New Cooking for Real Saturday!! Sugar, Pumpkin Pie Spice and Everything Nice

Hey there! I was thinking this morning how busy it's been and how I haven't been able to blog as much. I really miss it and I'm going to try to do more in the coming months. If you missed me on GMA a couple of days ago, I'll post the video at the end of this blog.

Just wanted to let you know, in plenty of time for the big day, my holiday episode of Cooking for Real airs tomorrow morning at 8:30, then runs again Monday at 3:00pm.

I titled it Sugar, Pumpkin Pie Spice and Everything Nice and it's just that! I have a nice amount of sugar going on, another way to use up that pumpkin pie spice you may have left over from Halloween and Thanksgiving and a new twist on the green bean casserole! It's a really easy menu and the thing I love the most about it is dessert. Now, let's talk about that dessert ....

Sometimes things get cut for time and it's always really hard to pick what doesn't make it. It was REEEEEEEALLY hard for me to part with the topping that goes on the bread pudding, so...only here on my blog will you get the way to truly bring this dish home!! Now, don't get me wrong, it's great without it, but there is just something about the texture you get when you top it this way that I just suggest you try :-). I mean look at the texture ...
Crazy. Okay, so here goes addition to the recipe for my Double Chocolate Bread Pudding with Bourbon Whipped Cream:

Follow the recipe as is, but before you put it in the oven make the topping:

6 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon maldon salt

In a medium bowl combine butter and toss with flour to coat all sides of the butter. Then add brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and salt. Mix together with your hands to get butter to blend into all the ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the dish.

Then, continue with the recipe as is, baking it and topping it with the Bourbon Whipped Cream! See, you really get some inside stuff here :-). I taped this episode earlier this year, so I cannot remember if I even allude to the missing topping, but there it is for you and I really, REALLY suggest you try it :-)!!

Ok, please spread the news!! It's the last new ep of the year and I wanna go out with a bang! :-)

Cooking for Real!!! Sugar, Pumpkin Pie Spice and Everything Nice!!

Saturday at 8:30AM and Monday at 3PM

Ok, now here I go on GMA ... a quick note, it's live TV so I accidentally said Mother's in New Orleans puts

fruit "juice" in their bread pudding, I meant to say fruit "cocktail". :-)

Ok, here goes... several things are in the video, but the star was my Cinnamon Toast Pudding!

Catch me on GMA Thursday!!

Hey there! Well, I'm toot-tootin' along over here, just working through my week like you. Can't wait for Saturday which is why I'm sending a lil message out now about GMA in the morning! I'll be with the new team to chat about my 4th of July Special called Sunny's All American Celebration. Tomorrow, I'll post pictures and behind the scenes stuff from the making of the special. I am SOOOOOOOO excited. Can't wait to share and for you to see it all on Saturday, but first ... Catch me tomorrow (Thursday) morning on Good Morning America (@GMA) in the 8am hour towards the middle to end. I have a menu of side dishes perfect for the summer and of course plenty of details about Sunny's All American Celebration. Sounds like an awkward speaking in the first-person moment is going to happen if I don't practice that right lol ... see ya in the morning!!!

BTW, I'm tweeting now ... @SunnyAnderson or click here Sunny Anderson Twitter

GMA - Labor Day Wknd!

Hey there! I just woke up from a mid-morning nap and thought I'd share the video, some pics and recipe links from this morning's visit to Good Morning America, in that order :-) ...

