Grillin' with my girls ...

Hey there! I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend so far. A special thank you to all the military members, veterans and family members. As a veteran from a large military family and a person living the American dream you make possible, I thank you for your sacrifices.

If you happen to be grilling this weekend I have plenty of stuff to let you know about ...

A few months back I taped an episode of Food Network Challenge and the week was so busy I took pics and didn't have time to share. Well now I can because I'm chillin' on a lovely weekend with time to spare and the show airs tomorrow night! Food Network Challenge - All Star Grill-Off airs Sunday, May 30th at 8pm. It's a battle of the sexes with Melissa d'Arabian, Aida Mollenkamp and myself for the ladies and Aaron McCargo Jr., Adam Gertler and Michael Symon for the guys ...
Ahem, yes, if you'll notice I did fashion the chef's coat they had for me into a cook's apron. I'm not a cop, I'm not wearing a cop uniform. Teeheehee. Plus it was hot and stuffy! I don't know how you chefs do it. That's like a whole other layer! We taped the show in California a few months ago and the weather was warmer there than it is here today in NYC.

Nice right? That's the evening before the shoot, all the crew was working hard to set everything up in time. Even better, the company that produces Food Network Challenge, also produced How'd That Get On My Plate? and it was such a great surprise to see some of the old crew from those road trips!
Those are my guys! Road trips like the ones we took are bonding adventures and it was so great to see them again and talk about the funny stuff. I even talk about them on Cooking for Real here and there. Bruner, second from the right is the reason I did my Sunny Lomi Salmon. Read about the story here. Ok, so then we got to grilling and the judges got to judgin' ...
I can't tell you the outcome of course, but I can tell you who I was sooooo excited to meet!

Yaaaay Keegan!! I am such a corny fan. When I met him, I told him how much I loved watching the show and like what he brings to the table as well. I think at first he thought it was just lip service, until I began listing episodes and specifics. I have to tell you, there's nothing better than the marathon of FN Challenge when you can catch it. I've sat and watched a whole day seems like. Anyway, Keegan was really cool and if you are a fan, hopefully you can live vicariously through me a bit because I totally gushed for him. To the point where I had to nonchalantly bring up that I had a boyfriend because I didn't want him to think ... "this girl has an eye on me!" lol! Ever do that? Ahh good times, well that's all I can tell you and show you because it's a competition. I can tell you that the money that usually goes to the winner is donated to charity! Hope you catch it ... Food Network Challenge - All-Star Grilling, this Sunday at 8pm!

Speaking of charity, remember a couple of weeks ago when I was in Providence, RI for a charity event? The final tally is in and Miriam Hospital raised $443,000 for their expanding cancer center. It was such a nice event with an auction and dinner, capped off by a cooking challenge with local chefs. Robert Irvine hosted and I judged along with Miriam Garron, restaurant critic Linda Beaulieu and food journalist Gail Ciampa. Gail actually reported on the event as well and it's on Providence Journal's site. Thanks for the link Jacob! Not the Jacob I usually refer to here on the blog, but a co-worker that buys all the food at Food Network. His dad is related to the cause and was a great host to the city. We had a super satisfying meal the night before the event at Al Forno, if you are ever in the area, I suggest the pizza for an app, everyone kept asking the next day if I'd had it and I was so glad I did. Obviously the locals know. It's super thin, crispy and the ingredients are premium, just real smart and good. We had one plain and a pepperoni, both to a thumbs up from the table. I also recommend if they have a special and it's a steak, just get it. The wine sauce alone was worth it, it had a nice molasses flavor and I plan to make a lil batch of my own at home now.

Ok, now for the other grilling news ... If you are up on Monday morning, catch me on the Today Show! I'll be on late in the 9AM hour and I can't wait!! I've been on before, but can you believe I haven't 'cooked' yet? Nope, just showing products and giving tips. So, now I get to step behind a counter and work! Hope you can catch it. If you've read my blogs from my first and second visit to The Today Show, you know they love to rehearse the day before (if not, check the links. I share pics and little stories). So, I'll take pictures tomorrow and share if anything interesting happens.

Aaaaaaand now the last bit of grilling news ... LOST? No, not the series that just wrapped and left everyone just that ... lost. I'm saying, do you need more brainstorming help for your cook out? We have a cool grilling site over at FoodNetwork.com/grilling. There's plenty of new videos with Bobby Flay and the Neely's, recipe links, sample menus, grilling guides and tips, just plenty of stuff. Take a look.

