Fast food from my youth ...

Hey all! I'm on the road again shooting the new show that starts in liiiiike 2 weeks? July 7th, but I did see somewhere an email about there being a July 6th showing ... like a sneak peek. I'll let you know as the date rolls near.

Anywhoo ... this week the crew and I are down south and chillin in the heat. lol ... yeah right, chillin'. I think I sweat off about 10 pounds in a tomato field somewhere west of Charleston, SC. Ok, lemme tell you the neat thing about the traveling ... I've lived so many places and been so many places that I'm getting to see people and places I don't normally get to see. So, the first stop this week as I mentioned was South Carolina. Well, my grand-daddy and actually one half of my fam is from there. At first I got really excited to know I'd be close to relatives and then I looked at the schedule and realized there would be no way I could squeeze time to trek out to the sticks to see them. So you ready for this??? Between locations we had to catch lunch on the go because the next part of the shoot, the tomato factory, was like a jillion miles away and we had only one day to do the farm and the factory. At first, we pulled into here ...


Now, I wanted to try this out cuz boy did it have the look of a place that knew how to make a bangin' meal. But one quick trip inside by one of the crew turned the almost "hit" into a miss ... it was more of a relaxing meal spot and not an on the go meal spot. I coulda said that right as we pulled into the parking lot, but really if there is new food available I almost never find a downside lol, so I kept my mouth shut and hoped it would fit in the schedule. It didn't.

So we got back on the road and no sooner did we start to scope for a new faster spot to eat at, did I see a logo I hadn't seen in years. Then, the craziest thing is, I was jusssst talking about this fast food place not 2 weeks ago when I was in Hawaii. I was chatting with the cocoa farm owners who were from South Carolina and all we talked about was what we missed. They moved down to Hawaii 12 years ago and didn't look back, a real cool husband and wife team that chose to spend the rest of their life making chocolate and having wine at sunset everyday. So, just 2 weeks ago we were talking about South Carolina hash, South of the Border, the people, the weather and BOJANGLES!!!! I brought it up to them and when I did their eyes lit up and the wife sez to me "that's just about the only thing he misses, Bojangles". I thought, these are my kind of people!!! I only got to see my grandparents in North and South Carolina a teeny bit growing up, so I tend to repeat the visits in my head alot and one thing I remember was Bojangles. Look, I remember much more poignant things, but we're talkin' food on this one. This place was always colorful growing up, with decorations n stuff and I think that was mostly the allure as a kid, check the pallette of colors and this is just the counter menu view.


Ok, so anyway back to Bojangles, really neat to be pining for it just 2 weeks ago and now I see a sign for it from the highway. We pulled off the highway and the sign at the off ramp said 7 miles to the little town my family is from. I instantly started to get a bit emotional. It has been forever since I've visited and mostly my fault as an adult, lemme tell ya I worked really hard for the last 15 years and barely made time for life. Things are different now and I'm making changes here n there to actually live and take time to enjoy it. Ok, so knowing a 7 mile detour so I can see some family is out of the question. I am really just happy to be in the vicinity and repeat it to myself as a mantra to try to not break down and completely cry. I get inside and order my lunch with the crew and begin to chat up the girl at the counter ... turns out she knows ALLLLLLL of my family!! We were just dropping names and stuff, talking about the church behind my grand dad's place she goes to that our family goes to as well, my aunt was married there. Crazy. I started to cry. Just felt so good to meet someone that had just seen my cousin last week at church. Small world and crazy coincidences. What makes me open my mouth and say to the farmers I missed Bojangles, then 2 weeks later to see a sign for my family hometown and know I can't go, but to pull into a Bojangles and meet someone that sits next to and with my family on a regular basis????? Man, was I a happy and teary eyed chick. I wear my heart on my sleeve proudly and cried a happy and sad cry at the same time. Well, there was just enough time to order, chat, exchange numbers, cry and jet. Here's my lap of a tabletop cradling a biiiiig biscuit, grilled chicken nuggets, and a container of mash n gravy.


Ahhh eatin on the run, some may complain about having to eat fast food on the run while pulling a long, hot day of work, but for me it returned me to my youth and visiting family we didn't get to see on a regular basis due to my dad being in the Army.
Ok, If you read my blog regularly, a coupla weeks ago I promised a post about the brains behind many of the plates, bowls, spoons, etc you see me using on Cooking for Real .... it's still on the way. Also, real soon there's some stuff I'll be doing to promote the new episodes and as soon as I can Iet ya know where to catch me on the tube, stands, airwaves and blogs, I will. BTW Jacob, just a blog-public thanks for everything, you've been so honest and supportive. I had such a good time chatting in close quarters of my fave teeny bistro spot and glad we shared a sugar high in the heat/rain/heat of NYC. :-)

I'm Lau Lau, Lomi and Poi'd out!!!

Aloha for the final time from the Big Island! Today is my last day in Hawaii and I've spent most of it working online and making calls. All the shooting was done yesterday and I fly out tonight. I ran into a little hotel suite party last night, equipped with a DJ no less! So finally this morning I slept in regardless of the time difference. Yeah, 6 hours behind Brooklyn here, so I was getting up at like 3am every day, when I didn't have to be ready for the shoot until 6am. Werd. Then we'd finish around 6ish 7, so that was like 1am for me ... crazy, but we did it and had fun doing it!

Here's me playing with bees ....


And one farm we went to was like an animal refuge, there were turkeys and dogs, cats, geckos, and a peacock ... just chillin' ... so I snapped away...


Pretty colors, huh? It was chilling in the shade beneath a tray of cocoa beans roasting in the sun. A real pretty sight, even peacocks knew the heat was oppressive!

