I Play Gal Friday for Guy, Friday ...

Hi there! Hope you had a great weekend! Thanks to everyone that caught me on The Today Show this past Friday. I had a great time and after that I headed down to Chelsea Market to shoot another show ... Guy's Big Bite! I don't want to give too much away and will leave it for the show, but of course being a guest, I was his gal-Friday or assistant in the kitchen. We also prepared one of my recipes and really just hung out, which isn't hard to do on his set. You've seen it right? There's a drum set, bumper pool table, pin-ball machine, flat-screen television and the list goes on. Here's a blurry (sorry) pic of me chillin' on his set ...
I noticed for the first time, I have the same chair/ottoman set at home that Guy has on set, so I really did make myself at home a bit. We really had a great time taping and get along well. He's been a cool dude since the beginning and he remains that way. Between acts I made sure to play every single game on set! I think the only thing I'd add would be a PS3 because I still haven't grown out of my video game years, will I ever? Here's a shot of Guy and I between acts ...
It was fun to tape together and I hope it's fun to watch! I'll give you a heads up when it's on the way. Until then ... an update on my visit Down Home with The Neelys, it's currently in the editing process! So, I'll let you know when that is scheduled as well. Take care and enjoy your Monday!

Today ... Tomorrow, TODAY!!! :-)

Hey there! I just wanted to drop a quick post before I go to bed ... so I can be nice and bright and sunny for the Today Show tomorrow morning! Yaaaaay! I found out last week while taping shows that they wanted me to join them for a back to school segment. As I've shared with you before, Like other morning shows I had to pitch or submit ideas and then wait for the response. While that was going on I was taping Cooking for Real and something I don't share much here, but I had a few days that were full with radio and other media interviews. When the dust settled yesterday, I found out what portions of my pitch made the segment. So after I tweaked the recipes a bit and resubmitted them, all I had to do was find something to wear and get ready for rehearsals for Today, today. Yeah ... rehearsals! Now that's what I call running a tight ship and I was excited to see things more than just a few minutes before I go on live. Either way is fine with me, but I really like the variety and learning different styles. Here are a few pics I took just a few hours ago to share ...

Here's the Culinary team led by, Bianca ... she's the smiling happy face that's waving. :-)

In rehearsal we basically went over the segment and I worked with the culinary team as we placed each segment of each recipe in the order in which I'd discuss them with Ann Curry!!! Yaaaaaay! I like the whole team and like Ann as well, isn't her voice so silky?! Here is a picture of another chef's set-up for tomorrow's show ...
Mark Bittman! Check his blog, it's pretty flavorlicious and he has a new cookbook out. His set up looks nice!

Okay, well it's off to sleep, but real quick a teeny story. I found out I was booked on the show because the segment producer was on a flight and caught my show on the in-flight television ... nothing like a captive audience. :-) Anyway, you never know who's watching and where they are watching. I told her I felt like I was going to the prom lol. I'm totally excited and very appreciative of the opportunity! Which reminds me, if you've caught Cooking for Real or intend to, thank you so much, this is a continuation of a dream and a goal for me and I really can't do it solo! Ok, look at my prom dress (teeheehee) for tomorrow ... I just got it yesterday ...
I had to get bff approval via email lol, I'm a jeans and t-shirt girl mostly, so I always bring in another opinion, but c'mon jeans? ... I can't do that on The Today Show! Just seems disrespectful. I can't tell you what my tips and recipes are for tomorrow, but as soon as I get a link from The Today Show website, I'll post it here. Catch me tomorrow, Friday, August 21st during the 8AM hour of The Today Show! Tell a friend ... especially if they have kids, it's a full-on back to school segment with more than just food!

Label Intensive Work

That's graphic artist Rani Cheema deep in her on-set office within Studio A at Food Network. She's one of the first people I met when I began working on Cooking for Real and we bonded instantly over a loving conversation about Brooklyn. Since then we've traded emails about great places to eat in our 'hood and have smiled and laughed our way to a great working relationship. Did I mention she is an amazing graphic artist that can make a label for a product at the drop of a dime? With pressure on her and a crew of 20-plus waiting on a new label, she's able to churn out labels and packages with style, composition and flair. A total pro.