Ok, have a great weekend and I hope you get a chance to enjoy your friends and family. I'll post a few pictures of my visit to the Vice Presidential residence next week, but I just wanted to get you some grilling news.

Post VP Visit Vittles!

Hey there! Well, it's the morning after and I'm still totally not even believing I was at the Vice President's residence for such a special occasion. I met veterans and active duty members that have made sacrifice's to keep us free and then also met the brave families that support them. It was a pretty awesome event. I took photos to share, but need to get them approved by his staff before I put them up. Totally understandable, so in the meantime ... Jacob over at FoodNetworkAddict.com has a couple of pictures up from the Associated Press. There we were just leaving the Vice Presidential residence after the cook out, when I got an email from him that he had a post up ... with pictures. I was like ... huh? How'd you do that so fast? I just left! And where'd you get the pictures??? Jacob's on his stuff!

So, as I wait to get some of the photos I took approved, I thought I'd share what we did after hanging with the VP and his crew ... BTW Dr. Biden, our Second Lady is a joy. A total joy. I've seen her discuss military veterans and her efforts to make changes in the way we treat our war heroes, but to see it and hear it up close, it truly touched me as a veteran, military brat and honestly ... as an American. I am pretty happy to live and see these times. Ok, more when the photos get approved ...

Where do you go after feeding the Vice Prezo? Well ... you go eat where the President sometimes stops for a bite ... Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery!! He and I met a coupla years back and since then we've kept in touch and I've made several attempts to get to his place, finally I made it and feel it's almost poetically meant to be that I'd catch him after I went through what he must have felt the first time he made something for our First Family. Here we are actually in his new pizza place next door ...
That's one of his partners on the left, Mike. I've met Mike a few times, but he told me last night that he used to skip class to listen to me on the radio in NYC ... made me feel old lol. Spike's new pizza place isn't open yet, but he has a cool name for it ... "We The Pizza". Get it? Cute for a D.C. pizza joint name. He's gonna have soda jerks and he's even getting serious about the dough on the pizza, doing several tests with different flours. I suggested he just ship in some good ol' NYC tap!! It's the best! Here's the line ordering ...
Then I looked down to figure out which brew I was going to drink with my Obama burger and Spike's Village Fries and saw his trophy!!
Here's my burger ...
Man oh Man oh Man! What a juicy, squishy, meaty burger! It was so good I knew it wasn't just chuck, so I asked and it's chuck, sirloin and brisket and I think I remember him saying he grinds in fat from the brisket as well, whatever it is, it's crazy delicious like Mr. Pibb and Red Vines. (A lil SNL humor, which was also a topic of discussion over beer and burgers). Anyway, the burger was also perfectly hand blended and loose, but not fall apart loose. That's key in a good burger. Ha! "Good" Burger. Quite appropriate word, eh? As for the bun it was perfect and the texture of the brown toasted area was like heaven, it was so chewy and the lightest hint of stiff and crunch from what I think was a quick ride on the flat top grill. What a foodie pleasure. I ordered two, but was more than happy to pass my other one on to new arriving guest at the table, Jacob ...

That's the Colletti's Smokehouse burger. We passed our last bits for a bite and it was just as yummy as the Obama burger, but I favor the Obama burger. I forgot to mention it has blue cheese on it ... yummy and the perfect level of blue, not too strong. We all sat and chatted up a bit and then Spike dropped off his first cook book!!!
The Good Stuff Cookbook, click away on the title to order straight from Amazon. The pictures remind me of a book I like called Zest. His food pictures are so close up they feel like they are on a plate in front of you and the typeface is easy on the eyes. Gooooo Spike!!! I checked the book out and when I looked up there was a delivery of dessert!!
That's his toasted marshmallow shake. It was thick and had a custard flavor like no other! I already knew from this past year's South Beach Food and Wine Festival that he knew how to make a shake, so this was a nice treat.
I sipped half at the table and took the rest back to my hotel room for a slow-sip I.V. the rest of the night.

I'm actually pulling into NYC's Penn station now ... gotta get off my lapper ... more later on the event!!

