Monday, November 1, 2010

Circle of Sisters was a hit, Halloween, not so much ...

Hey there! Well, Saturday I headed out to the Circle of Sisters Expo here in NYC. This is my third year doing a cooking demonstration there and each time it gets better. This time around I did an easy menu that is perfect for this time of year. Click for the links to my Proscuitto-Wrapped Beef Cubes with Mustard Pan Sauce and Parmesan-Herbed Orzo. I also shared a recipe of mine from the new season of Cooking for Real, my Simple Sauteed Mustard Greens. That recipe will be available as soon as the episode it appears in airs on Food Network. Ha! "Appears in", the food is totally the star! I call that episode Borrowing from the South and it isn't even up on my episode page yet, so it was a real sneak peek for all the attendees. A big hello to Charles! He comments on the blog and it was our second time meeting, I turned around after it was all over and he was gone! Charles, thanks for coming, wish we could've chatted longer and maybe walked around a bit! Here's one shot of some people that came to hang out while I cooked, for real :-) ...I said hi to anyone that wanted to chat and then made room for the next cooking demonstration with Chef Jeff Henderson ...He's busy working with a movie production team on his life story. I think I heard someone say that Will Smith is playing him in the movie, I may be wrong, but a movie is in the works no less. Pretty cool story he has, Google and Bing away if you don't already know :-).

Then Saturday night I decided to go out to one of my favorite places in Brooklyn, Tanoreen. I actually featured something from their menu on Best Thing I Ever Ate: Nutty. It's this crazy good dessert called Knafeh and it's hard to describe, you just really have to try it. It's gooey cheese that's baked in a buttered and shredded fillo dough shell, then doused with a sweet syrup of orange blossoms and more then sprinkled with pistachio nuts. There's so much more to it and if you can find it locally, I say make an RSVP! If not, NYC is great in the fall, especially Brooklyn :-). Anyway, here's my piece ...Before that, I struggled through eating and not eating all of my dinner so I could actually fit in the Knafeh for dessert. It's hard and I promised myself next time I was just going to do it ... order dinner backwards. Ever do that? Anyway, we also got some vegetarian kibbie balls that are becoming another favorite of mine ...They are crunchy on the outside (looks and tastes like a wheat germ mixture) then the inside is moist and the greens taste almost southern with a nice lemon kick and there's chunks of walnuts here and there, very good. See the cute Halloween candle in the back ground? I like when restaurants do cute little things like that for holidays.

Well, dinner was great and the next day, yesterday, Sunday :-) ... I bought some candy, set up the lights, left the porch light on. Then I set up shop and waited for trick-or-treaters ... and waited ... and waited ... No one showed ... last year, I think maybe one person did. What was I thinking? I now have two huge bucket loads of treats to deal with. Any suggestions? Maybe I can find a charity that gives out food or something. I can't humanly eat all that candy!

Ok, just wanted to share a bit ... I have to get back to work. It's been a productive Monday of transferring recipes from my notebook to my laptop. I have a week or so until I reach my personal goal of having all my Season 9 menus typed up so I can turn them into the network. We tape in January, what a way to kick off the year and what a way to kick off the week with plenty of admin work. Actually, I'm about to take a break from typing to get in the kitchen to bake some cinnamon buns. I haven't shared my recipe yet on Cooking for Real, so I decided to make some to get all my amounts measured. I'll write in my journal, transfer that information to my laptop and include the recipe in the pitch for my next season of shows ... easy, sticky, cinnamon buns anyone? Hope your Monday is scootin' along ...

P.S. Thanks to everyone following me on Twitter, I'll start tweeting right after I relaunch my website, hang on and tell a friend :-) @SunnyAnderson .... no spaces, hyphens or underscores :-)

10 comments:

jen @ one curly fry said...

Okay - I spy Milk Duds?? Let me grab my costume and I'll be over to trick or treat for some of those! :)

I watched CFR on the DVR yesterday, and I definitely have to make those meatballs! They looked so delicious. And the garlic bows (minus the olives, lol) looked soooooooooooooo good! Now I just need to find a date - LOL! J/K Don't tell my guy I said that!

Missed you at the Philly F&W fest! As you probably know Lys and I went and saw Aaron! :)

tamilyn said...

That dessert sounds delightful.

I think Will Smith would be a great choice for the movie roll. I don't know a lot about Jeff, but I really enjoyed watching his show. Made me thankful for all that I have and also, what an awesome human being to take his talent and help turn those struggling people on to the path of healthy choices and hopefully a fulfilling life and careers.

tamilyn said...

Oooo, and I'm following on Twitter now too. Man I need some help....

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Haha, my husband did the same thing! I wanted to put together a couple of SMALL baskets for the grandkids - one is 1 y/o the other is 3. He came home with the biggest bags of candy they sell!!! And, get this. We weren't even going to be home, because we were going downtown to the big community event where my DIL works. Geez, men! I told him, I sure hope you like candy honey. ;)

Looks like the gals at Circle of Sisters were having a ball!

Charles said...

