New Cooking for Real Sunday! The Cod Father!!!

Hey, real quick, the Dr. Oz show from Friday reruns Monday on the early airing of the show, check your listings if you want to catch it again if you missed it (Charles!!!). A big thanks to the Scotto Family, Santos Loo, Chef Clarence and Charles!! I rode home and put the trophy right where it belongs ...
Ok!!!! Finally ... "The Cod Father" episode of Cooking for Real! Lol, Look, I have to admit that I love my job and one of the best parts is creating things. I get to create recipes and then compile them into menus and then I get to create a theme for a show and a title. Sometimes the cart goes before the horse and I think of a great show theme then I find the recipes that fit. I can tell you this was fish first, "cod father" second, but oh was it a good moment when the brainstorm hit me, because I knew I'd make a fool of myself and do an impression of Marlon Brando as the "God Father". I did it a few times on the show and I think they are all very bad impersonations, but I'm goofy, so I did it. That day on set I had some guests from right here on the blog and even blogged about it while taping season 9. You can read up on the behind the scenes stuff on "Day 3 is a Wrap". In the meantime, here's the latest menu ...

The Cod Father!!!
Coconut Cod
Saffron Basmati Rice
Cauliflower in Curry Cream Sauce

Cooking for Real airs Sundays (today! The Cod Father ep!) at 11AM, Weekdays 1130 and 4PM, with the Sunday repeat airing in the 4PM slot on Mondays :-) All times are eastern, check your listings here on the Food Network schedule page.

Enjoy the show! I'm heading out to North Carolina again to shooting some stuff for a special I am very excited about!! I can't wait for you to see it because it's very close to my heart. Ok, have a good weekend and I'll check in when I can!! Catch me on twitter where I say sill things in 140 characters or less ... I still predict the next social media will be the conversation. smh ... but I'll assimilate :-). Sunny Anderson Twitter

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Fish and Grits

Hey there! I've had such a busy week taping the new season of Cooking for Real and can't wait to share the new recipes and pictures from behind the scenes. Today on Food Network is a new episode of the show I taped earlier this year. I call it Fish and Grits and it's pretty literal, not a play on words this time :-). Check the menu ...

My Catfish Nuggets - Cut em down and they cook faster! Plus I got the idea for the quick hot sauce mixture from a place here in NYC called Prune. They serve it on a fried oyster omelet ... crazy!!

Creamy Cheesy Grits - Simply one of my fave things for breakfast. I just had a conversation about grits vs. cream of wheat and if they deserve sugar vs. savory. Where do you stand? I'm a salty grits and sugary cream of wheat person. I can't switch the two and just don't understand sweet grits, not for me at least. I love how different food is for everyone.

Simple Blueberry Apple Pie - When I say simple, I mean it. I made this for the holidays and the only change in my home kitchen was I actually made the crust instead of buying it. That's my rule, make it on special occasions, but in a pinch check out the refrigerator section of the grocery store for a little shortcut to the party.

That's it, plus some smile and stories. I hope you enjoy the new episode! There's still time to make brunch for mom after it's over ... I'm heading to my kitchen to make some brunch for myself now. I think it'll be a croissant with jelly and some of the stewed chicken I made yesterday, bacon and a sunny side up egg. Then, maybe some apple cider with mint and strawberries. Trying to get rid of those berries and mint before they die on me! In the meantime, I made a cereal shake last night and didn't feel like making a big serving, but also wanted to make sure I properly measured the ingredients so I can share the recipe with you at a later date ... I give you two pictures I was so happy to take last night before I blitzed up my midnight snack ...

Apple Jacks, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Capn Crunch. Then, if you don't want to use a whole pint, but need to accurately measure half of it ... divide and conquer ...

The other half is in a freezer bag waiting on part two of the shake ... I think I have some Cocoa Puffs that need a new purpose in life ... Take care and enjoy the new show today!!!