Chili Chili Bang Bang

I got to D.C. this morning via Amtrak and made my first stop!
Ben's Chili Bowl!! I fell in love with Ben's a couple of years ago and even blogged about it. Every time I hit the nation's capital, I get myself a chili fix. (except when I was here for the 2009 presidential inauguration, the city was too crazy!). That's a "Halfsmoke" with everything. You can't see the onions, but they are under there. It only took me a few minutes to turn a full basket to a half empty one ...
I felt so good about ordering water to drink with my chili dog and not eating the side of chips that I did what I do best ... foodie sabotage! I then ordered chili cheese fries ...
But didn't finish them ...
My eyes are always bigger than my stomach. Plus, halfway through eating them, a Michael Jackson set started playing on the sound system and if you've ever been to Ben's you know they love to sing and perform behind the counter while making your plate. So, I got distracted and entertained by the happy staff. I really like eating there not only for the food, but boy are the employees a huge draw! If you ever go, skip the line and sit at the counter for immediate service. I always get mistaken for a local when I do that, and I love it!

So now, I'm back at my hotel room about to succumb to a lil post-meal nap. When I buried the lead about going to D.C. in my last post, I forgot to say the "when". Well, it's tomorrow! I meet the Vice President and get to serve military veterans for a pre-Memorial Day cook out. I brought my camera and have a flip cam on the way so I can capture some video for the Food Network website. Hopefully, security will let me tape and take pictures for the blog. This trip was organized by the magazine so they'll have an official photog there to get photos for the magazine. I'll let you know what issue if you are interested. They'll print my menu along with other stuff from the day. As I told you last week, the organizers suggest I wear jeans and a nice top to the cook out tomorrow, but I feel like jeans are too informal to meet our VP and the Second Lady. I also feel like if I wear a sun dress like some of you suggested in comments, that I may be over dressed and I don't want to show up in a dress if Mrs. Biden is rockin' jeans, you know? Like you aren't supposed to out dress the hostess. So, I'm stuck. Take a look at what I packed ...
That's a long summer dress on the left, then 2 shorter ones. Then a color block top I'd pair with jeans and few other tops for options. I really think the color block top is at the front of the list to wear with jeans. I also packed an apron (far right) for kitchen prep time with the Navy chefs and it actually matches the color block top, so that's a plus. The long dress on the left was at the front of the stack, but it feels a bit too dressy. The dress next to it is nice, but I feel a bit mature when I put it on. It's really pretty though and the one next to it is the same shape, but a lighter, younger feeling pattern. I have heels and flats and belts for all the options, but think I'll just wear flats. If this is boring you, welcome to my world. Because I must admit, after years and years in radio, where I'd roll out of bed and put on a t-shirt and jeans ... this visual part of media I'm in now is a trip! I really love to cook and eat, if I have to dress nicely to do it .. so be it!! If you can imagine, being in the military was great for me because I knew everyday what I was wearing the next day. I love a uniform job! If you wear a uniform to work ... lucky you!! One less thing to worry about!

More Recipes Please!

"Please, Sunny, I want some more" - paraphrased from Oliver Twist

Hey there! I've been a bit busy this week with plenty of recipe requests. I'm usually in recipe planning mode at all times. When I cook I jot down some notes in my notebook and when I get time, I transfer my notes to my computer. I do this at leisure and sometimes wake up saying to myself "Today, I'll catalogue some recipes" and I do. I sit on the couch or even yes, in the bed, and I type away for hours with my notebooks at my side. Sometimes I look up and realize I skipped breakfast and lunch and if I don't get moving, I'll miss the window for dinner too. Other times, I prepare and make breakfast and lunch the day before so I can just take quick breaks to reheat. So when people ask what I do day to day, that's my boring answer ... I write recipes. At least I think it sounds boring to others, but to me ... it's bliss. I do my recipe writing on auto-pilot, but when I have a deadline for something specific, I push my personal order of recipes aside and scoot the requested ones to the top of my list.

That's why I've been silent a bit this week ... I've had so many recipe requests that I haven't been able to come up for air! For what? Well, for starters ... I have a product partnership on the way and I'm submitting recipes and tips to them for approval. I also need to finalize recipes for my Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival event. BTW, my party is called Sunset, Spirits and Sliders with Sunny Anderson. It's at the Caesar's Palace rooftop pool on Saturday, July 31st. Get your tickets by clicking on the event title!! I'd love to meet you!

