Damaris Phillips has come a long way since she won season 9 of Food Network's "Food Network Star" in August 2013. She went from being a self-taught baker to sharing her love for food with the world on her show "Southern At Heart," which she calls her "dream job." The show premiered on the network just months after her win and it became an overnight hit.
After winning "Food Network Star" Phillips planned to pitch a show called "Eat, Date, Love" where she would teach men how to cook for the women in their lives, but once she realized that love is so much more than just romance, and that people really enjoyed and responded to her Southern charm, she expanded the show's themes.
"The idea of 'cooking for love' is still there," she explained to HNGN exclusively. "I always say that it's love, not just romance, because love will touch a lot of different things. It looks like the relationship with your friends, siblings or parents. But it also looks like the relationship with your partners. For me, love always means spending time with people. And whenever you spend time with people you're going to end up getting hungry at some point – so I bring food. I like to create events where people are going to make memories and that always starts and ends with food in my life."
Given the theme of the show – "cooking for love" – you'd think getting the man she loved to marry her would have been a cinch. In fact, she thought she'd be able to win him over with one of her typical "Man Catching Meals" – something like beef short ribs or what she calls the "ultimate burger," but there was one tiny catch.
"My husband is a vegetarian," she said, laughing. "So it has really pushed me as a chef. Just thinking about the food that I really relied on as my hunny-hunting foods, that looks different with a vegetarian. It's pretty exciting, though, to start to adapt and move forward with what recipes look like. I make a really mean veggie burger now. The ultimate veggie burger!"
Phillips is nothing if not a quick learner so all that adapting ultimately worked. She and Darrick Wood held a beautiful Southern wedding this past June.
When she's not cooking for her new husband or hosting "Southern At Heart," Phillips stays busy at the network with a variety of projects. Her most recent one was for a holiday special called "Christmas Cookie Challenge," that will air Saturday, November 28. The competition show is hosted by Jonathan Bennett, who she admits she fan-girled over a little because shes a "Hallmark movie fanatic" and he's starred in a bunch of the films. Phillips is a judge on the show alongside legendary bakers Duff Goldman and Sherry Yard – two people in the baking world that she really looks up to.
"They are wonderful," she said of her co-judges. "Duff has been fun to watch for years like he's always been an interesting person. He's entertaining and he's pretty cutting edge. And then Sherry is just a powerhouse. She is who everyone hopes to be and it's beautiful. The way that she bakes is just beautiful."
Phillips may love cooking up Southern foods, but baking also holds a special place in her heart. "There's a real art to it and there's a real science to it and there are definitely yes's and no's," she explained. "I think a lot of times people think it's all subjective, but the fun part is that its really not. There is a right texture for a short bread cookie and a right flavor for a gingerbread cookie. So it's really fun to know that but then also see how people make recipes their own or expand on it or have creative techniques that you've never seen."
Christmas is a special time for Phillips, so hosting a show like this was such a joy, she admits. "I love that Christmas lasts for so long," she explained. "And I love that everybody still believes that magic is going to happen. It's a chance to be reminded that being with people is the most important thing."
Phillips loves Christmas so much that she starts prepping in August. "I get a box and I start looking for perfect presents," she admitted. "And then around now, I start to get little cinnamon sticks and put them all over my house so it smells like cinnamon. Then I buy a bunch of candles and put up the tree and we have holiday wrapping parties, and I DVR all the Hallmark Christmas movies so when I'm cleaning I can watch them. I really really love everything about what happens at Christmas."
While being an incredible chef and baker definitely has it perks and comes in handy around the holidays, she says she is lucky she doesn't have to do all the cooking herself for the holidays. "I am part of a lovely family of wonderful, wonderful cooks," she said. "So the great part is that we all share in the burden. It's always a potluck and we are always trying to impress each other. Things get pretty elaborate and pretty impressive and pretty special. For Christmas morning, though, I love [to make] cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning are a must for me!"
Her family also has a very special way of gifting. "We make holiday baskets for our friends and extended family," she explained. "We all contribute to it so I always make spiced nuts and some flavored vinegars – something that will impress people and make their cooking a little bit exciting. It's pretty fun. Food is a great gift because everyone is going to use it. Food always fits."
Christmas can be an extra special time on the Food Network – as joyful in person as it looks on TV, Phillips explained. "The network is surprisingly positive," she said. "I didn't know going in to it. I didn't know that everybody was going to be so nice and that everyone's mission was to remind people that cooking and food and family really are important. So it's not an act for everybody. It's celebrating and helping people remember the reasons why the holidays felt so great as a kid. It can be very exciting."
