New Show TOMORROW!! It Takes Two to Salsa!

Hey there! Real quick before I tell ya about the new show. A Special thank you to Comcast and the Boys and Girls Club, they let me get my hands dirty today and it was all for a good cause, these people really care!! Here I am about to drop some food in the earth... More on this later in the post ...

In the meantime ... Guess who is on Cooking for Real with me tomorrow?!?!? I titled this one "It Takes Two to Salsa". OK, a hint on my guest... she is a big ray of sunshine, she's a winner and she's always a paarti!! Yep, my girl Aarti is coming over to play in my kitchen tomorrow morning on the newest episode of Cooking for Real. Here we are the day we taped (I totally get now that you'll see the picture and know the answer to the question above, but I'm on a roll and too lazy to edit my free thoughts, leave that to twitter :-P)As a person that is mostly happy all the time, it's so nice to meet another person of the same breed, Aarti is my girrrrrrrl. Just a nice jolt of energy and I can't wait for you to feel it through the television tomorrow!! Here's our menu ...

Curry Coconut Chicken Breasts - from my kitchen ...
Mango and Peach Salsa - from my kitchen ... then
Black Eyed Peas Pulao - from Aarti's kitchen!! It was fun to say and to taste!!!

We had plenty of fun on the show and I don't even know how we got any cooking done, I remember many times between takes my director and producer trying to keep us on track because we were just talkin' and talkin' lol. Too funny when you meet your talking match!! Love it!! Her and I can talk up a storm!!! Ok, set your DVR and Tivos for Sunday @ 1100AM or Monday @4PM for the repeat on Food Network!

Btw, I'm doin my best to keep up with the youngin's so I'm tweeting now semi regularly, i can't do the whole day on my hip, minutiae at all times thing, but I check in, so check in with me. I prefer to do my drivel in long form, but it's fun over there sometimes. Check me out Sunny Anderson Twitter

BTW, I'm on the road a bit before I begin taping the next season of Cooking for Real next week (thank you for watching!!), so I have so much stuff to share, but not all the time. If you've commented, I promise I'm getting to it next after this!! I still have pics and stories to share from my guest role on Are We There Yet and I also did a segment on Dr. Oz that airs soon, it was plenty of fun and it was set up like the Family Feud, so you can imagine there were plenty of laughs. I'll compile the pics and blog em up shortly. Until then thanks to EVERYONE today in Houston at the Comcast Cares event!! I was there to help plant some seeds ... in the ground and in minds as well. Volunteerism is a good thing!! Take a look at some pics ...I posted that pic on my twitter page earlier. The reporter asked me if I spoke Spanish and I said ... "I speak Spanglish!", So I stuttered and "como di say"-ed through the interview. Finally, she was like just say it in English lol!!! I am so happy I tried! I actually watch Telemundo news so I can learn faster. Works well when I'm ordering food and having basic conversation, but in an interview, not so much teeheehee ... I'm gettin there!! Then, here's a pic of Brooke Johnson, she's the President of Food Network ...

She took this before we both got dirty and put some veggies in the earth. I planted some eggplants and fennel. I actually was more interested in the dirt than the interviews, but every minute or so, I chatted then got back to work! It's a tough balance to volunteer, but also know people want you to talk about it so you can get other's to do it. I'd prefer to just do it and be left alone, but I also know that watching others do good stuff inspires me, so I didn't truly mind any of the gardening interruptions. But gardeners know, you get in a zone that is so zen, you just wanna be left to dig in the dirt. I love to garden!! Click the "garden" link below this post to see all my exploits in my Brooklyn concrete jungle!!

Today was fun though, it was so cute to give the kids a snatch of the fennel fronds and have them smell it and then taste the light licorice flavor. I'm tellin you, these gardens in the right areas are the key to getting families in "food desserts" (places where there are more liquor stores and canned foods than fresh fruits and veggies) intelligent about smart food choices. Brooke gave a speech and she was right, fresh berries taste better than a twinkie. Well, unless you had a bad day and a twinkie can solve that problem teeheehee, but seriously. Fresh is where it's at!! Here is a bigger look at the garden and me steppin' in to get to work ...
Ok, have a good weekend and join Aarti and I for the Paarti tomorrow at 11 AM on Food Network!!

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Much Ado About Stuffing and Pork!

