Just to make you smile ...

I'm in the middle of typing up a some recipes from my journals and got a delivery ... time for a cupcake break!

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Diner Breakfast!!

Hey there! Well, I just got back from a little vacation and it was actually just in time for the quick blast of winter we got here in NYC. Real quick, before I tell you about the new episode this week, one of our blog buddies in comments used the chilly spring weather to make one of my season-straddling meals. Check out Holly's post on Random Cravings about my Beef and Barley Stew with Crusty Pepper Bread.

Ok, so tomorrow's Cooking for Real is called Diner Breakfast. Check out this episode's dessert first (shout out to Anne Thornton!!)

I'll tell you about those buns in steel in a sec ... teeheehee, but yeah the I titled the show Diner Breakfast, because there is nothing I love more than a greasy spoon breakfast. Sometimes I take the morning off from cooking and walk to my local one here in Brooklyn called George's. They have the biggest mimosa's I've ever seen at a diner, but that's another blog post.

Really, there are many diners I go to in many states and all over Brooklyn, so my inspiration is not specific to a place, but totally specific to the dining menu. Sometimes there's something perfect about a diner steak and some scrambled eggs for breakfast! I love it after a good hour of shoveling zig zags into the snow. I actually conceived the idea and subject for this episode when I was on vacation with friends last September. I ended up making breakfast everyday for everyone and felt like a short-order cook. I loved it and one of the things I kept hearing about after the vacation was how perfect everyone thought my eggs were. I thought, it's pretty easy and that's what I do on the show. Sure, you more than likely scramble eggs and have your own technique, but the cheese added can sometimes mess up texture. I do have a technique for scrambling I've used over the years I love, so I thought ... why not share it on the show? So the recipe is pretty simple, but the technique can take a few times to get right. That's something to think about when making a meal from a recipe. You pretty much have to have all the elements right; ingredients, temperature, tools, equipment, etc. and then the technique has to be there as well. So, if you ever have a problem with a recipe, don't stress. There are so many elements. Things can happen and they do. Just relax and give yourself time. No big deal. Cooking is like trying to get to Carnegie Hall, keep practicing and sooner or later your food will perform like an orchestra in your mouth! If not, try another instrument, ahem, recipe ... not everyone is great at everything. I will admit, it takes me a few times to get sushi rolled pretty. Totally uncoordinated at times. Ok ...

For the Diner Breakfast menu I have my Perfect Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, then I do the diner steak, but dress it up a bit because if I'm at home, I'll treat myself a bit better than the diner. To please that, I offer one of my go-to steaks that is so simple and really flavorful, my Grilled Rosemary Steaks (totally perfect for a pan-fry or broil if you want). Then, I sweeten it up with the easiest way to homemade cinnamon buns, my Easy Glazed Cinnamon Buns. This is all about behind the scenes here so if you want to see the cinnamon buns before the show or how they were developed in my home kitchen, I blogged about them in a post back in Nov. '10 called Buns, Apps, Cravings, Fun and More!

Ok, a big thanks to Darius Williams for his guest blog while I was away! Check out the newest episode of Cooking for Real: Diner Breakfast, tomorrow at 11AM and Monday afternoon at 4PM on Food Network!

Also, starting Monday Cooking for Real begins to air weekdays at 1130AM EST, in addition to the 4PM EST show. Two different episodes each day and this Monday's 1130AM airing of Cooking for Real is the most recent episode I call Easier Than It Looks with Darius Williams, owner of The Cupcake Gallery in Chicago.

Ok, so don't forget your chance to watch, for real :-) ...

Cooking for Real on Food Network

Sundays @ 11:00AM

Monday - Friday @ 11:30AM & 4:00PM

All times are eastern. If you ever want to look at the Food Network schedule for your time zone, bookmark this link

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Easier Than It Looks!

Hey there! I'm on the hunt for the elusive 15-pound lobster tail :-), but in the meantime I have a new Cooking for Real airing Sunday I want to tell you about!!

