From Party to After Party!

Hey there! Well, I just finished up at the Giant Eagle Robinson Market District and I had such a good time! First of all, the store was CRAAAAZYYY stocked! I'm talkin' dry aged beef for sale, rattlesnake, 13 year old blueberry vinegar, a gelato stand with serious combinations, a pizza stand, salad bar, herbs you clip from the plant and a wide selection of cheese and huuuuuge cheese wheels, for starters. I actually almost cried a bit from being overwhelmed in the cheese department. No joke, I felt more water welling up in my eyes than my lids could hold and high-tailed it outta there! Here are some pics, then I'll tell you about the After Party on Cooking Channel ...
That's the Indian food station in the food court-like area. There was fresh naan and I had some chicken spiced so perfectly! Then I walked on over to the meat department. Click on this pic to get detail because the types of burger patties in the window are just totally crazy!
Then I bumped into this below and almost had a heart attack!!!!
Can you imagine buying dry aged steaks in a grocery store? Well, Giant Eagle imagined it and made it happen! I moved to the cheese department next, but was so caught up and trying to not cry and embarrass myself, that I didn't even get a picture. I really love cheese. I don't think I've ever tasted a cheese I didn't like. They have over 140 different types of cheese there ... that is totally bananas! Then look at what I bumped into!!!
VIVA TOWELS!!! YAAAAAAY!! Look at 'em all lined up and ready to break you from your addiction to quilts lol. I promise if you try them, you'll wonder where Viva's been all your life. Then I headed to the cooking demonstration stage to get to work, here's the culinary staff that helped out ...

That's Chef Luke there on the far left, he assisted me during my cooking demonstration and we had a great time cooking and laughing while sharing some food. I really can't say thanks enough to the many people I met on the staff. If you are in the area, I'd say a visit should be in your future. My parents live about an hour away and actually travel to the city to shop there. If you stop by the olive oil and vinegar department, please give a warm hello to "Jerzy". I don't know if that's his real name, but it's on his name tag and he's a total gem. You can tell from just a quick chat he knows not only oils and vinegars, but good food as well. Smart guy and someone I wish I could talk to for hours. He let me taste a mix of lemon oil and blueberry vinegar that was so good I'm happy to say it's in my luggage right now waiting on a trip back to Brooklyn. :-)So give him a hug for me if you ever stop by.

Now for the After Party ...
That's the team! Remember I told you a few weeks back about taping a new show for Cooking Channel? Well, it starts tomorrow night - - late. It is so worth staying up for though and I'll be up late watching it right with you if you do! I haven't seen the final cut and wonder what parts made the show because there were some pretty good moments. The show is called Next Food Networks Star: After Party and it's just that. A total party! We have a drinks, a bartender and the set looks like a neat little lounge. Adam Gertler, Kelsey Nixon and I also welcome a judge from NFNS ...
Yaaay Bob Tuschman! Totally weird to interview your boss, but I actually enjoyed it as a viewer of the show that had viewer-minded questions. And of course, the finalist that doesn't make the cut on Sunday night's show joins us at the party to dish and discuss what may have gone wrong. Wish I could tell you who it is!!! It was a shocker when I watched the episode weeks ago while preparing to tape the show. We interview that person and also ask Bob some behind the scenes questions about the elimination process. Here's the commercial if you haven't caught it yet. This is good stuff if you are really in to NFNS. I've watched from season one and always wished there was a show like this or at least a show that catches up with the contestants years later for an update. So I hope you catch it! It airs tomorrow at 11PM, an hour after NFNS ends. I know ... long wait, but it's a programming thing for this week only, but next week the show moves down to 10PM, right after NFNS ends on Food Network.

Ok, hope you like the show! We taped them weeks ago, so I can't really have you submit questions you may have for the finalists, but I hope we covered all the ground. Kelsey, Adam and I all watch the show and of course they were both contestants on a previous season, so we did our best to drop the "host" curtain to reveal our true interests. Pretty good stuff and I can't wait to see it along with you! Let me know what you think!

P.S. If you are still trying to figure out if you have Cooking Channel or where it is on your dial, go to the home page and in the right column is a green button that says "Learn How" click that and see if you can get closer to the answer. Ok, hope you enjoy the show!!!