Hey there!! This morning (Sunday) at 11AM and tomorrow afternoon at 4PM a new Cooking for Real debuts called Much Ado About Stuffing and Pork! I developed this show around October last year, I had plenty of cold weather spices sitting around and thought I'd put them to work! I say it plenty, but I really don't understand how we as consumers are expected to use an entire container of pumpkin spice before it goes dead and dry in the pantry. So, I really do my best to use up spices, plus some are expensive and having them turn to dust before you can use them up is the worst. So here to tackle some pantry spices is my Pumpkin Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin! It's really easy and with 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice, if you have the little half size of it in your pantry, you're almost done with the container!! Then, on the side a new way to do stuffing ...My Plantain Stuffing. In my hood this banana-family fruit is in high demand so it's always stocked. Somewhere around last year I was thinking about stuffing and how I always relegate it to the holidays and even though today is a holiday, I didn't plan for this show to be on today it just worked out that way :-). That's why I use store-bought bread cubes in the recipe, I wouldn't do that on a holiday, I try never to "phone it in on a holiday", but it sometimes it's good to do that where you can and a side dish is the place to start! Sometimes I add chorizo or breakfast sausage to this recipe, really takes it to another place.

Then, another thing stocked quite well around my parts is tomatillos. I play with them in the kitchen and every once in a while a dish makes a repeat, then I know it's in my kitchen to stay. Try my Sauteed Tomatillos with my Cilantro Vinaigrette, hope you like it! It's simple and I usually have it for breakfast with eggs and refried beans, but on this episode, it's a great side dish for dinner! It started as just the tomatillos sauteed and served on the side of scrambled eggs, then one morning I had some vinaigrette left over from the night before and I sprinkled some fresh cilantro over the whole dish. It all clicked and I wrote down the recipe immediately. It's tangy and sweet and the salt really balances it all out. Hope you like it! Ok, hope you enjoy the new show and happy Easter!! I went out early this morning and got myself a treat!!!

1 down, 4 to go!!!

Just something to look at ...

Hey there! Just something to look at ...I am super busy, been taking pictures and making mental notes for a marathon post. That was what I made for breakfast late last week and I just saw it on my desktop and smiled. Pictures are great like that. Alright, short and sweet and just something for you to look at while I plow through some work! Hope you had a good breakfast and lunch today ... what's for dinner?

Sunny Anderson on Twitter

Sunny Anderson interview with Dish

Want to join me on the Dr. Oz show?

Hey there! I'm over here making dinner and thought I'd stop in really quick with a neat opportunity for you. Well, that is, if you live in NYC or the area. Ok actually you need to be in NYC and have the ability to join me on Dr. Oz's set this Friday. Here's the deal without giving too much of the show away, the segment has a game show feel and it pits my team or "family" against another family. Well, as you know my family is spread out across the country due to our military background and I do actually have a family member coming, but I was thinking wouldn't it be great if someone from my "blog family" was on my team?

So, here we are ... we tape this Friday and if you'd like to be on my team send me your email in comments and I'll conduct some sort of quick drawing for the winner! Pretty simple. Only leave your email if you can have the day off Friday, you are in NYC and would like to go on the Dr. Oz show. (no worries, I won't post your email, it's just so I can send you a message if you win the drawing)

BTW, I'm tweeting, not say like a Diddy or an Ashton, just simple stuff here and there. Check it out if you haven't already Sunny Anderson twitter page

Also, I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to share with you some cool news, Ice Cube and the team at Are You There Yet? on TBS offered me a guest starring role on the show! I don't want to give too many details until I find out how much of my mouth I can run, but I tape my scenes tomorrow!! I am too excited! Can't wait to share the experience with you! I am soooo not an actor, but I'm studying my lines like crazy!! Wish me luck!!

Ok, New Yorkers, send me your deets if you want to come on the Dr. Oz show this week!!

Cup or Bowl?