Yesterday I was determined to get some local fare, we'd worked so hard that at the end of taping days, all we really wanted to do was retire to our rooms for sleep. So, with work done the crew and I all headed out to eat together. I did a lil word of mouth poll around the hotel of the natives and narrowed it down to a spot that seemed what I was looking for. Not fancy, but a real home-cooked authentic Hawaiian cooking spot in a town 15 miles south of us called Honaunau. The place is called Super J's and it added up to all expectations. It was described to me as basically a house on the road that a family lives in and serves people food as well. YEEEEEEEAHHHH!!! Ok, so anyway, here's some pics below. But first ... the Poi Guard. Look, I'd rather call her something reminiscent of a popular Seinfeld episode about soup, feel me? But thing is she was rather sweet, just very serious about her poi and who ate it. Here's what happened ... first we pull up and it looks like it should, a small place without frills, I was thrilled and the guys seemed to be thrilled as well. We waltz in and looks like daddy is chillin' reading the paper on a plastic fold table, this would be our table. Once he realized we were staying to eat, he picked up his paper he was reading and quickly began clearing off the table for us. As he began to shuffle we began to order from Ms. Super J herself at the counter! I went first and said my Alohas and such and then started to ask for the chicken lau lau and she recommended I try the pork instead because it was better. I was like ok, no biggie. Then I ordered something I'd never had before salmon lomi. She said it was yummy and I'd love it, it had tomatoes and salmon and green onions, salt and pepper. Like a salmon salsa. Then ... came the trouble with the Poi Guard! I said, yeah and I'll get the poi. Super J was says to me as if to qualify me "well, do you like it?!". It caught me off guard because I'm thinking what? Food? Yes, I like any food, but I clarified and said "poi? yes of course I like it". Then she was like "well how much do you want? Just a little bit like this?(makes a hand gesture to show a circle about the size of one of those tiny plastic take out cups, the ones they put the jalapenos, lemon wedges or whatever in. Like 1/4 cup capacity). I frowned and said, "no, more than that" and just that quickly, she turned from the Guard to the Lady! She smiled with approval and moved on to the next which was Tony, camera man extraordinaire :-). She put him through the same thing, but it was much shorter because he watched me go through my dialogue to get the poi, now here's the funny part ... up next was Bruner- sound man of the year :-). He steps up to order and this is EXACTLY HOW THE EXCHANGE WENT DOWN

Miss Super J aka "Poi Guard": What would you like?

Bruner aka sound man of the year: Uhhh, yeah I'll have the lau lau and the poi.? (notice the period, then question mark? cuz that's kinda how he said it, well she smelled fear in his voice and then asked him the next fateful question)

Miss Super J aka "Poi Guard" : Have you ever had it?

Bruner aka sound man of the year: No, uh what's in it? (and it was over)

Miss Super J aka "Poi Guard": Oh no, uh-eh (shaking head) YOU GET NO POI!

We all just burst out laughing, and she smiled with pride. She said in not so many words, she wasn't gonna waste her poi on him. I mean it was hilarious, and you know what? She really didn't give him any poi! Scott, our producer went after Bruner and played it safe and didn't even ask for poi teeheehee. I shared mine with him, but I say all this to say, just like that similar Seinfeld episode the food was being "guarded" for good reason, it was exceptional. amazing. yummy. all of that.
Here we are all outside right after ordering ...


Then we sat down to eat after getting drinks from the fridge ...


Sorry no food close ups, it smelled so good, I was 3 digs into the tender salty pork wrapped in the taro root leaf (the lau lau) before I noticed I forgot to snap a shot. The lau lau was perfect and I was very happy I took her advice and went with pork. Now, have you ever had salmon lomi? I hadn't either. Ooooooowwweeeee it was good, I poured it all over my rice and then because I liked it so much she gave me extra and some juices from the mixing bowl! YAAAY!! Look, it was goooood and the Hawaiian tomatoes escaped the recall we had in the continental states last week. It was salty and sweet due to the tomatoes, plus salmon is kinda sweet on my tongue too. It was like salsa with no fire. The poi was light, and the perfect consistency. Fresh is the word. Turns out according to Miss Super J, the farmers don't like harvesting it these days, so there's a teeny shortage which is why she prefers to feed it only to someone that she knows will eat it all. I get it. Totally. Here's Miss Super J tending to the dishes n such. She seemed too shy to ask for a photo, so I caught a candid...


We sat there for about an hour and just enjoyed the meal. A cute little girl was running around barefoot and carefree and she caught all our attention, just so cute. I mean, this was relaxing and enjoyable, a perfect ending to this trip. If you ever make it to Kona, Hawaii, I'd make a run to Honaunau and take in all that is Super J's, and if you want to try the poi, based on my experience, act like ya know!!! Alright, I'm headed back to the mainland ... here's a Hawaiian sunset, enjoy the weekend and I hope ya catch Cooking for Real and NFNS Sunday, then the webisode :-)

Saturdays at Coney Island!

This past weekend we had a waft of heat hit us in the tri-state area ... more specifically, Broooooklyn!!! which is where I now live and love so much. I mean I live 7 train stops from the beach!!! Not just any beach, Coney Island! I grew up seeing hints of the Wonder Wheel or the Cyclone in various TV shows and movies. Then, when I moved to brooklyn a coupla years ago, I caught a documentary about Coney Island and came to understand it's history more. Every year it threatens to shut down and every year it get's bailed out. I don't think it's goin' anywhere, but there are changes happening slowly that some locals fight about, I ain't in to fightin' about it, I'm into enjoying it while it's here (forever, i tell ya).

One of the great things about Coney Island is it has some personal significance for many generations of New Yorkers and visitors all the same. People fall in love there, go on first dates there, skip school and hang out there :-), enjoy family time there. Me and my dude, we fall in that category without giving away too much of our biz teeheehee, so we've talked about waiting for the weather to break to go back to one of our special places we share with millions of others. Finally, we got some beach and boardwalk weather predictions and allll week we talked about going ... when we'd get up, what we'd wear, how to clear our schedules and most importantly we plotted out our plan of destruction re: the food!!!! plus, I had a week of traveling ahead and boy do we enjoy our time together, so we had to get in some quality time. Everything that has happened with work for me has been a bit all at once, so it's nice to still take time for personal happiness, something that eluded me in my previous radio career. I'm sure plenty of chicks have done it, career first and boys 2nd lol ... finally I'm working on both equally and boy does it feel good when you have the right match. ok, lemme get off the mushy mushy ....

The food!!!
Ok, first I had to get some funnel cake ... I'd show ya a pic, but 1. it was gone in a hurry and 2. it wasn't the creme de la creme of Coney Island funnel cakes. There are about 5 vendors that make it, an unofficial count, but really there's only like 2 places that make it fresh. yeah, I bet you are like what kind of "not-fresh" funnel cake is there??? Well, it was fresh at one point, it's premade there I presume in bulk and then they put my precious cake in an oven meant to reheat pizza, right next to a slice!!! ... anyway, as soon as I saw the set up and couldn't see a deep fryer in sight behind the counter, I got a little anxious about the taste. Let's say it was ok, but not a winner, I still ate it :-).