Cooking for Real Today, Sunday May 7th (Happy Mother's Day!!!) 11am on Food Network

or tomorrow at 4pm!

And don't forget Cooking for Real also airs week mornings at 1130AM est. Plenty tof times to catch a new trick, idea of use for an ingredient in your kitchen!

New Show TOMORROW!! It Takes Two to Salsa!

Hey there! Real quick before I tell ya about the new show. A Special thank you to Comcast and the Boys and Girls Club, they let me get my hands dirty today and it was all for a good cause, these people really care!! Here I am about to drop some food in the earth... More on this later in the post ...

In the meantime ... Guess who is on Cooking for Real with me tomorrow?!?!? I titled this one "It Takes Two to Salsa". OK, a hint on my guest... she is a big ray of sunshine, she's a winner and she's always a paarti!! Yep, my girl Aarti is coming over to play in my kitchen tomorrow morning on the newest episode of Cooking for Real. Here we are the day we taped (I totally get now that you'll see the picture and know the answer to the question above, but I'm on a roll and too lazy to edit my free thoughts, leave that to twitter :-P)As a person that is mostly happy all the time, it's so nice to meet another person of the same breed, Aarti is my girrrrrrrl. Just a nice jolt of energy and I can't wait for you to feel it through the television tomorrow!! Here's our menu ...

Curry Coconut Chicken Breasts - from my kitchen ...
Mango and Peach Salsa - from my kitchen ... then
Black Eyed Peas Pulao - from Aarti's kitchen!! It was fun to say and to taste!!!

We had plenty of fun on the show and I don't even know how we got any cooking done, I remember many times between takes my director and producer trying to keep us on track because we were just talkin' and talkin' lol. Too funny when you meet your talking match!! Love it!! Her and I can talk up a storm!!! Ok, set your DVR and Tivos for Sunday @ 1100AM or Monday @4PM for the repeat on Food Network!

Btw, I'm doin my best to keep up with the youngin's so I'm tweeting now semi regularly, i can't do the whole day on my hip, minutiae at all times thing, but I check in, so check in with me. I prefer to do my drivel in long form, but it's fun over there sometimes. Check me out Sunny Anderson Twitter

BTW, I'm on the road a bit before I begin taping the next season of Cooking for Real next week (thank you for watching!!), so I have so much stuff to share, but not all the time. If you've commented, I promise I'm getting to it next after this!! I still have pics and stories to share from my guest role on Are We There Yet and I also did a segment on Dr. Oz that airs soon, it was plenty of fun and it was set up like the Family Feud, so you can imagine there were plenty of laughs. I'll compile the pics and blog em up shortly. Until then thanks to EVERYONE today in Houston at the Comcast Cares event!! I was there to help plant some seeds ... in the ground and in minds as well. Volunteerism is a good thing!! Take a look at some pics ...I posted that pic on my twitter page earlier. The reporter asked me if I spoke Spanish and I said ... "I speak Spanglish!", So I stuttered and "como di say"-ed through the interview. Finally, she was like just say it in English lol!!! I am so happy I tried! I actually watch Telemundo news so I can learn faster. Works well when I'm ordering food and having basic conversation, but in an interview, not so much teeheehee ... I'm gettin there!! Then, here's a pic of Brooke Johnson, she's the President of Food Network ...

She took this before we both got dirty and put some veggies in the earth. I planted some eggplants and fennel. I actually was more interested in the dirt than the interviews, but every minute or so, I chatted then got back to work! It's a tough balance to volunteer, but also know people want you to talk about it so you can get other's to do it. I'd prefer to just do it and be left alone, but I also know that watching others do good stuff inspires me, so I didn't truly mind any of the gardening interruptions. But gardeners know, you get in a zone that is so zen, you just wanna be left to dig in the dirt. I love to garden!! Click the "garden" link below this post to see all my exploits in my Brooklyn concrete jungle!!