It's called Easier Than It Looks and a friend I met right here on the blog stops by to help me prepare the whole menu. This season, we added diner-like seating on one counter in the kitchen and I had guests come by and hang out while I cooked for a few of the episodes. Well, Darius Williams, owner of The Cupcake Gallery in Chicago was a guest on one of those shows alongside two more of my friends. We had so much fun taping that episode and he clearly has such great cooking skill, that my producer and I agreed asking him back to tape another show would be a great surprise and idea. So, after taping what he thought would be his one and only show, we approached Darius to ask him if he had it in him to do another show with me. He said yes instantly, what a champ! Here's Darius in a pic we took just moments before we asked him to come back for another show ...That's Jenna, Darius, myself and Fiona. Jenna thankfully filled in for a guest that couldn't make it due to weather and Fiona is a friend I met years ago and she was actually on another episode of Cooking for Real called Irish Eyes Smiling

We took lunch and Darius came back to tape Easier Than It Looks. We made my Sweet Glazed Butterflied Chicken and Tater and Asparagus Toss. Want to hear a funny little behind the scenes tidbit? Okay :-) ... after going through and reading the introduction I wrote for the show once, we stopped and decided to changed the title of the latter recipe because at first it was called "Asparagus and Tater Toss", but that sounded too much like I could be saying "Tater TOTS" at the end and confuse people and quite possibly upset the tots biz, so my solution on the fly was to simply switch around the words and call it the "Tater and Asparagus Toss". It sounds so simple now, but when I said it as a solution it seemed genius! Teeheehee ...

OK, catch the show this Sunday at 11AM and check out the blog Monday for my first ever guest blog from Darius himself recounting his experience taping Cooking for Real with me! Then don't forget the rerun of the episode Monday afternoon at 4!

Today show Fave Meal Video!

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I like Bittman's answer because if you were to ask me that same question today, it would totally be from fresh grilled fish!!

SEASON 9 Starts SUNDAY!! SUNDAY!! SUNDAY!!

I'm channeling Al Roker with the title, he always get a reverb on his mic when he does the weather and says "Sunday". Anyway, this weekend is the start of Season 9 of Cooking for Real!!

Tune in for the debut episode and see how I'm Cookin' it Old School! I share my recipe for a classic; Beef and Barley Stew with Crusty Pepper Bread! It's perfect for the lingering cold and easy to make. There are only a few steps to a great stew, then you let it do the work on it's on. If you make it on a Sunday, lunch on Monday is a breeze! Plus it seems rich, but it isn't, 2lbs of chuck (inexpensive) can make about 6-10 servings, just depends on how you dish it up! Then, I clean up all the heavy food with a Strawberry Arugula Salad and a Sweet Lime Vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is my go-to for a quick blitz that tastes great on way more than strawberries and arugula. If you are a salad person, give it a try! It's also great tossed with roasted or boiled potatoes.

Here are some pic of the stew in my home kitchen ...

Tell a food friend, tweet it, blog it and email it! I can't wait for you to see the new shows! Up soon are the episodes with my friends and family stopping by for some fun and food.

Ok, this Sunday at 1100AM Cooking for Real - Cookin' It Old School!! on Food Network! Set your DVR, TiVo or your alarm :-).

Star Jones Has Heart ...

Hey there! Well, I left you Friday with a question, which Celebrity Apprentice contestant did I have a photo shoot with that day? Star Jones! She's the new Editor-At-Large for Uptown Magazine and invited me to her place for a chat among chefs ...That's the executive chef, Clarence Van de Mark of Del Frisco's, a 35 million dollar a year restaurant here in NYC, then author of Grace the Table, Chef Alexander Smalls, Miss Star Jones, myself and Chef Herb Wilson. I'm always the non-chef in these 'chef chats', so GOOOOOOOOO home cooks!! I'm scoring one for the team!! It was a great dinner party and discussion about food today and I can't wait for you to catch the issue! It's a bi-monthly, so it'll be on stands starting in April and run for a couple months. I'll make sure to let you know when it's out.

So, of course conversation led to chatter about the new season of Celebrity Apprentice and her role on the show. Each celebrity picks a charity to support and each challenge during the show is about raising money for their respective charities. Star chose the American Heart Association for a very good reason. Just last year a week before her 48th birthday, she had open heart surgery to fix a complication from heart disease and wants more people to know about the 82 million people affected by this disease everyday. The show is the perfect platform so she quickly invited me to her viewing party that would happen last night and I easily accepted the invitation. I got all dressed up last night and headed to Opia to watch Star in the premiere episode of the show. I took this picture to show my bestie what I was wearing because she always asks, then when I looked at it I realized some of my treadmill time is working, I didn't even have to suck in! C'mon ladies, summertime is on the way we can do it!!!