Then we headed to Nathan's, of course! I wanted a corn dog and cheese fries. I'd get the chili on the fries too, but I'm a no bean person and Nathan's rocks the beans. Lemme tell ya, that cheese sauce was sooooo hot, I burned my tongue and didn't notice until much later. Ok, no picture of that as well cuz my cheese sauce rendered my fingers inoperable. the hardest thing about Coney Island and the Nathan's on the boardwalk is -- where do ya sit???? I always get a bit anxious when in line, I'm lookin over my shoulder at the benches wondering where I'll be able to plop down and massacre my food. I always get a bit panicked after I make the purchase ..... it's kinda funny in hind-sight how anxious I get about it. All I can say is my dude is an excellent bench spotter. Found one about 1 second before I was just gonna sit right down on the ground and eat ... I mean cheese sauce has a few minutes before it is more like a cheese cloak than a sauce. Hey Nathan's, c'mon get us some more benches!! lol .... aww heck, there is a whole sandy beach out there to chill on, who am I to complain? Here's me pre-cheese sauce, corn dog & beer, post-funnel cake ....



Then we took a trip on the ol Wonder Wheel .. what a ride!! We got on a swinging one, there's a choice between still and swinging ... same ride, two different experiences. I'd say, don't swing if you just ate and you have a light tummy. Basically, the swinging baskets have a track they run on and when the wheel turns and the right angle or height is reached, the weight of the basket makes it follow the tracks and "swing" in mid-air ... the other baskets are a normal ride. Here's a pic from up top ... 



What a hot day it was. Then on the boardwalk we saw this lady with two dudes making something and stopped. Turns out the lady had the two guys dunking strawberries in hot melted chocolate fondue style. I mean brand new fondue sets, boxes freshly discarded in the trash next to her kiosk. I was alllll ready to buy one when she snapped and told me we had to wait for them to "cool" ... COOL??? lol it was 80+ degrees out there and she thought the chocolate was gonna go rock-hard like a chocolate covered strawberry ... she also had marshmallows as well. So, anyway, not to educate her about chocolate we just kept it movin', but walking past her again we saw others just like us wanting the gloppy hot mess of chocolate on the berries, but she was shooing them all away ... I wonder if she ever made a buck Saturday. I mean it was hot, no way that chocolate was gonna chill ... she had it in the shade too, like that was helping and it wasn't ... so when we got home, courtesy of my shopping earlier in the week, we already had strawberries (nostalgia shopping after the strawberry story in cali, i guess) and my pantry always has chocolate of various flavors and forms .... so here we have some homemade chocolate covered strawberries ... 



I used semi-sweet ... after a quick chill in the fridge we tore em up in like saaaaay 15 minutes??? Prosecco and juice to accompany ... okay, I just landed in Hawaii ... yup, tha big island ... I'm not here for a tan though ... born with that :-) ... I'm here for more How'd That Get On My Plate? work ... this time, I'm focusing on honey and and speaking of chocolate? Cocoa. They harvest both here. I'll take pics and post when I can ... here for 4 days and already got a taste of some local "VOG" ... fog that is not fog, it's really volcanic dust that looks foggy ... 

Denver Dinin' and Sunnyvale's Shinin' - the marathon post

So, I just wrapped up a lil trip to tape the second and third episodes of How'd That Get On My Plate? First, lemme tell ya about me and traveling. Due to my upbringing as an Army Brat, I'm accustomed to new places and things, but boy do I dislike flying. I can remember throwing up on a government flight from Germany back to the States for a vacation and it's been difficult ever since. Then my crazy self joined the Air Force. The first year was in Korea, so that was cool, flew there and stayed put for a year. Then I got an assignment to produce and write radio news stories for AFNEWS and moved back to San Antonio (my high school city), but almost never was there because the gig required lots n lots of travel. I didn't like it. I mean I loved telling the stories, but they would sometimes come abruptly, like news does, and I'd have to get on a flight and be there. Needless to say my electric bills were teeny tiny some months due to my frequent travel the last 3 years in the Air Force. 

I distinctly remember being rolled into the television department at AFNEWS to go shoot the Holiday Greetings oversees, a 2-3 month trip that included many 1-day stays and living out of the suitcase. I protested, loudly :-) ... I was just exhausted, and a long TDY (that's military lingo for "tour of duty" and means a biz trip) didn't look like fun. It was grueling work I can't even fathom now. We'd break into teams of 3 or four and then break the world up into regions and each team would tour all or many of the bases in that region and we'd tape every single soldier, airman, seaman, or marine saying happy holidays to their families back home. You may have caught the greetings on your local news station or even on the national news around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I mean we taped thousands and thousands of people, sometimes we'd begin taping before the sun rose and ended after it fell. I was young and everyone on my team was older with families and it was always such a lonely trip for me. Our thing to say was we "flew" by some of the nicest places in the world teeheehee ... not much time to sight see. Plus, I always did the Pac-rim trip, the Japan, Guam, Korea, Hawaii leg ... man did I want to do the Germany leg and never got to. So, I say all that to say, after I left the military I thought my frequent flyer miles were over .... Since then, I've gotten better at flying, although being new to NYC just a week before 9/11 gave me a bit of a set back. I always got sick, but now there's anxiety attached. The best thing for me was to be able to plan flying, get relaxed about it and get my mind ready, in the Air Force, I sometimes got very little notice. So far on How'd That Get On My Plate? I'm doin' okay, no throwing up just yet on the flight lol ... but I did drip a tear on landing in Denver. Sucks to tell you cuz it feels wimpy, but if there is someone that dislikes flying that reads this, you have a friend, especially if you fly for work. :-) Okay, on with the post ..... Denver dining ....

I got to Denver on Memorial Day and realized I'd left my flat-iron at home, so first thing's first I needed to find a spot to buy one ... on the way to Walgreen's on the 16th Street mall I saw a Sally's and stopped there. Then looked down the street and saw Chili's ... yaaaaaaay! Don't look at me crazy, the hood I live in has no fast food places, much less the semi fast food of places like TGIF and Chili's. I mean we have a kosher Subway, but you can't get cheese on your sandwich and there's a kosher Dunkin' Donuts, but you can't get cheese on the croissanwich. I need cheese. Funny enough, I didn't get anything from Chili's that was cheese and meat combined, but I still felt like I was livin' on the wild side! Plus, have you ever had their SW eggrolls? They are yummy, even with the corn. I also must tell you about my Taco Bell thing, look ... it was right there on the 16th Street mall as well and lemme tell ya, my second paying job ever was at Taco Bell, so it's in my system. I was waaaaay too excited to find one within walking distance from my hotel!!! I did it two days in a row and woke up the next morning like, ok ... today I'll do something different. We get to the parking lot of Lamar's Donuts and off in the distance courtesy of my Lasik, I see a sign in the sky ... SONIC!!!! I immediately knew what I wanted for lunch! Donuts for breakfast of course. Here's a shot of Jamie, me and Dellgosh ... he was the master donut maker and trains people at all the stores, so he was there to give me the lowdown on Lamar's Donuts. Here we are smilin' away ... sugar does that.