But that's not the biggest stress about my recipe writing this week ... I've been finalizing details of a menu I've worked up for a special event. How special? The military blood in me made me cry when I heard about it weeks ago and now that it's closer ... I'm still in disbelief ...

I've been invited to the Vice President's Residence to cook alongside Navy chefs and feed veterans of war and their families for Memorial Day. I almost need to type it again to believe it, so here goes. I've been invited to serve the troops and their families my recipes at the residence of our Vice President of the United States. Wow. My granddad went to war, my daddy, my uncles ... I'm the only female in my family that joined and I served proudly. It hurts my heart when I see people claim service in a war or even in the military when they were never a part of it. I hold Memorial Day and Veterans Day right up there with all the other holidays and make a note to call my daddy every year on Veterans Day to thank him for his service. I feel pretty honored to even be invited and Food Network Magazine is coming along to take pics for a future issue. In fact, it's the editor of the magazine that is pulling this all together. Can't wait for you guys to see the spread. It all happens next week, so this was the final week to get in my menu and recipes. I made a nod to the garden and even made room on the menu for the Second Lady's dietary needs. Turns out she doesn't do red meat, fine with me!

Want a peek at what we'll eat? I could make a corny national security joke here, but I won't. I won't give all the goods, but take a look at my personal notes I told you about above. They're from my handwritten cookbook and I flipped to this page when looking for ways to feed the troops. I've kept a journal since high school and I'm a lefty, so excuse the penmanship :-). This is what my recipes look like before they get to my hard drive ...

It's my left-brained notes for Honey Mustard Pulled Pork with Apricot BBQ Sauce. It's one of the recipes I'm serving with the help of the Navy Chefs. Somewhere in the haze of transferring it to my computer, I sent this picture to the head of the Food Network kitchens to show them what I was working with and they replied "Looks like a play book, lol". I couldn't agree more. It's my strategy for filling bellies and making smiles :-). Not a tough game, but needs a playbook nonetheless. Fyi, the arrow that is coming from the left page has 2 more ingredients I left out in the first run and made the changes the next time I made the recipe. This happens when developing a recipe. It is many parts before it is whole. Hope you are having a busy week like me, that's good news these days, eh? Take care and ladies, any idea of what I should wear? They keep insisting jeans are fine because it's a cook out ... I don't think so ...

Just got back from Savannah!!

Hey hey hey! I just got back from Savannah, GA! You know what that means ... Paula Deen! Remember how I told you she invited me to be on her show? Well, it's all said and done and I took some pics to share. Check us out!
That's after we taped the last segment of her show. She felt like family and many of the things she said and did reminded me of my relatives in the Carolinas. Boy did she make me miss home.

First, I have to tell you, the city of Savannah is just beautiful. If you've never been and like stateside vacations, I'd say give it a go. I'm kind of corny so before the trip I read up a bit and the infrastructure and architecture there is significantly historical. So I took a walk around when I checked into the hotel and just as promised from my reading, it was pretty amazing. The city squares are a sight to see, there are so many I lost count and all within walking distance. Fountains and monuments and history at your feet. Antique hunters, I mean really. Boutique shoppers, it's crazy! Tour takers, I saw plenty of trollies, horse carriages, etc. Movie buffs, the Forrest Gump bench is there and so much more. I walked into CVS and everyone behind the check-out counter happily said "Welcome to CVS, it's nice to have you here today!", it caught me off guard so much that I replied "I'm happy to be here in Savannah!". I know, corny, but that's how happy the city and it's people make you feel. Talk about southern hospitality. Savannah has it all right and if you are a golfer, Hilton Head is right around the corner. I can go on and on, really Savannah is great.