I finally got my act together and sat down for a quick Q&A with her. Just some background info, when you watch Food Network, we use several different brand names, but don't really want to advertise them and we also want to make sure you feel that a recipe is possible without the exact same brand. Butter is butter, and milk is milk. That's where Rani comes in, she re-creates or greeks labels for pretty much everything on my show. Here's our quick chat and then some show and tell...

Me: What shows have you worked on for Food Network?
Rani: The shows I have worked on are 30 Minute Meals, Tyler's Ultimate, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Guy's Big Bite, Viva Daisy, $10 Dinners with season 5 winner of the Next Food Network Star, Melissa d’Arabian, and of course Cooking for Real with the lovely Miss Sunny Anderson.

Teeheehee, thanks girl. How long have you been doing this and how did you start?
I've been at Food Network for 2 years and love it! Everyone is amazing, fun, talented, creative and interesting. This job is my dream job... honestly! I remember watching (show name shall not be revealed) my freshman year of college and seeing a jar of sweet relish that HORRIFIED ME! Keep in mind it was the shows' first season, Food Network was just starting to get bigger, they were gaining more viewers, and television wasn't in HD. I remember sitting on the sofa with my dad and saying "I wonder who has that job designing all the labels? I want that job! It would be awesome!". Four years later I was hired by executive producer Mark Dissin to work on my first show at the network which was Amy Finely's (season 3 winner of The Next Food Network Star) show The Gourmet Next Door and two years after that I'm still there and incredibly happy.

Where did you study for this career field?
The funny thing is I went to the School of Visual Arts for motion graphics and film editing, I ended up falling in love with poster design and re-branding, and now I'm designing packaging for one of my favorite channels. I love the way the universe works!

How do you come up with your label designs?
When designing a label I always look at the original packaging, research what the product is, where it came from, how it's made, who came up with it first, etc. Then, I pretty much design on the fly, I don't have time to do sketches, rough drafts, or prints outs to see if everything is the way I want it, which is hard because 4 years of college and I had weeks to design packaging, now I have a day or 5 minutes. Whatever I end up finding out about the product helps me in the design of the new label. For instance, with your cornstarch I needed a name for the product so I googled cornstarch. Usually wikipedia pops up first, I copy, paste, and proof read before I place the information on the label because this information is like a little script for the talent. If the talent on set isn't familiar with cornstarch's history then it will be there on the side of the tub.

Wow, I didn't even know that, I just thought it was writing to fill space. Neat!
Yeah, real stuff. So with the cornstarch, the original label has a Native American woman on the side, I remember they called it maize which became the brand name in Spanish... I think lol... I forgot what language.

It's Spanish silly, ok give me another faux-brand name and how you came up with it.
The French's French Fried Onions reminded me of home cooking or eating at a diner. Patty is the name of a waitress in my dad's favorite diner in Queens. I wanted the label had to have the warm and fun down home cooking feeling. So, it became Patty's French Fried Onions.

Ok, can you email me some flicks to post and tell us about them?
Sure!

Rani's Show and Tell

I use an Epson photo stylus printer, glossy and matte label paper to print out the labels. In this photo you can see that I have printed the flattened, two dimensional image of a frozen spinach box for Sunny's delicious (I had some, just one of the many perks of my job) creamed spinach.


This is the completed box. I use cue cards (oaktag) to construct the box and a hot glue gun to seal it.


These are Sunny's new SPICE JARS! it was an exciting day for me people! I love these jars! I'm a sucker for glass jars and bottles *ahhh ... sigh*.


What ever I have labeled or greeked in the past for other shows gets saved and placed in the pantry. We do our best to make sure only Sunny's products go into her pantry but sometimes you'll see Ann Burelle's balsamic vinegar or Tyler Florence's pumpkin puree.

One last question (via email) ...
What the hardest label to replicate?
Replicating a label isn't all that hard, my only challenge at work is not having enough time. As I mentioned before; in the real package-design world it's a designer or a team of designers that complete a project. It takes a few weeks to months and once in a while, even a year. If I had more time I would be able to be even more amazing! MUAHAHAHAHA! I have no problem with sounding arrogant, you can quote me lol :)

Thanks Rani, for taking time to share your answers between taping acts. And thanks for emailing flicks at then end of the long production day! I owe ya some Brooklyn Cuchifrito!