I hear watching Food Network is all the rage on a treadmill, if that's you, you are not alone! Anyway, I went to Star's event by myself so I was totally hoping to run into someone, anyone I knew. Luckily, I was only there 5 minutes and ran into Alexander Smalls, the chef I met at Star's place just two days before. Here we are cheesin with my red boa ...Then I ran into someone I haven't seen in years, radio host Shelley Wade. Shelley and I both did midday radio at competing stations here in NYC years ago and were very friendly unlike some other people in the business. I never understood why people at different stations didn't get along. What's not to like about someone that loves to do what you love to do? Anyway, that's a whole other discussion, I was just happy to reconnect with her. She's still on the air and you can catch her late nights at NYC's Z-100. The dinner was also a fund raiser for the American Heart Association and everyone making a donation got a boa, I'm tucking mine away for some crafting in the future (omg, am I a hoarder?). The dinner was fabulous and before anything got started, Star made a very passionate speech about her journey with heart disease and how much she wants to not only spread the word, but help decrease heart disease by 20% in 2020. Here she is before a big screen dropped behind her for us to all view Celebrity Apprentice ...She looked lovely and spoke so passionately, everyone gave her a standing ovation. Here's the crowd once they settled back in their seats ...Packed house, eh? I didn't realize until I uploaded that picture that by chance I caught former New York Governor, David Patterson. He's in the far right corner next to the curtains, but it's totally a click and enlarge. Then a 'know his head-shape' thing lol. Here's another pic to enlarge if you want to know what we dined on at this heart-healthy event ...I opted for the tartare and the salmon. Both were tasty and healthy, not bad at all! After eating our entrees the room fell to hushed-tones and Celebrity Apprentice began. What a good episode! If you dvr'd I won't spoil it, but Star was ahem, the star :-).

Ok, stick around I have details about the new season of Cooking for Real and tomorrow I head out to tape a segment for the crew at Best Thing I Ever Ate. I can't wait to eat because it's at a street vendor!!! Then, a little quality time with the treadmill ...

Cheddar is #winning with Charlie Sheen!

So, just a little comedic break for the weekend. I was tooling around online and caught a live stream of Charlie Sheen, I'm totally #winning and I'm also aware of how soon that will be old. Teeheehee, but until then, my rescue kittie Cheddar proves she has tiger blood running through her veins, she's totally WINNING!! Take a look ...

SoBe Wine and Food Festival: OMG where did my week go?

Hey there! Well, needless to say I am sooo behind here. Is it ok with you? I feel like I had an assignment and I'm late. Reminds me of the people I used to work with at the magazine I edited. Everyone waited until the last second to get things in, but things still looked good! Hope that's the case here, let me roll out the remaining pics and stories from this year's SoBe Wine and Food Festival (check the link, there are pics there too!) ...