Anyway, after a morning of donut making, the crew was all into getting lunch from this other place, complete with shrimp and pasta and food that was way too fancy for lunch for me ... I wanted SONIC! Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you ... Sonic was the 1st paying job I ever had. Yeah, so it was pretty neat to get done with Taco Bell, the 2nd spot I'd worked at and the next morning run into my 1st fast food love, Sonic. Also, people in the NYC area will feel my pain ... they run Sonic commercials here all the time and every single time they run, I'll log on and see if finally a Sonic is in the area .... and every time, I'm let down. Have you seen the new one with the fries and shake joke?? Hilarious to me, anyway .... I had a Cherry Limeade and Onion Rings and almost lost my mind when there was no ketchup in the bag! lol ...don'tcha hate it when that happens? Luckily, the donut shop had ketchup, go figure. I know you are like, just rings and a drink? No burger or coney?? Nope, it was all I could do to save prime real estate in my belly after working the morning in the donut kitchen. At lunch time my tummy space was at a premium. I had the equivalent of about 5-6 donuts. Lemme tell ya, I'm gonna gain some pounds with this gig if I don't watch it because people offer free food left and right and sometimes the foodie in you HAS to try it. Like who wouldn't try several donuts fresh from the fryer? I tried several flavors in several different states of production, before glaze, after glaze, no glaze, with sprinkles, no sprinkles, toppings, fillings, you name it I tried it if it was offered and then some. Then that night the suits from the production company wanted to do dinner. I was like eat after a day of over eating? Sure ... we ate at Rioja in Denver, just off the 16th Street Mall. Here's what I had ...



Brioche Crusted Sea Scallops, organic brussel sprouts, crispy smoked prosciutto, lemon creme fraiche, pistachio pistou.
The salad dressing or pistou (think pesto, i'm sure that's the derivative) was yummy ... pistachios made it perfect. This is an entree I asked to be made into an appetizer portion. Then ...


Candied Lemon Gnocchi, butter poached crab, shaved asparagus, fava beans, grape tomatoes, tarragon herb salad, Moutere Grove organic olive oil emulsion.
The asparagus were yummy, but cut in a manner that made it difficult to get on a fork, very thin and very long at an angle. Pretty, but hard to eat.


And another chef that knows we like our black pepper and we don't want to wait for someone to come by and offer it with a grinder they don't know how to use. Ever try to get them to loosen it to give you coarse pepper? It should be in the waiter handbook, how to use a grinder, right? Anyway, I'm a sucker for the teeny bowls on the table.


Now, can I speak freely? My scallops were gritty and there was a big chunk of shell in the butter poached crab meat. Lemme tell ya though, the crab meat was soooo good that even though my tummy was stuffed from a full day of eating, I searched every shred out on my plate for consumption, a little shell wasn't gonna stop me. It's just I'm sitting there having a great conversation with the people I've just met, who wants to break the flow by asking for not only the scallops to go back, but the gnocchi with crab meat as well? Plus, it takes plenty for me to send back a plate ... I think I'd only send back an improperly cooked steak. I mean that is something to get mad about, not a kitchen prepper that can't clean seafood properly. That's just me, and heck now that I think about it ... I just recently had a steak in NYC that was killed in a bad way by the chef. It was totally overcooked and  I sat there and tried to eat the tough piece of meat and never said a word. What is wrong with me? Do I need to send food back? It really feels weird to do. Help me if you have those issues. I'd much rather not eat something and say I was full to the waiter than tell them what I found wrong with it. Come to think of it, the gnocchi was a bit too salty as well. O my, what is wrong with me? I dine on tacos and onion rings and then complain about scallops lol. Okay, anyway ...the company at dinner was great. 

Then the next day we all headed out to a chicken farm in the sticks, I mean faaaar from anything. No food to eat, just chickens to pet ... take a look ... 


Okay, these chickadees were just 2 weeks old so they needed heat to feel warm ... hence my sweat. The make up artist kept trying to dab me, I was like just give up ... it's okay to be sweaty in a sweaty situation ... the chick was so sweet, when I let go to put it back down it didn't want to leave my hand. real cute.


And this is a hen about 24 weeks old and egg-baring age :-). I got a close up with no flash, she moved her head and I ended up with a prettier pic i think. Picked her up too, she was a sweetie. All her friends were pecking at my plastic bag wrapped feet. Reflexology on the farm!

Then, when we broke for lunch I was very interested to see just what we'd run into. Turns out even though we were in the stix, Sara who works on the production is like a chick I remember from a Seinfeld episode. Remember the one where Jerry was dating this girl that could get the impossible done? Remember she got tickets to a sold out show with just a smile? Anyway, our Sara has this gift, heck she got us on a farm behind a biosecure door, all I had to do was put on a blue suit ... big whoop, gimme tha suit!! So, anyway, even though we were faaaaaar from civilization, she managed to get a place to deliver lunch faaaar outside it's delivery zone. And boy was it good. You ever have something to eat where right as you bring it to your face to chomp on you are hit with the aroma of it??? That's Jimmy John's sandwiches. I mean this was a sandwich that had the freshest bread and boy did it smell fresh, just yeasty and yummy. Then the bread was chewy and light and airy all at once. Bread can really mess up a sandwich as was foreshadowing for the Sunnyvale, CA leg of the road trip... Take a look at the box each of our lunches came in too ... really cute, with chips, a cookie and a pickle.


Makes me feel like a kid to get a boxed lunch. Like it like that from In & Out Burger in cali too...


 All I could think was yaaaay cheese and meat together!!! I got the #12 Beach Club, Fresh baked turkey breast, provolone cheese, avocado spread, sliced cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and mayo! (It's the real deal and it ain't even California.) 

THAT'S HOW THE FOOD DESCRIPTION LOOKS ON THE MENU PARENTHESIS AND ALL :-)


Turns out it was the owner that did the delivery too, really cool dude. Now you ready for this??? Remember how I was saying I'd kinda run the Taco Bell out in 2 days and knew I needed a change? I was just saying to myself, wonder if I can find something within walking distance just like the Taco Bell. So, the next day after the yummy and perfect Jimmy John's lunch I needed to get something from Walgreen's that was on the same street as Taco Bell ... and what do I see right next to Taco Bell??????



