NFNS Finale: After Party tonight at 10PM!

Hey!! Tonight it's all over, but really starts on NFNS. It's the finale of Food Network's highest rated show that finds the Next Food Network Star. Do you remember the seemingly choreographed, but fluid and effortless style of Dan & Steve, winners of season one? That's where it all started and since then we've met Guy Fieri, Amy Finley, Aaron McCargo Jr. and Melissa D'Arabian. I've known for some time who wins tonight because of my involvement in Cooking Channel's Next Food Network Star: After Party. It airs at 10PM tonight on Cooking Channel right after the NFNS finale on Food Network. It's the show, after the show and we started midway through the season interviewing the finalists that were eliminated each week. Here we are last week with Aria...It was a roller coaster ride for her with a strong start at the top and a slow decline to her vote off. I think the Iron Chef week was just brutal and after meeting her during our taping I wished she had a do over. I think I felt that way for pretty much every finalist I met. I think it's a tougher decision for the judges than we know because they meet and see more than the edited version we get on television. I found more and more that if each person had more time, we'd love them all. That being said, Adam Gertler, Kelsey Nixon and I were too happy to give each person a "do over" when they visited our After Party set. Last week, we let Aria give the Iron Chef challenge featuring bacon a second try and she truly won us all over!Those are donuts she made with potatoes. They were dense, not airy or chewy and filled with bacon bits. Plus, they were fried in bacon fat, then glazed with chocolate-hazelnut spread and sprinkled with yet more bacon. See, this is what she needed, eh? I mean, she just sprinkled bacon around on NFNS' Iron Chef challenge. I was hurt lol. Then, she didn't stop there, the donut holes were rolled in bacon sugar! She just blitzed some sugar with fried bacon and voila, the perfect way to follow through on the bacon flavor for the challenge. I watched that episode so many times preparing to tape After Party and I don't think I've talked to the television like that in a while, outside of yelling when playing video games online :-). It was painful to watch, mostly because I think you just really want everyone to do well. After meeting Aria and talking with her, I think she watched the show with the same reaction. So, tonight on Next Food Network Star it's Tom, Aria and Herb in the final push for the win. Rachael Ray makes a special appearance and helps each finalist not only mold their new show, but she directs the pilot.

We have a big party planned right after the winner is announced on Food Network, just flip over to Cooking Channel at 10pm and we'll be there with ... who knows? :-) We will have more than one guest though ... hope you tune in and hope your favorite wins. If they don't ... not to worry, it ain't over till the fat back sizzles. BTW, did you miss Serena's reaction to us asking her about the conflict with Brianna in the NFNS apartment kitchen? There's a video clip up from the After Party called Serena Says, and she has plenty to say :-), check it out!

Ok, enjoy the final episode of the season! Hope your fave wins!

Party time again!

Happy weekend! Hope you have the weekend off or at least some "you" time carved out :-). Don't forget the second episode of Next Food Network Star: After Party on Cooking Channel airs Sunday night! Last week we talked to Brianna, she was the self-proclaimed "diva" that didn't make the cut. Bob got a chance to tell her what went wrong and she got a chance to explain herself a bit. We gave her a taste of Kelsey's family recipe for tuna casserole because she expressed such disdain for it on her final episode and guess what??? She loved it! I did too and actually ate the crumb topping off of mine before the show was over and took the rest back to the room to finish.

Here we are in the green room just after taping the show ...
So this week, one more will meet their fate and just after they are sent packing on NFNS on Food Network, tune into us over at NFNS: After Party on Cooking Channel @ 10PM. You'll never guess who get's the boot this weekend! All I can say is, it's very lively and interesting conversation and our guest again this time is Bob Tuschman. Bob gave up some good stuff last week when he said one of the deliberations lasted into the wee hours of the morning and ended in tears. Yes, tears! So, don't think these are flippant decisions here, they are truly looking for the Next Food Network Star, and it isn't easy. Over on our show, we have the easy job of picking up the pieces and finding the story behind the story. Hope you tune in this week!

Sunday night! 10PM on Cooking Channel! See you there!

NFNS After Party tonight at 10PM11PM!

*I originally thought I was wrong, but I guess I was right! The show starts at 11PM. Hope you enjoy!

Hey there! Next Food Network Star: After Party airs tonight at 10PM 11PM on Cooking Channel right after Next Food Network Star ends on the Food Network. In previous posts I mentioned the first episode starting an hour later, but checking the schedule today I noticed what was initially the case is no longer, so I was wrong. Hope you catch the show! Tonight's NFNS may end surprisingly for you, so flip on over to Cooking Channel right after the show to see us chit chat with the finalist that didn't make it. Hope you enjoy the show!!

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!!!