TAKE TWO HILARIOUS SISTERS, ADD THRIVING JERSEY SHORE COOKIE BUSINESS, MIX WITH BOISTEROUS FAMILY EMPLOYEES...

FOOD NETWORK CELEBRATES SUMMER WITH NEW SERIES "TOUGH COOKIES" (WT), PREMIERING MONDAY, JULY 11TH AT 10PM ET/PT

NEW YORK, - June 9, 2011 - Food Network heads down the shore this summer for the new series Tough Cookies (WT), following sisters Susan Adair and Linda Blank and their loving, squabbling, multi-generational family as they run Crazy Susan's Cookie Company in Ocean City, NJ. Crazy Susan's isn't your average bakery - Susan is a mad genius, cooking up crazy new concoctions every day, and their cookies are as popular as the beach in this town. They have their hands full with lines out the door and phones that never stop ringing - all while baking and managing their employees, who are mostly family members. Tough Cookies premieres Monday, July 11th at 10pm ET/PT, with new 30-minute episodes airing weekly on Mondays at 10pm ET/PT throughout the summer.

In the premiere episode, Susan and Linda gather the family together to plan a celebration for their father's 88th birthday party and create a new cookie to honor their dad. Everyone has an opinion, but Susan's decision rules - so baking begins on a banana split cookie. Using their construction background, their brother Johnny and nephew Michael come up with their own twist on a banana split and hit the boardwalk to see how it sells.

Susan is the owner, creative force and uninhibited head baker at Crazy Susan's, always developing new flavor combinations and experimenting in the kitchen - but she admits running a business and managing staff isn't her strong suit. As her sister and co-owner Linda says, "Susan is great at baking, but she has no idea how the cookies get from the cooling rack to the customers." So Linda handles the business end of the store, and keeps everything on track - from ordering and scheduling, to bossing employees around. "We have a nickname for her - the Godfather," says Susan. With niece Stephanie on the register, cousin Lori selling cookies on the boardwalk and Susan's son Barry palling around with nephews Sammy and Mark - a family member is never far away at Crazy Susan's.

Crazy Susan's Cookie Company opened in 2006, and has since become a destination at the Jersey Shore. Their cookies have been featured on Rachael Ray as "Snack of the Day."

Tough Cookies is produced by Sharp Entertainment.

# # #

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.25 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), is the manager and general partner.