Another great thing about Savannah? It's a southern foodie heaven. On my flight about half of the plane was filled with people planning a trip to Paula Deen's family restaurant The Lady & Son's. That's just the people I could hear in the terminal or on the flight there. Then, walking through the airport, I took a pic of the Paula Deen wall at the magazine store.Crazy right!? There was also a section with just her books and magazines. I scooted off to my hotel and did all the sight seeing I could in a few hours as I mentioned above, amazingly beautiful city. I had dinner that night at her restaurant with her producers to catch up and chat about the next day's show. First of all I didn't know how big her place was, it's three stories high and each level was packed. Plus, there was an elevator, love that everyone can get to every floor, wether on foot or wheels. The service was great and you know how some places give you chips and salsa or bread and butter to start? Well, at The Lady & Son's you get hoe cakes and biscuits...That biscuit was so springy and light and creamy. The insides just kind of melted on my tongue and the top was crisp and buttery. I didn't feel the need to butter it, jelly it or anything. Very good. Then my hoe cake was soooo good! I drizzled some syrup on it and finished it off pretty fast. It reminded me of my mom's. Her edges were crispy just like that. What a nice surprise. Here's my plate from the buffet ...I know, right when I'm talking restraint, I make a 3-piece plate with all the fixin's. I took this right after I realized I dove in like a beast before taking a picture of my spread. That's my sweet tea on the right. The chicken was seasoned to the bone and crunchy. The greens were just how I like em and everything else was so good. I love that I had a big ol' piece of pork in the scoop of black eyed peas I plated for myself. It was like getting the golden egg. Totally a score! I know you can see the fried green tomatoes just above my plate. We got it for the table, I was nice and ate just one, but if I were by myself, I would've polished them all off. It's amazing what restraint I can have. Luckily, my hotel was just a few blocks away from her restaurant so I tricked myself into thinking the walk to my room would make up for the calories in the meal. Teeheehee. Ok, down to biz ...
That's me in front of Paula's place just as I arrived to tape. She tapes in this house, but lives in another. Smart cookie, because taping at home can really rip your place up. The weather was warm, but at least there was a breeze. Just outside the house is the prep kitchen. I poked my head in to say hi and everyone was busy at work!
They had a breakfast spread out of scrambled eggs and bacon and granola and stuff, but I didn't have much of an apetite, I was still full from the night before and I wanted to eat like crazy on set. I knew what the menu was for the show and was excited to eat my way through it! I haven't shared the menu with you yet, huh? Well, the entire episode is about ... take a guess ... BUTTER! When I found out from her producer a few weeks back that they wanted to do a whole show focussed on butter, I felt a bit honored. I mean it is what she's known for. So I knew I had to "bring it" with my recipe submissions. I won't tell you what we made, but I will say there's butter all over the place. I made two dishes and she made two as well. We chatted and laughed and had such a great time. I can't wait for you to see it! She tapes her shows far in advance so this one may not run until next year, but I'll be sure to let you know beforehand if you are interested.

Wait, it isn't over ... As I'm sitting in a back room chatting with Brandon, Paula's right hand man and creative director, Paula's son, Jamie came by with his wife and son to say hi right before he taped the second show of the day with his mom. The whole family is nice and everyone was so sweet. He scooted off to the kitchen and we all sat in the back room chatting and watching the show on a small monitor.
That's a click to zoom if you need detail in the photo. Speaking of Brandon, just a few weeks back I caught him on the morning news talking about his new book he co-authored with Paula, take a look ...
I got a copy and love it! Especially since I'm in spring cleaning and redecorating mode at home. If you are interested, click here and head to the page for it on Amazon.com.

Ok, that's all I have. I'm headed to Rhode Island this weekend for a charity event, I'll let you know how it goes, I hope we raise plenty of $$$. I'm taking the train up because I love that route, can't wait for my fave train meal. Take a look ... ... any suggestions for lunch in Providence anyone?

Meatballs, Meatballs, Meatballs! (Hungry & Healthy)

Hey there! Crazy title for a blog, but before this week is over, my life will involve 3 different types of meatballs. I'll start in reverse ...

This Saturday's new episode of Cooking for Real - Hungry and Healthy features my go-to catering recipe for chicken meatballs. I never really had a standard menu when I catered, I did just what the word means ... I catered to the client. So many times I'd get the request for things without beef or pork and one of those requests was for meatballs. You know the kind you get at saaaaay an after work happy hour buffet? Drowned in barbeque sauce with toothpicks for utensils? Well, that's how I served them when requested, in a homemade BBQ sauce with a flame beneath to keep 'em warm and bubbly. Fast forward to the present and I still make them, just without all the drowning. I team my Zesty Chicken Meatballs with a pesto I love, my Collard Green Pesto with Linguine. I absolutely love pesto. First off, pesto is fresh, simple and tasty. Plus, there are so many variations that you don't get locked into just one style. Variety is what I like in food. I actually made some pesto Wednesday for a tomato tart recipe I hope to share with you soon. Take a look ...
Ever have a tomato tart with pesto? This week was my first time having the two together, but when I got some really pretty and fragrant basil this week and my tomatoes were perfect for roasting, I woke up with a brainstorm. Don't you love a foodie brainstorm when you get it? Even better when it turns out tasty and pretty, huh? I really do hope you like the recipe, I plan to pitch if for the next season of Cooking for Real.

