the authors of the cookbook, Betty, Eleni, and Samantha Bakopoulos posted a blog entry entitled Don't believe everything you see on T.V. – A&K stamp of what???, voicing their opinions on the results of the show.[4] In the entry, they claim that their cookbook was misrepresented by Wallner & Matisic due to the two's lack of cooking knowledge, expertise, and precision as several mistakes happened during the course of the program. They also questioned the show's handling of the cooking time limit and the actual legitimacy of the "A&K Stamp of Approval". They ultimately called the episode sensationalized for the amusement of television audiences while giving their cookbook a negative image through the omissions and errors in cooking.

On November 14, 2010, Wallner & Matisic posted a note on the show's Facebook page entitled Open Letter to the Bakopoulos Sisters (Three Sisters Around The Greek Table) explaining their reasoning behind giving the cookbook the Split Decision result which included reviews from the show's testing group panelists.[5] The note explained that the results were based on months of cookbook testing by multiple panelists as well as the cook day results. It also mentioned that the cooking mistakes on the show, while included for entertainment value, did not ultimately reflect on the judging of the cookbook itself. The omitted cooking steps were edited out post-production due to time restrictions, but not missed during the cooking process. Wallner & Matisic noted that they posted the open letter on their Facebook page because they could not successfully post the comment on the blog entry by the cookbook authors.

The Bakopoulos sisters have since removed the original blog entry from their website.

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Notes
2009 Gemini Awards[6] Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series Anna Wallner, Kristina Matisic Nominated For the episode Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Leo Awards[7] Best Information or Lifestyle Series Season 1 Nominated
Best Host(s) in an Information or Lifestyle Series Anna Wallner, Kristina Matisic Nominated For the episode Mangoes & Curry Leaves
Best Direction in an Information or Lifestyle Series Michael Margolis Nominated
Best Cinematography in an Information or Lifestyle Series Carl Alcock Nominated
Best Cinematography in an Information or Lifestyle Series Nominated For the episode Mastering the Art of French Cooking
2010 Gemini Awards[8] Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series Anna Wallner, Kristina Matisic Nominated For the episode Cowboy in the Kitchen
Leo Awards[9] Best Information or Lifestyle Series Season 2 Nominated
Best Host(s) in an Information or Lifestyle Series Anna Wallner, Kristina Matisic Won For the episode Cowboy in the Kitchen
Best Direction in an Information or Lifestyle Series Jennifer Little Won For the episode Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Best Cinematography in an Information or Lifestyle Series Carl Alcock Won
2011 Gemini Awards[10] Best Lifestyle/Practical Information Series Season 3 Nominated
Best Direction in a Lifestyle/Practical Information Program or Series Jordan Kawchuk, Erin Redden Nominated For the episode Best British Dishes
Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series Anna Wallner, Kristina Matisic Nominated

Production and distribution

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The show began broadcasting in 2008, and is filmed and produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by Worldwide Bag Media Inc., and is distributed by Picture Box Distribution. The series premiere episode, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was nominated for a 2009 Gemini Award in the category for "Best Host in a Lifestyle/Practical Information, or Performing Arts Program or Series".[11]

In 2010, Picture Box Distribution announced that it had reached a deal with OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network which picked up the first three seasons, marking the show's debut in the United States.

Season 4 started filming in April 2012 and premiered on September 4, 2012. It was announced that show will shift from the W Network to its sister channel, Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada) starting this season.[1] However, a deal has yet to be reached for the American broadcast of season 4.

International Syndication

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International syndication[12]
Country / Region Name Television Network Dubbing / Subtitles
 Canada (Quebec) Anna & Kristina : recettes à l'essai
(English: Anna & Kristina: Test Recipes) 		Zeste French dubbing
 Finland Annan ja Kristinan koekeittiö
(English: Anna & Kristina's Test Kitchen) 		MTV3 Finnish dubbing
 Hong Kong Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Li TV English
 Hungary A jó szakácskönyv receptje
(English: A Good Cookbook Recipe) 		TV Paprika Hungarian dubbing
 Indonesia Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Li TV English
 Israel Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Ananey - Israeli Food Channel English
 Italy Beep Omnimedia
 Malaysia Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Li TV English
 Poland Canal+ Poland Polish subtitles
 Singapore Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Li TV English
United States Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network English
 Vietnam Cẩm nang nội trợ
(English: Guide of Housewives) 		K+PC Vietnamese dubbing

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Bag Blog - Back in the Saddle Archived 2012-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Annaandkristina.com Blog Entry dated February 28, 2012. Retrieved on February 28, 2012.
  2. ^ "C21Media | Home to the International Entertainment Community".
  3. ^ Bag Blog – Back in the Saddle Archived 2012-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Annaandkristina.com Blog Entry dated February 28, 2012. Retrieved on February 28, 2012.
  4. ^ Don’t believe everything you see on T.V. – A&K stamp of what??? - 3 Greek Sisters[permanent dead link] Blog entry dated November 12, 2011.
  5. ^ Open Letter to the Bakopoulos Sisters (Three Sisters Around The Greek Table) Note dated November 14, 2010.
  6. ^ 24th Annual Gemini Awards Nominees list Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-08-03
  7. ^ 2009 Leo Awards Nominees list Archived 2011-02-01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-08-03
  8. ^ 25th Annual Gemini Awards Nominees list Archived 2011-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2010-11-14
  9. ^ 2010 Leo Awards Nominees list Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-08-03
  10. ^ 2011 Gemini Awards Nominees list Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-08-03
  11. ^ "A&K; in the News | Anna Wallner & Kristina Matisic: Official Website". Archived from the original on 2013-08-09. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  12. ^ "Buyers Peek Into Picture Box's Grocery Bag". Picture Box Distribution Inc. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
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