More FN Kitchen Time!

Hey there! I just wanted to throw up some more pics from today's journey in the kitchen. To bring ya up to speed, my show Cooking for Real got picked up for more episodes so we're compiling and testing my recipes before we shoot. I couldn't tell you how many things I've cooked this week, but to say it'll all spread out over 13 episodes can kinda give you the idea of the cooking load. I ain't alone though :-), I have my trusty team on hand. Here's a pick of us getting loopy yesterday between roasting and frying...

That's me on the left with a 10-inch wide by my side :-), Santos holdin' the tray and Sarah. Sarah is one of the producers and Santos is a Culinary Gangsta of all Cuisine or a C.G.C. ... (i told him i'd come up with somethin' ... but the official title does have the word culinary in it, so can a chick get some points? teeheehee) I said "hey everyone pick up something for the pic!" I grab my knife, Santos the food and Sarah the pen! Too funny!!

Alright, also yesterday remember I put up some pics of two cakes? I almost toldya the name of the one I ate and then decided I should check ... glad I did ... top secret cake title and it isn't done yet ... still a work in progress. Let me tell you though ... the dude in the kitchen that made it ... he's my new best friend. I want another slice. Or two. Or three teeheehee. It's such a great scene to look up and see people happily cooking. No chef barking on the line or a manager yelling orders. Everyone cooks and works pleasantly and the different kinds of food that go down in one day spans the globe. Today, I got a taste of some Thai food and got another slice of cake ... this time chocolate! That was from someone else's cooking station.

The Peaches n Cream cookies I did yesterday are still getting good reviews in the building, so I cannot wait to share the recipe with you on a future show. Today we started with breakfast ... hmmmmm I seasoned some pork and made sausage yesterday, so I browned it up and we ate it alongside some breakfast recipes I'll share soon. This is my empty plate ... excuse my need to pour more syrup on than needed, it was so good I overdosed.

Then some more bfast...

And omg ... at first this was going to just be a sweet and tangy custard pie, then when I took it out, I said let's use those egg whites we had left over and voila! A better pie without waste! Gonna change it to a smaller spring form to get the custard to meringue ratio better, but it was so yummy. Can you tell which slice I called out? Ok, hope ya like the pics ... I am beat. Thanks again for all the support and hope you catch this week's show!!

Friends, Beer and Pie

Hey! First, I want to say thanks to everyone that caught the first Cooking for Real episode! Hopefully you get to tune in again for week #2 and new people tune in as well! I've been saying, "tell a stranger"!! I got good news back about viewership, so hopefully we keep the momentum! Ok, so this past Saturday my best girlfriend Natina came to hangout from D.C. to celebrate. Me, her and my boyfriend piled into his car to meet two other friends for dinner at Zum Stammtisch, a yummy German restaurant in Queens. This is the most authentic German food I've had outside of Germany other than say Disney Land in Florida. (is it land or world in Florida? I always forget) Yes, btw, I think maybe the reason the food is so authentic down there is they have the money to ship in the right ingredients and hire the right chefs, but there's a whole German section down there at the park that adults would love!! Ok, so anyway dinner at Zum Stammtisch was perfect as usual. I had two Pilsners and was done! If you are ever in NYC, get over to Queens for some Bratwurst, Schnitzel, and Beer! Make reservations, it is packed on weekends. A 1 hour wait, but with reservations, 5-10mins. My dude was the designated driver and good thing, because I could barely give directions on the way home, lol. I used to be able to hang with the tough guys and now 2 Pilsners knocks me out. I have a pic of my plate, but it was taken 1 beer in and isn't the best representation of what it looked like, it's blurry and framed funny. Too funny. I had my favorite, Jagerschnitzel with German Potato Salad. I do a version of Jagerschnitzel in an upcoming episode, hope you catch it. Okay, then the next morning we got up, I made breakfast and we watched the show on a 5 minute delay because I was taking time plating and getting everything outside of cooking done. I love DVR! I just got it a couple of weeks back so I can record the show and also avert some remote control arguments teeheehee. Anyway, it was good having my friend and my guy there. Natina then informed me she wanted me to make a Key Lime Pie. She treats me like a restaurant when she visits, sometimes walking in the door and spouting off menu items she expects to see while visiting. It's hilarious, luckily my pantry can handle it, but one time she showed up when I was in heavy veggie mode and was not too happy. I made her meatless meals for 2 days lol. So, this time in addition to what we've begun to call "The Natina Breakfast" (complete with 3 eggs, hash browns, bacon, and anything else, but not stopping at the three, those are just the foundation), she also ordered "fresh baked bread". Then early Sunday she's sittin' on the couch and says "key lime pie" ... to that adding "wouldn't that taste great?". So, I went and made a Key Lime Pie, well, I didn't have key limes, but you get it ... I thought, if I make it now it'll be able to sit and we can have it later. You can't eat one of these right out of the oven. I add zest in just about anything that requires the juice of a lime and the crust was extra buttery. Next time I'm gonna make the crust with cinnamon grahams and see if it adds anything to the taste. So around dinner time when I go to give her a slice before she went out to the city with some other friends, she decides she didn't have a taste for it! lol! She is so high maintenance teeheehee ... you know I was like, fine ... more for me. Here's the pics... whipped up some cream and sugar then topped it with some more zest. Don't hate on my platin' skills ... I'm studying. Gimme a few more months teeheehee. Again, thanks for the support! Tell a stranger!!!!