Anyway, Saturday's pesto isn't the one I teamed with the tomatoes for the tart, but it's great where I put it, with some wheat pasta. It's really such a strong pesto with crazy personality from the collards that it works wonders with the sturdy chew and earthy flavor of wheat pasta. Finishing the meal off is a quick dessert drink I call a Blackberry Gin Fizz Float. I'm a sucker for dessert and it's even better when it's portable and spiked. Of course, this is just as good without the gin, but give it a go if you like spirits.

Now for the other two meatballs ...
No, these people aren't meatballs :-), but they made some! That's Carla from Season 5 of Top Chef and 2009 Tony Award winner for leading actor in a musical, Kiril Kulish. If you know the story of the Billy Elliot production on Broadway, you know he isn't alone with his award. It was given to 3 performers for the same role. How does that happen? Well, because they are minors starring on Broadway, they can't work a full week, so three performers shared the starring role and they each performed about 3 times a week. Take a look at the video of the boys accepting the award, pretty cool. So, anyway that picture above is of Kiril and Carla cooking away at the True Child charity event I told you about Monday. I saw Carla at a party earlier this year in Miami, but she was surrounded by so many people, I couldn't stop to say hi. I'm usually good at being a silly fan lol, I love to gush and tell people how much I like them, but that night I failed. It's really neat to then work with her and get to tell her in a more professional manner and not at a bar, lol. I loved her happy personality on the show and she was such a show in person at the event. Cool chick. The other two Tony Award winners that share the title with Kiril were there cooking as well and I managed to catch them all while snapping pics of the cook off.

That's Top Chef Season 5's Fabio plating his meatballs with Tony award winner Trent Kowalik looking on with an event sponsor/teammate. Both teams had mystery ingredients and two of them were chips and Cheetos, so both teams decided to hide those ingredients in the ground beef and make some meatballs. Fabio served his with some creamed collards and Carla's team served them solo with more dishes on the side. Here's Fabio explaining his teams' dishes.

Look close and you can see the 3rd Tony Award winning Billy Elliot, David Alvarez in the background. I was mad I didn't think to take my own picture with them when I got home, but when I looked at my other shots, I was happy to realize I managed to catch them all solo. I must say all three of these guys were so kind, humble and I just feel they are all poised for greatness. Whatever they choose to do in life, I think they already know it's possible, you just have to work towards it. Their parents must be really proud. I was on the panel of judges with Top Chef Season 3 winner, Hung Huynh, a live auction winner and another chef, whose name I forgot ... I know very wack of me, but I'm only human :-(. Good thing is we raised money for the charity and the cool thing is we all left full of food. Both versions of the snack-pack meatballs were good, but Carla's were sooooo tasty that they eclipsed every other dish and drink both teams submitted, combined. Word. Makes me feel like I need to put some chips in my meatball recipe teeheehee ... until then, I hope you enjoy my version of meatball goodness, with a healthy kick - no fried cheese snacks or greasy chips involved. That's Cooking for Real, this Saturday May 8th, 2010 @ noon on Food Network!

Enjoy the weekend, and remember if you miss the debut Saturday, you can always catch it Monday at 4pm and other episodes throughout the week at the same time! Plenty of time to hang out with me while I cook for real so we can eat for real :-).

I've been eating ...

