Gettin Piggy Wit It ...

Hey there! Well, last night was a big night for co-workers and sweethearts, the Neely's ...
Love em! We always greet with a smile and hug ... Here's a less candid shot ...We're all chillin at the opening of their first foray into the NYC Restaurant scene, The Neely's BBQ Parlour. It's over in a hood that needs some down home cookin, 1st and 62nd on the mid-upper east side. When I say it was a zoo there last night, I mean lions, tigers and bears, oh my!!! Plus, can we talk? Sometimes when I out solo people think I'm Gina lol ... look, I get it ... ok, I do, but I thought I'd disspell rumors and stand next to her a bit lol. I wonder if she gets the same thing? I've texted her before like "girrrrrl someone is gonna thing you are cheating on Pat cuz they just called me Gina and I'm on a date with someone!". Too funny, ok, anyway it was packed in there and I still managed to get a taste of the shrimp and grits then just as I thought I wasn't gonna get another bite cuz it was so crowded, I turned around to see dessert being passed!!! Woot wooot!!!Red Velvet of course! My chunky butt popped the whole thing in my mouth only see everyone else taking bites ... seriously? It's "bite sized", to me call anything that and that's a challenge to get it done in a bite! I can't wait to head back for brunch and the occasional dinner!! Right after that I headed over to the Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelson's spot. We just started getting grades from the health dept. here in New York for restaurant kitchens. His hasn't been scored so well (a "C", actually) and he's taken a hit in the press, so a friend and I headed out to show a sign of support. Seems like we weren't alone, on a Tuesday night, it was packed ... but Marcus was nowhere to be found. Gotta be tough, eh? I dunno, but I must say anytime I hear people complain about clean kitchens at restaurants, I wonder if the health department came to our homes, would we pass? I would, but omg, ever go to a friend's house and see the kitchen and gag a bit? Lol, anyway, I digress ... The food was good and the service was great. Hope he catches an "A" like my fave banh mi spot in Brooklyn, Thanh Da...That's the "Beef Ball Soup", the broth is were it's at!! I don't really care about the balls, but the broth?!?! Ooooooh it's onion-yyyy and ginger-yyyy and cilantro-eyyyy ... which really equals taste-yyyyy :-). And then the real reason I go there is the banh mi, or traditional Vietnamese sandwhich ...Oooooowwweeeee!!! That's the BBQ Pork Banh Mi and when I go with a friend, I'll order that one, and the traditional one and share halves, but today it was just me, so I sipped half my broth and ate half the sandwich, then walked home in the heat with a smile on my face cuz I knew I had a lil treat for later.

Speakin' of treats, I got a chance to cook for an old friend this past Sunday night. I've told the story here and there about him, but it's so much deeper than words. Suffice it to say, there would be no Cooking for Real without me first cooking for my friends and them encouraging me to chase my dreams. N.O.R.E. was one such person and not only did he encourage me to cook more for a living, he gave me my first catering gig with a real invoice, then on my last day in radio he was there to cheer me on and tell me I wasn't crazy for chasing a dream. The story of that night should go in the books, which book, I dunno lol. But he is such good family, he could ask me to cook in an impossible mission like Robert Irvine and I'd do it!! So anyway, so much more can be said, so much. So with an early morning wake up for The Today Show @430am, I said "SO WHAT?! WHO CAY-UHHS?!?!" (SNL making fun of Joy Behar on The View), threw beauty sleep and caution to the wind and cooked all day for him and his crew. Here he is about to break into some Food Network Wine - Entwine, coming soon!!!(note my Dr. Oz trophy on my mantle :-) ) ... and here's the spread ...It's hard to see, but he requested turkey meatloaf, so I made two with a dark meat turkey-chicken blend. Then I made roasted fingerlings and new potatoes with garlic, rosemary and thyme. I also got some pretty vine-ripe cherry tomatoes and roasted those as well with just some olive oil, salt and pepper. In the forefront is a quick salad of blanched peas, red onion, whole grain mustard, dry porcini mushrooms brought back to life in the same water I blanched the peas in, I just added some apple cider for punch. Then for dessert I made Austin's German Chocolate Cookies. I used to really cook fattening stuff for Nore, and then he'd decide we wanted to be healthy a bit, that's where Nore's Slumbo, comes from. It's a play on gumbo with no pork and a 5-star recipe on FoodNetwork.com ... all from his palate! We really had a good time and it was great seeing him, then 2 hours after they left, I got ready for The Today Show, I didn't really sleep, moreso just roll over and look at the time every 20 minutes lol.

No worries, I wouldn't have to cook or anything, just eat and judge the food. Here I am ready to eat!!!The winner made a really tasty cornbread bottom, BBQ chicken middle, coleslaw topped tower of power ... and I do mean power!!! It was instant, when I and the other judge took a bite, we knew instantly it was a landslide. All the food was good though, things like that, it's already the best of the best, so it's hard to say something didn't taste good, cuz I'd be telling a lie. Firemen eat goooood!! I am waitin on a firehouse show. Ok, here's the winner with his trophy ...And just cuz they are so cute ... my cats. Cheddar (aka Ched-Rock) on top and Truffle (aka Truffle-Duffle) chillin in the center. I took that a few days ago. Both are rescues that bring me joy everyday. I was just recently watching television with Truffle and I tell people all the time, and it's true, there's not a day that goes by I don't look at them and think how sweet they are and how much I hope I'm giving them a nice home life. I constantly thank the ASPCA in my head. Anyway, I was thinking it and Truffle looked so cute as he sat next to me on the couch, so I decided to take a video of him with my cell and something really cute happened ... take a look ...