Yes, a Jimmy John's sandwich spot, right there on the left and it was right there all along. Isn't that so true in life? I left Taco Bell thinkin' ok, this is it, I gotta find another place and right next to it was a place that made yummy sandwiches. It was so funny I had to take a pic. Only thing is, the next day was a travel day to Cali. So, no more Jimmy John's, but at least I know where to get a good sandwich next time I'm in town.

Ok, on to California to talk strawberries. I knew from my teeny stint in the Inland Empire area that strawberries grow very well in Cali. We went to Sunnyvale which is significantly north of where I'd lived before, but still the perfect climate for strawberries. We got there on a Friday evening and immediately decided to catch dinner in town. Now usually before I eat at new places I google search to death and also go to a few foodie websites to check the reviews, this time I had no time. We decided on Tarragon and hopped in the car for the short trip from our hotel. All the internet time I got was to do a quick menu scan which turned up a drink I wanted to try. The Cherry Life Saver. Look, I'm a 7&7 drinker if it's not beer, but I'll try a new drink, just like food. Plus the name was catchy. We all took a sip of mine because I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was not a Life Saver flavor ... we all decided it was more like cherry Nyquil. That was before the food got there, I settled on 2 beers and ate this ...


Cowboy Bone-In Blackened Rib Eye Steak, Pointe Reyes Bleu and Onion Strings.
Cooked perfectly, I always ask for "medium rare, closer to rare".

and then after all the eating, laughing and NBA.com refreshes on my pda for real-time play-off scores ... our director/producer decided to give the Cherry Life Saver another go because it had watered down a bit ... turns out after time the flavors mellowed and the Nyquil flavor morphed into a Hawaiian Punch flavor! Now that's a drink I can work with! lol ... here's the watered down pic ....


Cherry Life Saver turned Kicked up Hawaiian Punch ... I'd call it "H Punch Drunk" teeheehee

So, If ya like Hawaiian Punch and want it with a kick, go to a bar and ask for a watered down Cherry Life Saver teeheehee. Service was relaxed at Tarragon, probably because the whole town was relaxed. Really cool ... on the short restaurant row we went to there were 2 other herb-named eateries. Basil and Turmeric. I think if I had to go with one herb inspired name for a place it'd be Sage. I think. The next day we headed out to the sticks again for acres and acres of strawberries. Now this was pretty cool food-wise. We stopped at a farm that had rows and rows of expiramental strawberries. From the tart to the extra sweet and can I tell ya my foodie friend? I ate as much as I could!!! Dirt and all. Plus, breaking news!!! They are currently working on harvesting white and pink strawberries!!!! I only got that info when asking about golden raspberries, I was like if you can have those, why not different colored strawberries and the strawberry geneticist gave me the news!!! Yes, you read that right, dude had a PhD in Strawberry Genetics. Word. I ate and ate and ate those top secret berries and hope the sweetest one I ate makes it to the market. Thing is, sweetness isn't the only thing they look for it's also the right balance of shelf life. So, I took care of that and shelved them into my mouth!!! Then for lunch, all the field workers were getting nothing but the best from the taco truck ... so you know that's what I wanted. I used to make up excuses to leave work when I was at AFNEWS so me and a coworker could go to the gate for the base and get some tacos from the place that sold them there. I am a taco truck junkie. Everyone else was duped into sandwiches, but I went with the unpopular route and asked for some taco truck tacos and dined on the finest of chorizo and bean while the sandwich takers complained about the bad bread that ruined their day. Remember how I said Jimmy John's sandwich bread just made my day?? I think part of my reason for not wanting a sandwich in cali was cuz the one in colo was just perfect! Why mess with an immediate good memory? Like really can I get the perfect sandwich twice in one week?? I didn't think so and the cali sandwich was being much publicized by a local, I just didn't buy into the pitch. Felt a bit set-up if you feel me. The guys on the crew said they thought the bread would be good because we were close to San Francisco which is famous for it's sour dough. We'll have to go to the bay for that ... their bread left them feeling empty, my tortillas were right on the money! When in Rome baby!!! Thing is we were all filled to the brim with fresh strawberries anyway. Ok, then just as we finished eating lunch ... the sun came out!!! Just in time for me to deliver a line to the camera about loving sorbet on a warm day, need the sunshine for that visual and we got it!!  That was Saturday, flew back Sunday and today ... I'm grocery shopping, my fridge looks a mess. I made a chocolate pudding pie last night with peanut butter chips, gonna whip up some whip cream later and indulge. Other than that, boy am I happy to be home, but boy did I have a good time on the road. 3 shows down, 10 more to tape. Happy Monday!!!

Dos ... (equis)

Well, day two of taping was fun! I ran into a bin of Dos Equis bottles in the FN kitchens, very out of place, but just as I was wrapping up for the day I saw it and thought it was a cute thing to see at the end of day two, dos down, I think 8 more to go? Anyway, day two was Friday, but I'm just now getting to post because I had a lazy weekend. Friday morning I caught what I thought was the beginnings of a cold. The whole day while taping I was fighting it with meds and tissue paper and funny thing is I didn't feel sick, just really wack congestion and the usual. I got home Friday and commited to knocking out early to let my body rest. The next morning I went to the local pharmacy and the pharm dude says he thinks it sounds more like allergies ... I got some allergy meds and I am good as new!!!! Never ever had an allergy problem before and now, my eyes are watery, nose a mess, you know? So, as promised ... a pic of something I can show from taping ... the "green room"

This is my sanctuary while taping. I get in early before everyone and just kinda chill. I eat my breakfast, oatmeal every day while taping, then check my email. Then, I sit at the table and go over the days' notes. What show I'll be taping and which recipes go in that show. See, nothing too big. I also think about talking points and what I'd like to say about the ingredients and the recipes. Usually right about then it's been an hour and I go into hair and make up ... then on with the day. Here's a pic of today's snack while my dude and I played Warriors on PS2 ...

And remember I told ya about Upstairs on the Square in Baahhston? Well, we are still talking about how good the meal was and the atmosphere to match. Here's another pic, I almost lost words when I saw the 2 finger dishes of salt and pepper ... I was in heaven ... that's my bellini on the left ;-)

BAAHHHSTON ... the haaahdway...

