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Ashley Broad of truTV's "Hardcore Pawn," airing Tuesdays, remains calm as her brother and father grow emotional. People often walk into American Jewelry & Loan, the Detroit pawnshop her family owns, with unrealistic expectations, such as mistaking cubic zirconia for diamonds, and end up leaving no richer than when they entered. As viewers of the show, now in its eighth season, have learned, Broad loves to cook, and she buys kitchenware for the store. Even mundane cooking items, however, are not immune to the strangeness that can enter a pawnshop's door. "People bring in cooking things sometimes," she says. "In one particular episode, someone brought in a rotisserie oven – and brought it in with a raw chicken. Unfortunately, the food and health department would not allow us to take it." She does, though, buy pots, pans and cookware – when they are devoid of poultry. Her favorite items are "grills. I love grills," she says. "I love different types of china. I love cutlery. I love antique silver. What a lot of people don't understand is they have silver hidden in their house, and they don't know it. I tell people, 'Check in your drawers. You do not know what's there.' " Like all working moms, Broad, a mother of two, has a tight schedule. "Here is my routine," she says. "I work five to six days a week. I prepare all my meals on Sundays. I don't believe my kids should be eating out all week; once a week is fine. I marinate and freeze them. I take them out, and when I come home, I throw on the grill or oven. I don't fry any of my food. I grill or put it in the oven." After suffering from migraines since age 12, Broad went gluten-free over the past year. "I tried everything – pills, acupuncture, every type of medication to try to get rid of migraines," she says. "I eliminated rye, oat, barley and wheat from my diet," she says. "You would think that is just bread, but gluten is in the littlest thing, such as soy sauce. Wheat is in soy sauce. "At this point I have done all my research," she says. "I cleared out my pantry, my fridge and freezer. Everything is gluten-free." What are you currently reading? "I am currently reading 'Gone Girl' (by Gillian Flynn)." What did you have for dinner last night? "Chicken. I marinated a whole chicken, cut up in a bag with balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, in a baggie and marinated for five hours. I added olive oil, salt and pepper. I put in the oven and it baked. We had beans for a vegetable and glutenfree pasta." What is your next project? "Attending more and more jewelry shows." When was the last vacation you took – where and why? "I was in New York, it was a (public relations) trip for the show." BY JACQUELINE CUTLER Ashley Broad Ashley Broad turns up the heat on 'Hardcore Pawn' BEST OF PIRATES ON TV, IN FILM BY JACQUELINE CUTLER "Black Sails" (Starz, 2014): This new series, which offers a fascinating look at the tough world of pirates in 1715 Nassau, was renewed before an episode even aired. It has women who are even tougher than the men and a lot of sex, violence and politicking among the brigands. Watch for Toby Stephens as Captain Flint and Hannah New as Nassau's reigning businesswoman. Showrunner Jonathan Steinberg vowed to reveal an atypical side of pirates, free of "arrrs" or parrots. Tom Hanks "Captain Phillips" (2013): Tom Hanks plays real-life captain Richard Phillips, whose ship, the MV Maersk Alabama, was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. Though he and the crew initially outwit them, the pirates are armed and ultimately take the captain hostage. Of course, we know it ends well – for the captain, at least – but not as well for the Somali pirates. The final few scenes, when Hanks loses it, have led to Oscar buzz about his performance. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003): Hard to believe it's been a decade since Jack Sparrow came swashbuckling onto the screen. Before the sequels begat sequels, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were the captain and a blacksmith, on the high seas after assembling a motley crew. It's a PG-13 movie and has "yo-ho-ho" singing, a parrot and a fair amount of scurvy mateys. "The Pirates of Penzance" (1983): Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt and Angela Lansbury are the perfect introduction to Gilbert and Sullivan. It's the movie adaptation of Joseph Papp's Broadway play about pirates and a young apprentice. The score contains the unforgettable line "the very model of a modern major general." Toby Stephens 8 Johnny Depp "Captain Blood" (1935): Watch if only to gaze at Errol Flynn's perfect profile, as he became a star at 26. Or watch it because it is the best pirate movie ever. The old black-and-white film has a terrific cast with Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone and follows the adventures of a captured young doctor who escapes to become a Robin Hood on water. The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • January 27-February 2, 2014

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