Thanks for reading! Tune in this Saturday for an all new Cooking for Real at 10am!!!

The flood gates are open!!

Hey there! That's me and my bestie Natina taping some segments in Brooklyn last Wednesday for an upcoming promotion on Food Network. Can you guess when this may air?? We taped at place I go for a good beer and something ... ANYthing fried to perfection, Chip Shop. Here I am with one one of the owners, Suzanne.

If everyone needs a Cheers, Chip Shop is mine - complete with a visit from my parents that started sober and ended hilarious. Can't wait for you to see what we shot, of course I'll give more deets when I can, but being here promises that you've got the scoop already!

Well, looks like from comments while I'm thinking I'm saving you from the stereotypical boring vacation slide show, I'm actually holding out on ya! I also took counsel from a former blogger and friend, and he too agrees with you in comments, sharing is caring teeheehee. I now feel so bad I didn't post that 15-lb lobster tail last year! Someone asked in comments where I got the Jurassic Park-sized tails ... I got em in Eleuthera, an outer island of the Bahamas that is an inexpensive, must-stay with a jillion empty and beautiful beaches. I just didn't want to over share, as I actually do in person. So, I promise from now on to post pics from vacay, but since everyone has been so encouraging ... how about a VIDEO??!!

Hope you liked my first video. I haven't edited video since I was in training for broadcasting for the Air Force. Back then one of the pieces of equipment was so big we called it a "toaster" and now I'm editing on a tiny laptop. No cords, board or speakers needed. Crazy.

Anywho, the vacay was to Paris, France. Here's a picture from the day we landed ... in the middle of a blizzard!

Here are a couple more food shots ...Far East in France ...There's a huge and growing Asian immigrant population in Paris and we took advantage of it. We ate all over the place, even at the Louvre. This is a cream of asparagus soup I got at the museum. It had the crunchiest little, oil-laden croutons ...

Very smooth and balanced, see the saffron? Then a vegetable terrine at a place on the Champs Elysees ...
It needed salt, but I tend to think that about many things. And finally a bowl of rummaged through mussels. The frites were served in a little cup on the side and happily throughout dinner, as I ate them, fresh and hot new ones arrived like a refill of tap water. Loved it!

We ended up in Paris because while I was planning a sunny beach vacation I ran into a really cheap apartment rental in Paris. It was actually cheaper to go to Europe than hitting the Caribbean. Another thing, just in case you are a tripper ... it's WAAAAAAY cheaper to rent an apartment or house on vacation if you are planning. Only difference is no room service, but I actually enjoy cooking and dining out on vacay, as I call it. Plus no crazy hotel and tourist taxes added on to the bottom line of the lodging bill. Even in the lean times I've scrounged and taken a vacation at least once a year since I left home at 18, refueling is important for the battle (military ref. lol), but seriously ... growing up moving around all the time, kinda turned me into a "change of scenery" seeker. So, we booked the trip and immediately began to work on our French. I'd been a few times before in my pre-teens, but it was my guy's first time. All I really wanted to know how to say was, "one more please" and "please can I have some more" lol ...

And now, in the new spirit of sharing ... a final note from my babies ...Meow, meow. :-) That's Truffle on the left and Cheddar on the right. You can buy your cats toys, but they always end up playing with other stuff, the laundry basket is the new thing all of a sudden. Both are rescue cats. Cheddar, or "Ched-rock" was taken to our local vet for boarding and her owners never picked her up and the number they left was fake. I found her 4 months into her extended and caged stay when I made my boyfriend take his cat, yes HIS cat to the vet for a check up. His is a rescue as well, found his on the street years before we met, and very nasty. I keep telling him it's feral lol. Cheddar has a super protruding chest bone, not all of her teeth and when we got her she was a bit ill and in need of some TLC. She's just fine now and she brings me joy everyday, can't believe someone would leave her :-(. Her biggest worry these days is which treats she gets, how many and when. Then my Truffle or "Truffle-duffel" as I tend to call him was at the right place at the right time, I got him from an ASPCA truck during NY Pet Week last year while waiting to meet friends for a trip to Coney Island. Truffle, a Maine Coon, talks allllllll day everyday, very loudly. Cat owners know what I mean. We think it's why he's a rescue, some owners just don't see the beauty in quirks like that, I rather like my kitty alarm clock :-). I mean he is up at 7AM everyday, just talking. To whom? We have no idea lol. If I wanted a quick million I'd record him saying "Hello" and send it to AFV. He also does this very human-like stand on his hind legs when he wants to be picked up, and like a baby he also prefers to be held over the shoulder. Really cute. I know, this totally puts me in the running to be a cat lady, but I'm not, I grew up with dogs and look forward to adding some to the pack soon. Trust me though, rescues are hard to pass up, just ask Lindsey in comments... she was there when I rescued Truffle, he was undeniable.

And in true form, I bury the lead ... My show air times are on the move!!! Until I letcha know, catch new episodes of Cooking for Real, Sundays at 11AM, then catch repeats weekday afternoons (Monday-Friday) at 4PM. Catch it live or set your DVR for the series, or season and let it do the work! This week's episode is "Phonin' in Flavor", I have a tasty frozen drink, I'm grilling some pork and I'm making broccoli shake what the cook is givin' it. :-)