Hey there! I've been on the road a bit so I haven't checked in for a couple of days. I left Detroit so full of midwestern goodness! Take a look ...
That's my favorite bowl of chili. I got it in my old neighborhood in Detroit at National Coney Island. I've talked about this chili on Cooking for Real when I shared my recipe for Interstate Chili and I think I've mentioned it here before. It is soooo good. If you can believe me, it melts in your mouth. No joke. I like mine topped with onions, cheese and a squirt of mustard. They even threw in an extra scoop of ground beef on top. That's just how they served it to me when I visited with my bff last week. She was nice enough to drive past my old place on the way to eat and I got out to snap a pic ...
I almost didn't recognize it when we drove by because the current owner cut down all the shrubs :-(. I used to get out there on a Saturday morning and trim them with my electric trimmer thingy. Such zen time, they were so pretty and green. Ever do that? Drive past your old place and get a lil misty? I don't get that much because I move so much, but to see my old place without the greenery made me a bit sad. Luckily I had 3 scoops of this in my belly ...
That's the sundae they sent out after my chili at National Coney Island. I didn't order it, but things have a way of finding themselves at my table these days and it's hard to refuse ... almost seems rude. So, woe is me, I had to power through some vanilla ice cream suffocated by gooey fudge syrup and pastry, it was soooo hard :-( ... can you hear the sarcasm, cuz it's there. :-) Thanks to the guys and gals over there, they fed me hot chili on many frigid Detroit days. It was nice to go back.

I also went to Michael Symon's Roast and didn't snap a pic at all. Wish I had, it was great, but I was there catching up with 4 friends from Detroit, so there wasn't room to say ... "hold on! lemme take a photo!". We were all just chatting and talking about the good ol days. Rest assured, the food was gooood! I actually enjoyed the drink menu as well and suggest a lemony fruity drink called "No Name" and if you like a dirty martini, he has something on the drink menu called a "Hot Dirty Bird" with Cholula and olive brine that I had and loved as well. I started with the beef tartare and ordered the bacon wrapped trout for an entree with the roasted cauliflower on the side.

I also had some soul food while I was in Detroit, but I couldn't tell you where it was from, my bff showed up two days in a row with it at my hotel room and when faced with hot fried catfish, you don't ask questions, but you do take pictures. :-)
It was soooooo crispy! And you can tell, even though it was fried, not a bit greasy. That's when you know the oil was at the right temp. Good stuff! I only ate one filet and ate greens and mac on the side.

Well, I Just wanted to let you know what I've been eating while on the road. I'm back in Brooklyn now and today I have another event with True Child. Remember, I just did a cook off with them last week in Chicago? Just as we wrapped the event coordinators asked if I would help out with the event here in NYC. I have the time and love goal of the organization, so I said why not! This time I'm judging the food instead of cooking and the event is tonight at the I.C.E. in Manhattan. Here are some pics from last week's Chicago cook off ...

My weapons of choice in the kitchen, the 10"-wide and a smile :-).
That's Dale (Top Chef), Myself and Natalie, Chef Chris Lateano, Casey (Top Chef) and Carlos. Dale and Casey were both runner's up on the same season of Top Chef and have done this event for the last couple of years. Natalie was the kid chef for the ladies. She takes part in another local charity, Common Threads, that Chef Art Smith runs. He is such a joy in person and it was so neat working with one of his students. Next to us is a local chef at helm of South Water Kitchen, Chris Lateano. He was introduced as the winner of Bacon Fest 2009, so I knew I had to give his place a try. The next morning, I checked out his place for brunch and enjoyed it before I hit the road to Detroit. The Chilaquiles were grrrrrreat! I usually like green sauce, but his was red and I didn't care a bit! Ok, next to Chris is Casey, runner up from Top Chef. She's opening a restaurant in Texas soon. Next to her is Carlos, another kid chef from Common Threads for the guys team. Here are us girls planning away with Natalie leading the way ...
We only had 5 minutes to plan, then we all dug into our secret ingredients ...

30 minutes later we were done and the judges had the guys edging us out by a tight margin. It never really felt like a competition, but tonight when I judge ... I'm leaning towards the ladies to avenge Natalie's loss! Just kidding! I'll be fair. If you are headed there tonight, stop and say hi! I don't bite!

OH WAIT! I forgot to share a quick touristy shot I took in Chicago ...self explanatory ...

She's soon ending her show and it takes years to get tickets, so I guess this is as close as it gets to being on the Oprah Winfrey Show, eh? Luckily my bff lives down the street and didn't think I was corny for wanting a picture. Oprah is responsible for her quitting the texting and driving craze, which I was happy to hear before our road trip to Detroit! Good stuff!!! Ok, hope you are having a great Monday so far!