Saturday I headed out to the Grand Tasting Village for my cooking demonstration. Promptly after a sweet intro by Lauren Mueller, our director of public relations, I hit the stage at 3:15 to cook, for real :-) ...
That's me welcoming the crowd. It was packed, save for about 10 seats in the direct sun, some smart people decided to stand in the corner instead of sweat! It was hot!! I'm wearing jeans because my closet is a mess, I have no idea were my cargos or shorts are, I'm lucky I'm not wearing a turtleneck, as it's still cold in NYC lol. Anyway, I had a full menu with my Sweet Potato Hash and my Easy String Beans and Onions, but started with my Sweet Glazed Butterflied Chicken. All of these recipes are on the way in season 9 of Cooking for Real, can't wait for you to see it! First things up, let's do the butterfly!!I'm a skin junkie and the butterfly is the way to maximize my happiness. I like to start my cooking demos with technique so I can spend the rest of the time gossiping and talking about life stuff. If you were there, you now know which American Idol I can't stand, simply because she makes "it" look so easy! So, really ... I LOVE HER! You also know the difference between my South Carolina grandma and my North Carolina grandma teeheehee. Ok, so mid-way through my cooking demonstration, I noticed people a bit distracted with something left of the stage. I quickly turned to see these guys walking up to join me on stage for the fun ...We actually took that pic after my cooking demonstration was over. Guy and Emeril were so kind to jump on stage with me, it was a total surprise and really nice of them both. As I've said many times, Emeril gave me my start, with out him, I wouldn't be on Food Network. Then, Guy was the first host I met at the network that basically said to me "here's all my info, call or email if you have ANY questions about the gig". I took him up on the offer (which people hardly ever expect when they offer) and like a champ, he imparted some serious jewels I'm still very thankful for. So, it was really nice of them to jointly step up on the stage with me and say hi to the crowd. Just an hour or so later, I'd do the same and walk onto Guy's stage with Emeril and Robert Irvine. We went out to start the show and his crowd was so wild they all stood up in anticipation of Guy. I took this picture from the back of the crowd after we did the intro ... Pretty crowded, eh? You can barely see him, may have to click to enlarge the pic. I told Guy he's all over the place in NYC because now there's a Minute to Win it lottery ticket. Crazy. I was so excited to tell you about Guy and Emeril joining in on my demonstration, that I forgot to tell you about the Oscar winning celeb we had in the audience ...That's DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia. Of course, they won an Oscar a few years back for a soundtrack song to Hustle & Flow. I was totally caught off guard when he walked up to me and said he watched Cooking for Real all the time! I then asked him if he was "ready for this!?", he said "yup", so I told him how about 10 years ago when I turned 25, he performed with his group at my birthday party in Detroit, Michigan along with rapper Trina. Yep, I loved them long before the Academy Award :-). I was a radio dj at the time and begged for them to come perform and they did. The party was a sellout and it had so much to do with them showing up for the fun. He immediately remembered the night because of some unique circumstances, but it was neat for him to realize it was me then and here I am now, lol. Really funny moment and so neat to find he watches the show all the time. He talked to me about specific recipes and everything, pretty cool. I plan to have him visit the show in the next season and he's promised me he'd bring the Oscar along. That should be a fun episode, I'm already planning the menu! We all chatted for a few, then I bumped into this b*#chin' chick ...That's Nadia G, Host of Cooking Channel's B*#chin' Kitchen. I saw her the night before at the BubbleQ event, but it was too crowded to get to her, so I was happy to stop and chat at the grand tasting tent. She's really neat, check out her show if you aren't already b*#chin' :-). Ok, thennnnn the night before I stopped by the BubbleQ event and quickly found I had to go straight to the back of the tent for a trio of fun ...Word of mouth is the way to go at these events and it's usually the first thing I'm asking people "where's the good stuff?", as if it isn't all good, but you get me. I can't possibly eat all 30 booths of food. So that pic above is from the booth in the back with all the buzz. The chef is holding what I lovingly will call a "trough of love". It's one-third each of mac n cheese, BBQ and baked beans. Look at the display they had to advertise the "trough of love" ... I think the baked beans were the best followed by the BBQ and the mac. I headed over to get some cheesy grits from another booth and ran into Alex Guarnaschelli getting some desserts from a guy walking around with food furniture attached to him lol ... is that what you call it? "Food furniture"?? ...He was really nice and funny. I looked, but didn't get a dessert. I was saving myself for some cheese grits ...I must admit, I only ate the grits. I know there are short ribs involved and I'm a sucker for them, but after the "trough of love", I didn't have much space left. Alex actually came on stage with me at my demo the next day and told the crowd how I asked for an extra serving of grits, I totally did. I mean, a dollop of grits?! That just isn't right ... I mean a couple of spoonfuls, yes ... a dollop, no. Teeheehee, plus they were super creamy. Really can't go wrong with creamy grits. right after that, I started heading towards the front of the tent to leave, it was such a huge tent that it really took about 45 minutes to get from one end to the other. Right as I got to the end, I ran into Ingrid Hoffman ...She's so delicioso :-), I told her I watch her show on Galavision to learn the language faster. I already know plenty of food words in Spanish, so it makes it easier to learn the other words. Love it!

Alright, that's it for my visit to Miami except for a place that has become a must-visit. I'm talking about Haitian restaurant Tap Tap. I ordered the stewed chicken, rice and peas and fried plantains ...Geez, I was so happy I took it easy all weekend so I could indulge in some goodness! Ok, that's all I have left of the 2011 Sobe Wine and Food Festival! Mark your calendar for 2012 ... February 23-26!!!

Stick around, I have a photo shoot tomorrow with a contestant from this season of Apprentice, can you guess who it may be??