More great news to share!!

Well, again I've kept a secret ... I promise it's only cuz I couldn't talk about it until the release came out and now it's out, so naturally I'm talkin' :-), plus I've been really tired due to taping the new episodes of Cooking for Real. Now that we've wrapped taping and I've slept some ... I'm back in biz ... ok, I'm really excited to share the news with you that beginning in July, Food Network debuts a new primetime show hosted by me!

It's called How'd That Get On My Plate? and I describe it like a cross between History Channel's Modern Marvels and Unwrapped. The crazy thing is I love both of those shows, so it's really neat that I feel I have a bit of a hybrid. Basically, on the show I follow food from it's rawest form to the various finished products that use it for an ingredient. Like saaaaaaaay peanuts. I'd visit a peanut farm, harvest, then visit a plant and show the various ways it is transformed into peanut butter, oil, brittle, etc. I've already taped one episode and just this week saw the rough cut. I really like it and hope you catch it when it begins. I'll check and see if I can run my mouth about the pilot and if I can I'll tell you what product we started with and some funny things I learned. That's what I actually love about the show, it allows me to share what I know about food and I also learn some stuff in the process. Really neat. Really neat. In addition to that I'll be a rollin' stone so I'll get to eat in new cities, see new places and meet new people. So keep the restaurant suggestions coming, I'm making a file for my travels. Next week Denver and San Jose ... any food tips? Here's the official release about the show from Food Network! I'll post the airdate and time soon and then read below it for a quick blog admin msg ...

FOOD NETWORK PRIMETIME IS IN FULL SWING THIS SPRING!

Production Begins on Three New Series, Debuting Later This Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Production begins this May on three new primetime series for Food Network, it was announced today by Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production for Food Network. Featuring both up-and-coming talent and a brand new addition to the Food Network family, the series tackle a variety of subjects from travel and behind-the-scenes info to personal food journeys that will change lives. The series include: 

ROAD TASTED WITH THE NEELYS 

Premieres: July, 2008

Food Network’s favorite new husband and wife team – Pat and Gina Neely – hit the road on a cross-country search for the best local, hand-crafted foods on Road Tasted with the Neelys. This next iteration of the popular show follows the fun-loving couple to cities including San Diego, Baltimore, Portland, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, and Kansas City where they’ll highlight specialty stores and family-run businesses that make one-of-a-kind edibles. Armed with the knowledge of what it takes to launch a successful family business and a passion for all things food, they'll even show viewers how to get all the fabulous food finds delivered right to their doors.

HOW’D THAT GET ON MY PLATE

Premieres: July, 2008

Sunny Anderson, host of Cooking For Real, begins a fact-finding food adventure in her new series, How’d That Get On My Plate? Each episode follows the fascinating journey of a single ingredient (such as eggs, garlic, honey or apples) as it moves from its raw state into the finished, iconic product. Watch Sunny as she travels the country from the farm, through the factory and to the market and showcases the technology and innovation it takes to get our favorite foods to the plate. Whether milking a cow, making a martini out of potato vodka, harvesting honey or driving a corn-harvesting combine, Sunny dives into the behind-the-scenes action and finds out how food gets on our plates! 

THE CHEF JEFF PROJECT

Premieres: October, 2008

Chef Jeff Henderson (author, "Cooked") had a rough life as a young adult, following a path that turned him into a drug dealer, which eventually led to his arrest. In prison, Henderson found his passion for cooking while serving nearly 10 years for drug trafficking, and through food turned his life around, becoming an award-winning chef, best-selling author and popular motivational speaker. As Executive Chef at Café Bellagio at the renowned Bellagio Hotel and Casino and holding top positions at other Las Vegas resorts including Caesar’s Palace, he has become one of the most influential African-American chefs in the country.  Now, Chef Jeff wants to give back to six young adults who are heading down a similar path but who have a strong desire to improve their lives. In The Chef Jeff Project, the young adults will work under his watchful eye at his new LA-based catering company, Posh Urban Cuisine. As they learn about food under Chef Jeff’s strong and inspiring hand, they will also be instructed in the life lessons necessary to remake themselves and succeed, including appearance, attitude, respect, motivation and behavior. 

