SoBe Wine and Food Festival: Best Thing I Ever Ate at the Beach ... ...

Hey there! Well, I got through my third SoBe Wine and Food Festival without a hangover or a tummy ache from all the good drinks and food. I have more pictures to share so let's go backwards ...

That's Dwyane Wade of the Heat visiting my booth at The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Beach party. I met him briefly last summer at an event in the Hamptons and he and his girlfriend Gabrielle Union said they watch Food Network all the time and like Cooking for Real too! Very nice! I hear athletes can burn up to 10,000 calories a day, so hopefully one of them is not just watching, but cooking, for real :-). I actually found my way in to the 1st game between the Heat and the Knicks since they signed Carmelo Anthony and last night headed out to watch the Knicks win it in the last minutes of the game ... I won two bets on that game, both with food pay offs, so I'm pretty excited! The night before before D. Wade stopped by my booth, I made the rounds myself and chatted with a few other participants ...That's Bethenny Frankel just a couple of booths away from her was the newest addition to The Cooking Channel, Debi Mazar ... She was there with her husband Gabrielle. I interviewed them on Valentine's Day when I was filling in on Martha Stewart's radio station at Sirius/XM so it was nice to meet them in person. It was really neat to see what people chose as the best thing they ever ate on the beach. Mine was a no brainer, If you are around here often, especially at the start of summer, you know how I like to kick off the season with a trip to Nathan's for a bacon cheddar hot dog at Coney Island in Brooklyn. So, I put on my pink "I heart NY" t-shirt and passed out a piece of boardwalk history ... I topped them both with chopped onions on a whim, but most of the night I served them the way I love em, bacon ad cheddar cheese sauce. I also left the option of people getting one plain with all the toppings lined up on the side. So chili, sauerkraut, relish and all the other usual condiments were on hand if people wanted to personalize their dog. I had so much fun meeting everyone that stopped by for a dog and a picture. The Nathan's team was pretty cool too. We all joked about how much 'hard' work it would be to hand out hot dogs on the beach in Miami vs. the current weather in Coney Island. Here we are before things got busy ...They were all so much fun to work with and they've invited me to come hang out on the 4th of July for the annual hot dog eating contest. As you know, I'm totally into the MLE scene and obviously Nathan's, so I can't wait!! During the set up of each station before the night began, Andrew Zimmern dropped by to have a dog then just as he was leaving we caught host of Mexican Made Easy, Marcella Valladolid and took a picture ...Her booth was just a few away from mine, so I had my bestie take a shot of it while I was slinging hot dogs ...The tent was filled with booths offering beach foods from all over the country and there were huge screens playing loops of The Best Thing I Ever Ate episodes. There were also these neat decorations with quotations from the show blown up large enought to read from a distance, but one in particular I had to get close to ...(click to enlarge)I don't remember saying it, but as soon as I read it, it sounded like something silly I'd say. It was pretty cool reading all the quotes, so I took another so you can enjoy as well ... Take a look at the tent before it got crowded ...

It's the same tent from the night before at the BubbleQ event. Stick around, I'll post those pictures up overnight. Until then, if you came to my booth that night, thanks so much for the smiles! Here's a video I found from Plum with some of the action at the event ... Everyone was so nice and people in line helped each other with each other's cameras, very nice crew of food people waiting on a Nathan's hot dog. Thanks for a great night!!

Ok, up next ... the Grand Tasting Village and my cooking demonstration, the BubbleQ and more ...

2nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising

Hi there! Well, I headed out last night to present an award at the 2nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising along with Anne Burrell. Here I am on the carpet smiling away!

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I had on some pretty shoes, but they gave me trouble all night. Ladies, why do we do this to ourselves? I gave up heels at the beginning of the year, but they are like the mob ... they keep pulling me back in! Anyway, I tumbled to the stage and gave away an award with Anne ...Can you see the clear teleprompter things next to the podium? Very presidential, lol. The one on Anne's side was blank or I had the wrong angle to catch it and the one on my side worked, but my angle didn't allow for me to see the whole thing, it was too funny. Good thing I memorized my lines before the show. Too funny. The event was at the Hyatt at Grand Central Terminal and was presented by Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, Rokk Vodka, which btw I recommend the apple flavor :-).I tell you the sponsors not because they are paying me, but so you can see the companies involved in causes I believe in, which is equality for all and the portrayal as such in media. I can remember when the Cosby's first aired on television people acted like it was an unrealistic portrayal of an African American family, just to pander to the audience asking for more positive portrayals. To me, it wasn't unrealistic because at the time my dad was a doctor and my mom a lawyer, with many of the same story lines. So, there's something very powerful about media showing all people in a realistic light. It empowers people in a major way and I'm in support of that. But like I say, it was a wedding, over in 2 seconds! Before we went on there was a really funny performance by Mad Men star and host of the evening Brian Batt (Salvatore, if you watch!). He has a one man show on the way called "Batt on a Hot Tin Roof" that begins in a few days if you happen to be in the area. He's hilarious and has a nice voice! Ok, so after Anne and I gave Levi's Gay History Month/Logo Leaders Campaign the award for Outstanding TV Campaign - LGBT Market, I headed back to the little green room to catch a picture with someone I was chatting with just before we went on ...It's Bethenny Frankel!! She was so nice! Even her assistants were nice, which isn't always the case and I found it refreshing. I watch most of the Housewives shows and even watched her spin-off show. There were so many people there! Bravo's Andy Cohen also presented an award and I even caught a glimpse of Ru Paul's Drag Race winner Bebe Zahara Benet, she was so tall and had a really pretty blue dress on, I watched that season so when she walked in I said to myself "ok now we're talkin'!". She brought the glam! Ok, that's it. I didn't get anymore pictures, but I had a great time and was happy to be invited to participate.

I'm headed to my old stompin' grounds of San Antonio, Tx this weekend for Aetna's Healthy Food Fight! Join me at the Grand Hyatt this Sunday! Check the website, they have recipes and winners from each city listed. It's free to come and watch the cooks battle it out this Sunday, so come join us! I went to high school in San Antonio and spent 3 years of my Air Force life there, can't wait to see familiar places and faces! It's been 13 years! Way too long! Ok, I hope to meet you this weekend!

Don't forget the 8th season of Cooking for Real is underway!!! This Saturday catch the new episode "I Have an App for That". I share some small bites that'll get you through any home invasion of friends :-). My Fake Crepes are pretty easy and gooey fun, I also share my Pizza Bites and a recipe that is great with frozen or fresh shrimp, my Shrimp in Garlic Pepperoni Sauce. All are super simple and crowd pleasers. Hope you like the show!

Cooking for Real, Food Network, this Saturday at NOON!

Tell a food friend, don't be stingy, unless it's biscuits :-)