Teeheehee ... yeah, I was in Boston with my dude and the whole time we were there we murdered the accent. So, the title makes me giggle.  BAAAHHHSTON. I decided after a long week of cooking almost all of the recipes from my next run of episodes that I'd take a long weekend. So me and my dude got on a train to Baaahhston! I did this trip a few years back when I got a hankering for a lobster roll. I initially made reservations back then for only 2 nights I think, then ended up having such a good meal and time at the hotel that I stayed longer than expected and continued to eat until I had to get back to work. It helped the hotel was attached to two malls :-). This trip had it's interesting moments. The train ride was great, but after a week of cooking homemade stuff ... I settled in for some train food and got this ...

It doesn't look good, and if it got zapped about 10 seconds less in the train microwave, it would've been as perfect as a cheeseburger in plastic wrap can get. :-) The bun was chewy, but really ... I was so hungry it was gone after two gulps of Corona. The cheese was yummy. lol. You'd think I'd be full from all the cooking, but the load of recipes was so high, it was like I had two seconds to taste for accuracy before we moved on to the next recipe. So I had tapas all week teeheehee ... the train cheese burger was my saviour. Then next to us on the train was a lady talking about some really crazy stuff. Ever hear a conversation that is exhausting? That was it, but the funny thing is my dude and I had our own internal jokes about it ... is that wrong? We were making the best of an interesting situation. So... we get to Boston and we are staying in the hotel I stayed in before because I remembered such a good stay ... but lemme tell ya, something happened the night we got here that we probably won't forget for some time. Let's just say it felt like we were in pre-civil rights times at most or dealing with a classist jerk at the least. And the jerk works at the hotel. After the encounter we go grab a late night bite and the meal was bangin'! It was this place called News. I ordered the French Toast with Vermont Maple and two eggs sunny side up with bacon and an English Muffin. I know, again ... I was hungry. My dude got the Roast Beef sandwich with the best fries I've had in a long time. He didn't have to offer once after I heard the crunch for me to try them. They were fat and still crunchy because they were battered and I think twice fried ... really really winner fries. We kept saying to ourselves ... and this is a lounge? It was more of a club than a restaurant feel, probably because it was about 1:30AM and most people were chillin' on the couches than at the dining tables, but really the food was great. As we were leaving people were coming in that were surely coming for a bite to eat after the club, so If you are in Baahhhston late night and you are hungry, this is a place to add to your possible list.

Then the next day we had lunch at a seafood spot I probably shouldn't name because ... although my oysters on the half shell and king crab legs were yummy, something my dude ate (clam chowder, shrimp) gave him food poisoning ...3 hours after eating we hopped into a car service to get to Faneuil Hall to go see the Red Auerbach bench sculpture. We got out, passed a fake Cheers bar and just around the corner there he was ... sitting for eternity. 5 minutes after this picture, my dude threw up lunch in a trashcan, then took a 10 minute break and threw up some more. Food poisoning is no joke ... but it's pretty cool to know your stomach can actually reject food. Check out Red ...

And an added tourist attraction bonus to his left (our right) was this ...

Good ol' Larry Bird!! Very cool.

So that was Saturday .... the sickness pretty much kept us in the hotel. Did dinner in the lobby restaurant. Then, on Sunday we went to two restaurants on the opposite ends of the spectrum and had two baaaaaangin' meals. Our hotel concierge Jerry, was a pit of information. You know when they say that about people? He was that and so much more. Just really a nice guy. So, he set us up for brunch at Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge's Harvard Square. This is a place he described as "Alice in Wonderland on acid" and immediately we agreed to make a reservation. We were not disappointed. Eager to get there we hopped into a cab and the driver took us over the bridge that separates Baaahhston from Cambridge and then decided to tell us he had no idea where the restaurant was. He was like, I can't know where everything is lol ... I was like, maybe next time tell your passengers when they get in, not when they get across a bridge lol. We got out and hopped into another cab and pulled up to the street and spotted it because it was the only spot on the block with bright pink and purple chairs outside ... just a little hint at what we'd see inside. The decor was aptly described as Alice in Wonderland on acid ... there were animal prints, pinks, purples, greens, gold painted chairs. There was a bridal shower going on with some partying ladies, a few locals and Harvard students, Take a look ....

The light bulbs had wings



Now look at the fooood.

Selection of Artisan Cheeses 

(figs were yummy) 

Tuscan Style Melon & Prosciutto de Parma

(pesto was sooo good)

Eggs Benedict

Two Poached Eggs, Pancetta & Tarragon Hollandaise 

Served on an English Muffin

(h.sauce was so good, I asked for a side of it and it came in 2 secs, perfect balance of lemon and butter)

Lobster Omelette

Sautéed Mushrooms, Brie & Petite Salade

Signature Milk Chocolate Pecan Turtles (plate of 3)

(ok, theeeese .... theeeeese?? were ... i mean .... omg and so sweeeeet and sugary ... and the chocolate melted ... just .... theeese  were ... we should've bought some to bring back) Our waitress brought us these complimentary when we ordered this ...

Butterscotch Pudding

Pecan Caramel Shortbread Cookie

(the spoon is covering the first scoop taken out surreptitiously by my dude before I could snag a pic, he had the hand-in-the-cookie-jar face teeheehee)

All was very yummy and just when we were about to leave, our waitress told us that a neat show was about to happen, little did we know our table was front row, stage center. A few seconds later in runs the Harvard Krokodiloes, according to them they are the oldest acappella singing group at the university and they did a short, but very entertaining show, one dude sang Summertime and my eyes got a bit watery, I'm a wimp for music .... here's most of them, mid-song....

We took a break, walked some and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner!!! Now this place was recommended to me by someone at Food Network last week when we were chatting about our weekend plans. The chef just won battle coffee on Iron Chef America and I was told it may be hard to get in. Jerry hooked us up and at around 9pm Sunday night we were at Clio in foodie heaven!

It was a total departure from the funky decor that worked so well at brunch ... this place was more refined and conservative in decor and atmosphere. People speaking in hushed tones and white linen on the tables. I had ...

Frozen Hot Chocolate

(liquid nitro and it was smooth and velvety)

White Asparagus with Maple

(I love white asparagus and this was so good, sorry i didn't take notes, i just ate and ate and then now i see it isn't on the online menu, but lemme tell ya it was divine.)

Sweet Butter Basted Maine Lobster with chanterelle mushrooms, fava beans and vin jaune d'Arbois

(ok, i've never had a lobster more tender and buttery, the vin d'youknow was out of this world creamy and silky, and yes ... the foam was good too teeheehee)

Couldn't tell ya the title of this one ... i'm gonna have to call, i know, i'm wack i really was counting on it being on the website, but it isn't. i'm really not doing it justice because this meal deserves more respect teeheehee.... really does. ok, well the orange dots were mango sweet, the white was a lil scoop of ice cream, the blocks were butterscotch and the orange curls tasted like orange life savers, little crunchy bits ... it was all verry yummy!