FOOD NETWORK (HYPERLINK www.foodnetwork.com www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that strives to be way more than cooking.  The network is committed to exploring new and different ways to approach food - through pop culture, competition, adventure, and travel - while also expanding its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is distributed to more than 90 million U.S. households and averages more than seven million Web site users monthly. With headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, Africa, France, and the French-speaking territories in the Caribbean and Polynesia. The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), which also owns and operates HGTV (HYPERLINK www.hgtv.com www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (HYPERLINK www.diynetwork.com www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (HYPERLINK www.gactv.com www.gactv.com) and FINE LIVING (HYPERLINK www.fineliving.com www.fineliving.com), is the manager and general partner. 

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Hey all! I'm also writing a blog about taking pretty food pics. This time around while taping episodes of Cooking for Real, I actually got time to smell the roses and take in the scene. One of them was a corner of the studio sectioned off for "beauty shots".  This is where they took my food after I cooked it so they could take pics of them for stills. Anyway, I found it pretty fascinating. What goes into making food stay pretty for a pic is pretty neat and I asked the food stylist to give my blog readers some tips cuz I know I have some food bloggers reading. I dunno about you guys, but my food pics could use some help sometimes :-) so check in for the food pic blog later tonight or over the weekend. It'll feature tips from the expert on my set with photos and food styling secrets included! 

Yaaaaaaaaay! Thanks for watching!!!!

Well, I have some amazing news I can finally share! A couple of weeks ago I found out I get to continue taping Cooking for Real for Food Network! I can't believe it, I am so HAPPY! This is a result of early support and viewership, I can't tell you how thankful I am. I've met so many great people here on my blog and myspace. I've even reconnected with friends I thought I'd lost because I moved around so much growing up. Then, the cool thing is exchanging food ideas and stories with people. I really enjoy it. So, if you've watched Cooking for Real, taped it to watch later or told someone about the show, I truly appreciate it. It means so much to me. I've only heard good reports from my bosses and it's a direct result of support. It gives me a chance to continue living in this crazy dream. Life is pretty amazing when you just live it and make deliberate choices. I still can't believe it! When I got the call I was totally caught off guard and couldn't say much. It's one of the few times in my life I've searched for the next word and I used to be called motormouth growing up teeheehee ... I'm sure somewhere in there though I said Thank You, cuz wowwwwww, am I thankful for this opportunity. It feels crazy! Thanks to you too, just reading this blog means if you haven't watched the show, you may catch in the future. If that is the case, I hope you do get a chance to see the show and I hope you enjoy it.

So, with the news of more shows I was just super happy and then all of a sudden my mind went in a jillion directions ... I have work to do!! I found out there's no delay and I begin taping verrrrry soon! I wanted to say something when I got the word, but just got the green light so I can give you some behind the scenes stuff. This week, I'm in the Food Network kitchens working with my producer and the culinary staff. We're testing my recipes so when we post them up on FoodNetwork.com they are written in a uniform way. It's also a major help when we tape the shows, it helps the producers see what the cooking process looks like for my recipes. This helps them map out segments in each episode. We began cooking yesterday and so far I think we've got some great shows planned with some really yummy recipes. Yesterday we started with Chicken Sausage in Vodka Sauce for breakfast and ended the day with Grilled Fish Tacos, I have a belly of steel lol ... the list of recipes between the two was quite varied and all great things I can't wait to share with ya! Today, I cut cabbage, smashed garlic, fried fries, cut mangos, sliced onions, cut cucumbers, seasoned pork, reduced liquids ... and the fun goes on! I think the best part of the day was the end, and not because it was over, but because we baked up my Peaches n Cream cookies and killed a few while cleaning up for the day. Take a look at a shot I took last night when I tested them in my home kitchen.

And then a long shot of the kitchen ...

and two lonely cakes that the kitchen staff cooked up...

I had a piece of the one on the right. They cook all day in the kitchens for various projects and the amount of tasting and passing around of food is just like heaven for me!! Everyone is cooking and sharing, really a cool environment. Lemme check and see if I can give out the cake names below cuz they aren't mine, the slice I had was dense, moist, creamy and a bit light at the same time. I saved most of it and took it home so I could massacre it in private and give it the time and attention a good slice of cake deserves. Yes, that's how good it was. Verrrrrrrry, I mean verrrrrrrrrrrry good. Check in here and there if you are in to pics, I'll take more to post now that I have the go ahead to blog away about the new episodes! :-) Speaking of blogs, head on over to The Amateur Gourmet and check in on Adam Roberts ... I ran into him today at work and I'm really enjoying his webisodes, he's taller than I remembered, but just as nice! The FN Dish updates weekly on FoodNetwork.com Here's my webisode with him ...