Hey there! I had a great weekend and hope you did as well! I'm back in the kitchen working on the finishing touches of my menus for the next season of shows. Basically, I'm doing my recipes for the last time before I turn them into Food Network. I've made these several times over my lifetime or they are recent loves of mine. After I've made it plenty of times for fun at home and enjoy it, I begin to actually write down what I'm doing so I can share it with you. So, this testing is more so making sure I wrote everything down correctly in my notebook. I'm a lefty, so things I jot down today look like hieroglyphics tomorrow :-). Here's some cups of the stuff I'm working on today ... It's beefy and it's comforting and it's a bit left of the norm for this kind of dish. Wish I could eat the whole pot, much less a cup or bowl. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but you're a food person, so I'm sure you can figure it out pretty easily :-). Then I cooked up a pot of something perfect for a cook out or family reunion ... (can't wait to tell you about my two family reunions last year, hilarious)
That pot looks crazy on top, but like the Four Tops sang ... Still Waters Run Deep and beneath the caramelized film on the top was something tasty below ...

Deep flavor and it's so simple you'll be very upset you ever bought it pre-made in the can! Plus most people buy the can and "hook it up" anyway, so I feel you might as well hook the whole situation up yourself. It's easy and if I can do it, you can do it :-). Ok, I'm taking a break then heading back into the kitchen.

A special hi to the ladies I met at Petite Abeille this weekend!!! Hope you guys find the blog and enjoy the pics!

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Comforting Classic

Hey there! I'm excited about the new episode of Cooking for Real tomorrow on Food Network at 11AM. It's all about the classic comfort, so I called it "Comforting Classics". It's a mash up of meatloaf, mash and some veggies to boot, but I'm most excited about the title of my meatloaf. I'm a huge music fan and if you know anything about the singer Meatloaf, you know his song titles are the longest ever!! So, before I even knew he would resurface on Celebrity Apprentice, I wrote this episode to pay a teeny bit of homage to the legend. Now, look at him at the height of all the press now with his crazy Busey fight, you'd think I predicted it, but I didn't ... just had a hankering for some comfort food! BTW, I think it's the longest recipe title on FoodNetwork.com ...wooooohoooo (it's the tiny things that make me smile).

Ok, check it out tomorrow at 11AM and the repeat on Monday at 4PM. Comforting Classics on Cooking for Real ... the menu complete with my fun title ...

Meatloaf is the Way to My Heart As Long As It Has Kick and Potatoes Are Around

Baked Purple Mash

Easy String Beans and Onions

Chicken, it's what's for dinner ...

Hey there! I'm cookin' up a storm still in my kitchen getting my menus together in time for the next season of shows. First thing this morning a quick 30 minute counter top marinade for a very easy grilled chicken dish ...That's a close up of the juicy goodness. I'm sure you can tell what fruit that is there, but again I have to be a bit vague to appease "the suits", which by the way the suits never wear suits, very casual, as food should be :-). Here's a zoom out ...I just ate the tip of one and the rest are headed into individual freezer bags for a lazy lunch or dinner in the near future. I'm almost done recipe testing and writing, then I begin taping in May. I have some other stuff on the way as well I can't wait to tell you about so stick around! I'll also post a quick description and some behind the scenes stuff from this weekend's new episode on Sunday at 11AM :-) TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Bread Winning!

Hey there, now more than ever I'm aware of the word "winning", but I am winning with bread today, sooo please excuse the title. :-) Speaking of, I do find myself saying "the situation" plenty on Cooking for Real and in life, trust me it was all pre-Jersey Shore. Sorry if it makes you think about GTL when all you wanna do is think about food to escape. Funny when normal everyday words and phrases get new pop-culture meanings. Remember Paris Hilton and "that's hot"? Well, I have a situation here, a recipe just came out of the oven that's hot and hopefully it's a winner! :-) Can't wait to share the details with you ...I haven't even cracked into it yet, but be sure it will be a very small crack and then I'll look for someone with a better metabolism to finish it off. It's in my Emerilware cast iron lasagna dish. I'm still in my test kitchen transferring recipes from my journal to my computer while I cook menus for season 10 of Cooking for Real. I'm enjoying this calm before the storm of taping the show. Here, it's all me, but in the studio I'm on a crew of 40+ professionals putting a show together. It's such a team effort and I miss my co-workers! I can't wait to get back!! As usual with recipe testing for future shows I can't give all the details, but I can show you how this dish started ...It's in a show I call "Sugar n Spice" for the holidays, So this won't air until it cools down again, but imho it's worth the weight, ahem wait. :-)

Hope you are having a great week in food! Cook a bit, eat out a bit, read up a bit ... but enjoy it, food is The Great Escape!

Drink break!