Every bite garnered a remark of how good it was, me and my dude just kept saying how our food tasted. It truly was the perfect meal. I wish I could've been a judge or something on that Iron Chef to taste more of Chef Oringer's creations! Crazy good.

we walked back to the hotel because the weather was nice and omg, how much did I eat this weekend?? I took no prisoners ... I'm on my "water is my only drink right now" diet, no more beer, soda or sweet tea for a minute ... gotta get some good fluids in me teeheehee ... ok, hope you had a great weekend. Check back soon, I have some behind the scenes news about my Cooking for Real set, if you are in to that type of stuff :-) ... Happy Tuesday!

Paul Mooney kept me up and I liked it ...

So, ok, look ... I cannot begin another Friday post with the "where's my week gone mantra", but omg WMWG??? I'll start by saying a post about my fave cupcake spot is on the way. On Thursday, I had a breakfast meeting with someone from work, so I was in the city early, which almost never happens. It's usually an afternoon trip. Thursday was one of those days we feel we deserve in NYC after having wack winters. lol. I spent 6 months in Cali and must admit, got a bit sick of the same sunshine everyday ... it was real cool when it hailed and even nicer to drive to the top of Mount Baldy and see some snow where the foot of the mountain is like 90 degrees. Ok, so Thursday was lovely in NYC. Everybody was out and about so after bfast, I thought, I don't wanna go home yet! I was so close to my old job that it reminded me of one of my favorite restaurants in the area that I used to go to all the time. I thought it'd be a great lunch, but I totally needed to walk a bit, then it hit me ... I missed a friend's birthday and they were just blocks away at my old job! So, I texted her and minutes later we were eating at Petit Abielle on Hudson. I had the Bangers and Mash, she had a sandwich. I will surely talk about Petit Abielle at some point at length, but I'll start by saying not only is the food amazing, the owner, the staff, everyone there are great humans. Smiley faces every time you go there. We had fun talkin about the good ol' days and what we were currently up to and on the walk back to her job is my fave cupcake joint I posted about just this week!!! Out of the Kitchen! ***ok, remember I said I'd post at length about how good the cupcakes are??? well, things have changed, they moved locations for one!! just down the same street though and added menu items, I was so overwhelmed. That ode to the cupcake there is on the way, but right now I am tiiiiiiiiiired!!!
My dude and I just got back from seeing Paul Mooney at Caroline's on Broadway. It is 4:19AM! He started his set at 1AM and didn't end until 3:47 and it was allllll hilarious. I wish I could pull a specific joke, but there were so many, plenty of his humor is observational as well. Totally wouldn't translate if I typed it. It was the perfect ending to a long week, plenty of laughs and 2 cervezas.
If you are up in the morning (Sat) and have Sirius Radio, I'll be on Eminem's Shade 45 channel at 1030AM with DJ Whoo Kid and Coach PR, tune in and join in the fun. I know the guys from my radio days and for them to ask me to the show to promote Cooking for Real is the ultimate in support and friendship. Hope ya catch it, until then ... nighty night.

Cupcakes and show notes ...

How's that for a purrrty cupcake?? Yummy! I bought it last week from Chelsea Market's Ruthy's Bakery. I'm in to cupcakes. The cake, the frosting, the whole thing. Back in early 2006, I did a pilot for a food show and filmed a segment at Sprinkles in Los Angeles. They were on the cusp of national acclaim, but I'd already read about them in a few magazines, so I was psyched to get a free cross-country trip to eat cupcakes for free lol! I even got to make them with one of the owners, there's a tiny kitchen back there that cranks out a jillion cupcakes a day. I had about 6 cupcakes at the shoot and then after the day was complete at another great spot in L.A., Cafe De Artistes (amazing mac n cheese btw), I went back to Sprinkles for like 4 more. Then I went just a few doors down and got some of those homemade tortilla chips I saw frying in the window earlier. I had to do the intro to the show walking down the street and talking and every time I passed the window with chips deep frying in oil, I'd silently think to myself "chiiiiips" lol. I wanted to house those chips so baaad! I also wanted to eat some cupcakes too, and I'd already researched the next stop on the route and knew I wanted to eat that too. What a mess, only in town for a 2 day shoot, how do you fit all the eating in??? Anyway, Sprinkles' cupcakes were pretty darn good. If you go, skip the tiny wooden fork, I know it's in a classy area, but really ... a fork??? I can kill it in 2 bites, 5 with people watching, so ... c'mon teeny forks are for oysters, not cupcakes. teeheehee. I loved the chocolate-peppermint one. I don't know the name of it, but it is the one I remember and went back for later. Sat in my hotel room like a cupcake bandit, eating em on the bed with a plastic container of over priced milk in on hand and the booty in the other. The memory is quite funny and pathetic at the same time, but at that moment I was in heaven. I'd just filmed my first pilot and at the end of the day I had a lap full of cupcakes to celebrate. Well, the pilot didn't get picked up, but I eventually got a show on the network :-) and have great memories of a free cross country trip for a cupcake! I remember the chocolate being really good as well at Sprinkles. The red-velvet was yummy too, but I think my grandma takes the cake on that, pun intended :-). And I'll get to grandma a bit later in this post, but real quick. My fave spot so far in NYC for cupcakes is Out of the Kitchen! on Hudson Street in the W.Village. I think, I'd have to use an entire post explain how they taste, so I'll just say my mouth is watering now as I type and I haven't had one of their cupcakes in about a year!