George, Elizabeth and Bianna were so nice! I always liken these visits to a wedding ... there's plenty of planning, lots of primping and prepping and it's over in just a few minutes! I'd say the honeymoon is eating the goods! Here's entire setup in the hallways this morning before they wheeled it outdoors to set up ...Then, before the segment airs, there are usually a few mini segments called "teasers". They usually want you to do something like prep or just stand there and smile while they promote that you'll be on next. I did both this morning. Here I am during the one with action, starting a shred on one of the many pork shoulders we had on set this morning ...If my count is correct there were 7 pork shoulders on that segment. 1 raw and untouched, 1 with marinade and plastic wrap, 1 with marinade and no plastic wrap, 1 on the grill, 1 on the cutting board, 1 shredded and one shredded with my BBQ sauce on it and really if you count the fact that there were plates of my Pulled Pork Sandwiches already made for the hosts and the crowd, that's really 8 pork shoulders!! That's not all, there was the Biden's Pasta Caprese Salad and my Patriotic Berry Trifle as well, all spearheaded and styled by Chef Karen Pickus. Here she is as usual ... beaming and smiling under heat and the pressure of time ...The time it took to slow roast all of that pork deserves a hug alone! Elizabeth really liked the pork and took the dessert to go, I like a woman that doesn't forget the sweets! It was such fun and as George mentioned at the beginning of the video, the pace is so fast he almost didn't make it to the segment! He came running towards me just a split second before you see us say our hellos. I just love that morning energy! I knew yesterday I would be teamed with George, but halfway through the segment is when I noticed Elizabeth and Bianna. They were both so sweet and Bianna's eyes were really pretty. Here we are making our way down the line ...I got a chance to talk to pretty much every one in the crowd and there were some ladies from Dallas, TX and some from further east in the state, a few people from Ft. Lauderdale and even North Carolina. At one point before we went live it just kind of hit me, I was in Times Square, happy and working. I turned to the crowd and just simply blurted "We're in Times Square!!!" and they just erupted in the biggest cheer! I was happy they were just as excited as I was. How neat. Here I am about to pour on my Apricot BBQ sauce ...

Then, like I said it was all over. Hope you caught it! Visit the links from above to get directed to the GMA website and if you don't already have one, get the September issue of Food Network Magazine for complete coverage of my visit to the Vice Presidential residence to cook for and honor our war veterans. Have a great Friday and if you have a 9-5er I hope you get to scoot out a bit early :-).

BTW, you can catch my other recipes on GMA's website with the links below ...

Flank Steak Fajitas

Vegetable Chips with Blue Cheese Dip

Sunny Side Up Burger

Green Eggs and Ham

Mexican Street Corn

Berry Berry Fizz

Sunny's Money Salad

Mary J @ GMA YAAAAAAAY!

Ok, I just got back from taping GMA and I'm headed out to Coney Island for a dog and some fries, that marks the official beginning of summer for me! Check out who I would have to say is my favorite singer. Period. All genres all decades, ahem next to Michael Jackson. :-) So I guess she's my fave female artist ...
I was so excited I took this pic last night when my guy was setting up the DVR to record the show ...
In my life (pun intended), with being such a huge fan of hers, would I ever imagine being billed next to her. Never. I mean, huuuuge fan here. In my long radio career I only met her only once and did her the favor of not gushing like crazy and telling her how much her art meant to me then. It helped that I was at work and I needed to keep my cool, I did the same today as I politely asked for a picture, I just really wanted to gush. That's when I know I like someone, I'm speechless and at a loss for words, or really the courage to say them. Almost never happens with my motor mouth. Let me tell you though ... her legs were on fiiiire! Look ...
Closer ...
Crazy tight! I need to get in the gym. lol.
I totally loved her outfit, the jumper craze is one I have to watch walk by because I'm just not built for it, but Mary wore it well and of course sang her tail off. I caught a teeny tear dripping from my right eye when she performed No More Drama. Amazing to feel it in every chord. She delivers every time I see her. The crowd was so loud for her the hosts couldn't even hear each other, pretty crazy. Take a look ...
What a performance! I wish you were there if you're a fan like me. Mary rushed off to the Essence Festival in New Orleans to deliver again. Here are some other pictures and when I get back from my stroll through Brooklyn, I'll hunt down the video clip in case you missed what I was grillin!
That's Chris, Elizabeth and Marisol. I made my Sunny Side Up Burger, Summer Corn Salad and Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Pie.
I think Marisol really liked the dessert, it truly is a pie of fluffy goodness. I really dumbed down marscarpone cheese for the recipe teeheehee, but it works so well here. A must try if you have a sweet tooth. Here I am at the grill.
We literally pulled up to the back stage area like 20 seconds before I had to go on the air for the first of 2 "teases". That's the lingo for when they show you what's on the way during the show. If you caught it live, it's evident in the first tease that I'm out of breath! lol ... I'd just run up the hill from the parking lot behind the stage. Pretty funny. Here I am between teases with my makeup artist JJ ...
I've known her almost 10 years and never thought we'd get to work together because of her schedule. Pretty cool to know someone for that long, as a military brat ... I don't have much of that. Speaking of, have a wonderful 4th of July weekend with your friends and family and a special thank you to all the military members here and abroad keeping us free. Enjoy the grill!