Hey ya Sunny! Thx for the love on ur blog-sooo cool! I would have LOVED to have hung out but I don't want you to think I'm all weird or stalkerish, (is that a word?) lol! You met MANY people after ur demo and u had purse in hand and I didn't want to be the lingering troll. Plus, it was Halloween wknd and I'm sure you had plans. Ur demo btw was so fun; The greens were dynamite! So simple but all the flavor of slow cooked "grey" greens :P I met back up with my group and we rode the train into Brooklyn @ 2:30am but we couldn't get a cab to save our life to get us to the club and I was skeered so I went back to the hotel LOL! Anyways, I was glad I got the opportunity to see you cook for reals and u made me feel like a Supastar! All the women there thought I was ur assistant or something haha!

P.S. Tremaine is really sorry he missed you-again-but we are coming up Black Friday weekend to go shopping in SoHo and whatnot. If by chance your in the area it would be our pleasure to do lunch or something-totally our treat!!

Take care, Sunny and sorry for the long post but you are truly something special. ;)

Mausi said...

Hi Sunny! No one showed up on Halloween? I am sorry to hear that. We had eight kids came by. Not too many but they were all so cute.
As for leftover candies, I used to bring all the leftover desserts or candies to my work. It was gone in one day :-) I am looking forward to your new season and new recipes! One of my favorite recipe of yours is "Shrimp & Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta". I haven't made this for a while. Maybe it is time for me to make it again!

MEL aka The Sunflower Man said...

Hey Sunny. ;)

I see you really enjoyed your desert called "Kanafeh". Their are a few variants of this desert from the Middle East, Arabic, and the Eastern Mediterranean areas. If your a cheese lover like myself, anything with cheese usually is "crazy good". lol

I do adore the Arabic culture so, I know a little sumthing-sumthing. (wink)

I had a great time at the C.O.S this past weekend. I wasn't able to catch your performance due to depending on the MTA and all the construction that comes with taking the train to the Javits Center but, meeting you made the trip from LI all worth wild. I hope the ingredients on the card I given you gave you some ideas for any upcoming deserts.


Sorry to hear that you didn't have that many trick-o-treaters come to visit you then again, their is always next year. ;)


K.I.T *
Mel aka The Sunflower Man :)

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Oh Sunny I wanted to say that I am so excited that you are gonna be on Twitter finally! I've already spread the word to some of my peeps!! Don't forget to check your @Replies to see who is talking to you! And if you have an iPhone or other smart phone, get the app. They are free, but it's easier to keep up with the conversations there esp. when you're on the go.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sunny, It's Jessica it was great finally meeting you after all these years!! It was also great meeting you as well Charles!! I sent you that email and I'm following you on twitter follow me back!! @IamJessD. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sunny Anderson said...

jen, yup milk duds, whoppers, all of that!! all sitting in my pantry lol. and i got your msg from the festival in philly, i did a time check and it looks like you guys called right when i was cooking at circle of sisters. aaron and i allllways call each other with people that watch both of us. it's kinda a tradition now. hate that i missed the call!!! next time! maybe i'll call you when i see aaron tonight, so he knows we actually know each other lo, can't have you lookin crazy!l

tamilyn, thanks! it issssss. will is a great actor. i really had no idea when he did "parent's just don't understand" or "summertime" that he would blossom into this. such a neat way to know that life is just out there for anyone willing to chase it down and tame it, if that's even possible. i agree, chef jeff continues to do some good stuff with people that need it, so nice to give back from whence he came.

and girl, i need help too! lol. please tell me i'm not the only one feeling this is the dividing line between youth and whatever it is i'm stepping into lol

mary, yeah, we are in candy overload. i'm gonna make some whopper thumbprints or something. watch. i'll post in a week or so. forget the thanksgiving leftover help, people need halloween leftover help!!

charles, no thank YOU for the love, i can't say it enough. i really appreciate the support and fyi, this is next level support. you watch, join me at events and read the blog, this is MAJOR support. kinda like my street soldiers :-). thanks for taking time out of your schedule to not just watch, but come here to say hi and share. :-) p.s. tell tremaine he can make it up to me by joining you in-studio in january.

mausi, no one came by :-(. I was like, was it the skull decorations?? lol hey your fave recipe is one of my faves!! i love pesto! cheese, greens, nuts, olive oil and enjoy!!! yummmy!!

mel, yes, KNAFEH is the word of the year for me :-). found it earlier this year and my system hasn't been with out it for more than a few weeks lol. I love palestinian, lebanese, i mean any food from the middle east, northern africa and the mediterranean is pretty tasty!! glad you agree!! I don't remember any ingredients on a card you gave me, I get so many business cards at those events, but do my best to not take recipes. did you see the lady give me the bbq sauce!!??? now THAT, I'll take! teeheehee

mary, i know right, finally on twitter. i am gonna try to keep it different though. fun and happy and not just an outlet to advertise showtimes and appearances. i just think it's a bit detached, but at the same time people keep saying you need it in this day and age. i dunno, still on the fence, but i've decided to make it fun.

jessica, ita! keep in touch and congrats on your path ... success is not only in your future, but in your presence. :-)