Gotta Get It - reunion!

Guy on the left look familiar? Well, that's Marc Istook and me in my living room. We took this just a couple of Saturdays ago. A few years back we were both looking for a gig and we landed one together at Food Network. I was looking to get my foot further in the door after my guest appearance on Emeril Live and he was an already experienced television host. It was a great pairing because we got along so well and he really taught me plenty about the job and career field as a whole. Here we are back in 2006 on the set of Gotta Get It!
We were trying to tell you about a neat museum-quality orange juicer ... with a smile :-). That was then ... and now, we are both still working and enjoying the dream. He's based on the west coast, but just recently he was here for business and on the way to the airport, he made time for a meal with me and my guy in Brooklyn. We introduced him to the world of mofungo and he loved it! After lunch, we chatted and I found out not only can you see Marc interviewing celebs on TV Guide channel and others, but you can hear him in the Old Navy Modelquin commercials. You know the ones with the mannequin's that have a tabloid life? He's the male announcer on many of them! Yaaaaaay Marc!!! He has such a great voice and other things are on the way. I just wanted to give an update on him for the people that caught us on the show together. We still chat as often as our schedules permit and we cheer each other on towards our dreams. Everytime I see the commercials now, it's an event! I don't tweet, but he does ... here, stop on by and say hi to my buddy and tellem I'm proud and I miss working with him :-).

The Games We Play

Hey there! So, every profession has it's at-work games or ways to break tension and stress, right? When I was in the Air Force as a radio broadcaster in Korea, all the dj's would try to think of funny ideas for commercials and then we'd each rush to produce it. It was work, but we made it fun by challenging each other and actually got awards for them. Just recently, I got to experience some more at-work fun while testing recipes in Food Network's kitchens...

Here I was, wrapping bacon around turkey with my head down and in the cooking game, when I heard the challenge thrown at me. Santos Loo, who I've dubbed my Culinary Gangsta of All Things Cuisine, decided he wanted to challenge moi to ...

A SEAR-OFF!

I like any challenge and if it has to do with food and work, why not? We were working on my Thanksgiving episode of Cooking for Real for this fall and my recipe called for 2 turkey breasts, stuffed and rolled up and then wrapped with bacon. Sear first, then roast and I was juuuuuust about to put the first one in a pan to sear when Santos layed down the challenge. I promptly accepted the challenge and waited for him to finish stuffin' and rollin' his own turkey breast then snapped this shot of him searing ....

Then I put mine in a pan and he took this pic ...
He haggled me for the hands-on approach, but I told him if my hands were clean, they were fair game! We rushed into the challenge so fast, we didn't even lay ground rules! In a Sear-Off, contact with the surface is key, so I wanted to make sure my turkey-roll ends got love. I laughed at him and told him not to steal my technique and he in turn asked me to not watch him sear, all in fun of course. So for a time, we seared with our backs to each other. Here we are, a few minutes deep into the competition. I had my ends taken care of and now all I was going for was 360 degrees of color.
Looks neck and neck right? So the key was that these would have to go in the oven and still roast for some time, so the sear is important. Too much of a sear and the final will look blackened and too little and the final product just won't be crispy all the way around, especially on the bottom of the roast. And the results are in ...
Ahem, lol ... This is actually the way I took the final picture at first, but then Santos pointed out that I played favorites with the angle. I know, I play dirty! We laughed it off and I took a Santos-approved flick.
That's Santos' on the left and mine on the right. So, we both agreed ... I won! Then we realized in our haste to enter the Sear-Off challenge, we forgot to make sure Santos tied up his bird. This keeps the shape and holds the bacon in place. So, really he wasn't on even playing ground. That being said, we both won because we eventually got to eat!
Turkey anyone? I like at-work challenges. I've seen some office Olympics stuff online and have heard of other at-work challenges, just thought I'd give ya a foodie one. What I really want to do is a blind-folded palate test. I'm sure I also owe Santos a rematch in the Sear-Off. Can't wait to share the turkey and stuffing recipe with you on the show this holiday season!