Day two in the FN kitchens!

Heyyyy!!! Day two in the kitchens working out menus and stuff ... what a day! I met Chef Jeff!!

uhh, sorry about the blur ... his friend took one really blurry one, so this one looked golden lol!

I first heard of him a few years back on the Oprah show and thought, he needs a show or something, some way to reach people because he has such a compelling story that can inspire people to want to cook as a career ... anyway, he has a new cookbook on the way and a show at Food Network! It's called the Chef Jeff Project and I look forward to watching it! Looks like there may be some real cool stories to watch with the kids involved in the project. He was really nice, he was I think just walking through having meetings and stuff, so when he walked into the kitchen I was like JEFFFFFF! Really nice dude and I hope the show does gangbusters.

Then I got back to cookin'. Today we tackled 3 more shows, some dishes inspired from my recent trip to Hawaii and some favorites I've cooked for years, teamed up with some great stuff I cooked when I was catering. Here's a top secret flick teeheehee ...

Uhhh anyone that loves pork knows what's in the cast iron ... :-), then a lil chutney-like dish reducing that I make with yummified ingredients and a container of whole red peppercorns, yum. When you cook 'em in liquid and they pop in your mouth???? Heaven.

When I finished up for the day I put my take-home food in the fridge and slinked into the background of the taping for the new Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Now alllll day, contestants were in the kitchen cooking and super nervous. It was great to see people working at their best to win and I told each of them good luck, I'm from a background of broadcasting and I still get nervous, imagine coming in from a non-broadcast career, a non-cooking career even - and cooking at Food Network? Nerves don't explain it, but they had beautiful dishes, the ones I saw at least and I can't wait to see the shows.

Guy Fieri saw me in the shadows and brought me out to meet the audience, he is a true class act. Not for that, just in general, he has been nothing but open, candid and helpful to me before I even taped my first Cooking for Real. Sometimes all you want is to know things from someone that has been through it. Like, how do I survive 6 episodes in 4 days and do well enough to get another chance? What are the days like? I searched the internet forever looking for some kind of journal, something, maybe an in-depth news article with a TV cook/chef, anything, I just searched for as much information as possible. What I really wanted was to talk to someone. A week after I said out loud that all I wanted was to talk to someone, I got the offer to visit his set while he taped Guy's Big Bite. Yesssss! So, I went, sat, watched and took it all in. Then he said if I ever needed anything -- to ask. I immediately said I'd like some advice on how to get through it. I'm never shy to ask questions. We exchanged info, and shortly after I got some very valuable advice. Words of wisdom and how to make sure to work hard and enjoy it at the same time. Mountains and mountains of advice I still think about as I work on my new 26. Thanks isn't the word. I gotta tell you, if you watch him and wonder if he's a good guy in person, he is. Like I said, a total class act.

Alright, I'm about to go reheat some of what I made today, some ground protein wrapped in beta carotene teeheehee ... I don't think I can give up recipe titles yet. Have a good one and TGIF! The weather is just great in NYC this time of year, I think it is finally cooling off. If it's doing the same where you are get out and enjoy the last bits of heat! If you are in the gulf region in Texas, please be safe, I know I've rcv'd a comment here from Galveston, so take care and remember your pets' stuff too when you evacuate :-)