So, hope you caught the second episode of Cooking for Real , It was all about taking you a bit into the south with pork chops, greens and cobbler. I mentioned my grandma during the show and didn't tell her before it aired. I wanted it to be a surprise. She is such an amazing cook and I always remember eating cakes and pies and the biggest breakfasts and heart warming dinners when we visited. So, she gives me reviews when I'm on and is always candid and never sugar coats things, but this week when we chatted after the show she said she sat with my aunt and cried while watching the show. Now, I gotta say that's an amazing feeling to know I touched her that way and she even said they were gonna make the stuffed pork chops! Now, what bizarro world am I in when my grandma is doing one of my recipes?? Totally crazy. I love her so much, she is hilarious and I know every time we talk I'm going to laugh. So, I'm glad episode two got the thumbs up from grandma. I watch and then when it's over I think to myself what I could've done differently or said and I hope I get a chance to share more stories and recipes and things and get better. Hindsight is crazy when you do television, I just can't wait to see how next week's episode turns out. I'm happy to get messages from people that are trying the recipes or parts of them. It's all about sharing! I'm really happy with my shows so far for being a rookie :-), hopefully I get a chance to get better like a fine wine or aged steak lol. Ok, Hope you guys catch the next one. It's a Tex-Mex theme with Churros, Huevos Rancheros and Mexican Corn. I did most of my living in San Antonio, about 6 years total split up by S. Korea. I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv Tex-Mex! Chorizo is king!! lol I used to plot my living situation based on what Tex-Mex restaurants were in the area. For those nights that I don't feel like cooking, having good spots to eat close by is a life saver. It's really one of the main things I think about when moving, grocery stores, fish/meat market and restaurant locations. I'm getting back there very soon to visit some high school friends, but until then ....
RE0103: MEXIN-IT UP
Premieres: Sunday, April 20that 10:30AM ET/PT, Food Network
Some of the best Tex-Mex street food happens right in your own kitchen when Sunny Anderson whips up her Huevos Rancheros with Homemade Black Bean Puree, Mexican Street Corn, and Homemade Churros with a hint of lime.

And here's the rest of the episode descriptions ... TiVo or DVR is you can't catch 'em live ... and as always ... tell a stranger!!

RE0102: BISTRO NIGHT-IN
Premieres: Sunday, April 27th at 10:30AM ET/PT, Food Network
When you're craving a great bistro meal, don't rely on your corner spot, do it yourself! With a ‘Bistro Night-In’ Sunny Anderson cooks up Grilled Chicken with White Wine Mushroom Sauce, Garlic Hasselback Potatoes with Herbed Sour Cream and Wilted Green Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.

RE0105: REAL COMFORT, REAL GOOD
Premieres: Sunday, May 4th at 10:30AM ET/PT, Food Network
Ever crave some comfort food only to find yourself not so comforted? Sunny Anderson helps out when she brings it home with a belly-warming menu of Meatloaf in Tri-Color Pepper Molds, off-the-charts Macaroni and Cheese, and Shake Shots to cap it off.

RE0106: GERMANY IS WONDER-VEAL
Premieres: Sunday, May 11th at 10:30AM ET/PT, Food Network
Lederhosen beware! Sunny Anderson fills you up with her delicious, German inspired meal. She starts things off with a traditional hunter's dish of veal Jaegerschnitzel served over Southern Cheese Grits, Honey-Glazed Carrots and finishes it all of with a mouth-watering Baked Apple with Crisp Topping. Guten appetit!!

And now ... another shot of my cupcake, it was between this and one topped with a Sesame Street character. I bought it for myself last week Thursday and rescued it from my fridge Sunday night! They really know how to pack a cupcake at Ruthy's! It was all snug in it's little plastic cradle that fit perfectly inside a shorter and wider than usual Chinese take out box. I'm saving the brown bag so I can re-use it and decrease my human footprint. Every teeny thing helps! p.s. cupcake lovers, feel free to share the best spot to get 'em in your 'hood in the comments ... i'm a traveler and ya never know when you'll need to celebrate on the road! :-)

Linner & a Jean Georges Double Play Day

Ok, another week where I'm trying to figure out where my days went. Somewhere in there I had a birthday! That reminds me, I have an ice cream cake in the freezer I need to polish off! :-) I had this Linner liiiiiike Tues? I just never posted it. It was pretty simple. I called em Diner Burgers. Really because the goal was sloppy, but neat and crispy meat. lol, that rhymes! I seasoned then made the patties tiny, like a bit above a big meatball. Then used 2 per burger. I julienned some Jalapenos, thin sliced some onions ... the usual suspects. Nothing special here but seasoning the meat properly and cooking technique ... I did the bacon first and then used that fat to fry the burger patties, very yummy. Then some tomato slices with salt and pepper, equally simple and equally good. How about I died and went to Jean Georges yesterday??? I had a day of lunch, drinks, then dinner. I haven't had a day like that ever. Ever. I mean I did middays on the air and then afternoons for about a year, so going out to eat 3 times in one day??? I don't think I could have fit it into my schedule then, but somehow now I have. Lunch was at The Spotted Pig. This is a restaurant I found while just tooling around online looking at food sites early last year. I loved it from the first time I went and went back I think about 4 times that week to finish the menu. It's a small menu and it changes with the season, something I love. Everything is excellent, my faves are the liver any way they prep it and the gnuddi if you ever go. No reservations are taken and even if it's super packed, they will serve you at the few little free-standing-bar-on-a-column things they have upstairs. Then, for drinks I went to Jean Georges' Spice Market!! My exec producer and I thought we'd catch up, he's super busy working on other shows. I had the Lychee-Raspberry Bellini, two of them which is my drink maximum these days. We also got appetizers at the bar. Shared 3: Salmon Sashimi with Golden Garlic, Lemon and Soy, Spiced Chicken Samosas with a crazy bangin cilantro-lime dip, and Shrimp Tod Mon Pla, which is best described as a crab cake made of shrimp, accompanied by a cucumber, peanut relish that was UNBELIEVABLE, but try eating a crabcake with a chopstick and get back to me. Heck even the bar nuts at Spice Market were good. Took a sec to get refills on drinks, but the food made up for it, duh. Then, I went straight from there to meet up with friends at The Mercer Kitchen for dinner, another Jean Georges restaurant (really, have I gone and died?teeheehee). There we had prosecco to toast my birthday and just life in general, then we ordered 3 types of oysters on the half shell and Crunchy Squid with a Chili-Lime sauce for starters. For the entree I ordered the Salmon and it was cooked perfectly and arrived with the skin removed perched aside the salmon. It was soooooooo good, tasted like pork skin! I shared half with the table it was so yummy. I love a good crispy salmon skin. Then I shared dessert with my guy and really only had one bite and with held my urge to eat his whole plate for the next agonizing 10 minutes it took him to eat it. lol, he is gonna laugh when he reads this and tell me I just should've taken it, but I tried my skinny jeans this week and they said no. lol, just 1-inch difference and they said uh-heh. So, to the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar with sugary-crushed peanut garnish and shiny chocolate ganache and a scoop of dark chocolate ice cream stayed on his plate and not in my bellllllay! (think austin powers) Look, the meal was crazy and it now seems wack to give you my sowwy wittle Diner Burger close up that was just so yummy and juicy, but here goes ...

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 stud