Hey there! I'm still working in my kitchens today on the new menus for season 10 of Cooking for Real. The newest season is airing now, with a new episode this Sunday at 11AM! I'll drink to that!!

It's cola, lychee, grenadine and a bit of lychee syrup. It's super sweet and fizzy!! I'm taking a bit of a break between recipes. I finalized 3 or so menus yesterday and a couple of people asked in comments who eats all the food? Well, when I test in the Food Network kitchens usually my culinary staff and I, plus I put out the leftovers out on the community counter for the team lunch. Every one cooking in the huge kitchen that day provides something and together it makes for a pretty nice buffet with people standing and chatting up each other's offerings. That's what happens there, but at home all I do is invite over a few key bellies and it's over. Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Elaine had a good/bad idea to open a muffin-top shop, only to find out it was hard to get rid of the bottoms, not even a charity would take them. Who wants bottoms? Anyway, they just kept piling and stacking up the whole episode until she called in ... The Cleaner ...

I'm Gettin' Testy!

Hey there! I'm spending my week recipe testing for the next season of Cooking for Real. Yep, there you go giving my dream again :-) -- can't say thanks enough for your viewership and even more for sharing 30 minutes with me here and there. Now the show is on twice a day during the week, 1130am and 4pm, plus Sundays at 11am. I start taping again next month, so I'm putting the finishing touches on the menus. There are plenty of themes for Halloween and other holidays including some picnic fare. Can't wait for you to get these new recipes! Here are some pics from today and then I'm back to the burners!!I have two fridges and they are both stacked. Here's just two levels of the smaller one ...
This is a casserole of some type *wink wink* waiting for a run in the oven and these below are some ribs of a certain flavor :-) getting a dry marinade before a slow and low ride in the oven ...

Luckily, I've invested in another oven, so I'm double timing. Now if I could just buy another me to double time on the recipes teeheehee. Ok, happy cooking, for real! :-)

New Cooking for Real Sunday! TV Dinner Deluxe

Hey there! Another week and thanks to you another Cooking for Real airs today and tomorrow (Monday) on Food Network.

This week's newest show is called TV Dinner Deluxe. I talk all the time about my mom cooking great meals growing up, but I remember very distinctly the day my dad brought home a big box the size of saaaay a modern day washing machine. Inside it was the newest thing on the market, a microwave!!! It was soooo big ad heavy, these days they are smaller and do much more than popcorn, leftovers and TV dinners. After the microwave came into the kitchen it was easy for my mom to take a night off from cooking with the simple zapping of a tray of food that had everything: the veggies, the starch, the entree and dessert.

A quick piece of Cooking for Real microwave trivia; In the first season when I was trying to get the show on the air regularly, I had only 6 episodes to make an impression. In the planning stages I had a little bit of input on what I wanted on the set as far as vibe, colors and equipment. I begged like crazy for a microwave and got it. Never used it, but I was just happy it was there. I seldom melt butter on the range at home as I do on set, I zap it! It's faster and uses a smaller dish. So anyway, months later after getting the good news that the show was picked up for another season, I returned to happily tape 13 episodes this time and I was so happy to be there it took me a few days of taping to even realize the microwave I begged for had mysteriously disappeared from the countertop. So if you ever see a microwave on my set, that's me chasing a dream in season one back in 2008, thank you so much for allowing me to get to season 9. Three years later, I'm still in awe and very appreciative of this path in my life. I'm working hard and having fun, hope it shows. Ok, back to the newest episode ...

On TV Dinner Deluxe I recreate one of my favorite combos starting with my Easy Chicken Pot Pie, a quick and easy side of corn named after my bestie called Natina Corn and for dessert a tasty and simple Apple Compote. In case you are wondering my second fave was the salisbury steak, mash and brownie that never really got done in the center teeheehee. Plus, with friends in the house I serve up a quick drink you can pull together on the fly, my Rosemary-Lemon Starter

Yes, I said guests! Along for the ride today are 3 of my friends! My bestie Natina, my best male friend Jeff and Natina's bestie and good friend of mine as well, Robin. If you are wondering how the heck I'm going to fit 3 people on the show with me at one time, read-up on my set change in a post I called Pull up a Chair. Then, tune in for the fun and food this Sunday morning at 11AM eastern and tomorrow, Monday at 4PM eastern.