Today was fun though, it was so cute to give the kids a snatch of the fennel fronds and have them smell it and then taste the light licorice flavor. I'm tellin you, these gardens in the right areas are the key to getting families in "food desserts" (places where there are more liquor stores and canned foods than fresh fruits and veggies) intelligent about smart food choices. Brooke gave a speech and she was right, fresh berries taste better than a twinkie. Well, unless you had a bad day and a twinkie can solve that problem teeheehee, but seriously. Fresh is where it's at!! Here is a bigger look at the garden and me steppin' in to get to work ...
Ok, have a good weekend and join Aarti and I for the Paarti tomorrow at 11 AM on Food Network!!

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Much Ado About Stuffing and Pork!

Hey there!! This morning (Sunday) at 11AM and tomorrow afternoon at 4PM a new Cooking for Real debuts called Much Ado About Stuffing and Pork! I developed this show around October last year, I had plenty of cold weather spices sitting around and thought I'd put them to work! I say it plenty, but I really don't understand how we as consumers are expected to use an entire container of pumpkin spice before it goes dead and dry in the pantry. So, I really do my best to use up spices, plus some are expensive and having them turn to dust before you can use them up is the worst. So here to tackle some pantry spices is my Pumpkin Spice-Rubbed Pork Loin! It's really easy and with 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice, if you have the little half size of it in your pantry, you're almost done with the container!! Then, on the side a new way to do stuffing ...My Plantain Stuffing. In my hood this banana-family fruit is in high demand so it's always stocked. Somewhere around last year I was thinking about stuffing and how I always relegate it to the holidays and even though today is a holiday, I didn't plan for this show to be on today it just worked out that way :-). That's why I use store-bought bread cubes in the recipe, I wouldn't do that on a holiday, I try never to "phone it in on a holiday", but it sometimes it's good to do that where you can and a side dish is the place to start! Sometimes I add chorizo or breakfast sausage to this recipe, really takes it to another place.

Then, another thing stocked quite well around my parts is tomatillos. I play with them in the kitchen and every once in a while a dish makes a repeat, then I know it's in my kitchen to stay. Try my Sauteed Tomatillos with my Cilantro Vinaigrette, hope you like it! It's simple and I usually have it for breakfast with eggs and refried beans, but on this episode, it's a great side dish for dinner! It started as just the tomatillos sauteed and served on the side of scrambled eggs, then one morning I had some vinaigrette left over from the night before and I sprinkled some fresh cilantro over the whole dish. It all clicked and I wrote down the recipe immediately. It's tangy and sweet and the salt really balances it all out. Hope you like it! Ok, hope you enjoy the new show and happy Easter!! I went out early this morning and got myself a treat!!!

1 down, 4 to go!!!

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Comforting Classic

Hey there! I'm excited about the new episode of Cooking for Real tomorrow on Food Network at 11AM. It's all about the classic comfort, so I called it "Comforting Classics". It's a mash up of meatloaf, mash and some veggies to boot, but I'm most excited about the title of my meatloaf. I'm a huge music fan and if you know anything about the singer Meatloaf, you know his song titles are the longest ever!! So, before I even knew he would resurface on Celebrity Apprentice, I wrote this episode to pay a teeny bit of homage to the legend. Now, look at him at the height of all the press now with his crazy Busey fight, you'd think I predicted it, but I didn't ... just had a hankering for some comfort food! BTW, I think it's the longest recipe title on FoodNetwork.com ...wooooohoooo (it's the tiny things that make me smile).

Ok, check it out tomorrow at 11AM and the repeat on Monday at 4PM. Comforting Classics on Cooking for Real ... the menu complete with my fun title ...

Meatloaf is the Way to My Heart As Long As It Has Kick and Potatoes Are Around

Baked Purple Mash

Easy String Beans and Onions

New Cooking for Real Sunday! TV Dinner Deluxe

Hey there! Another week and thanks to you another Cooking for Real airs today and tomorrow (Monday) on Food Network.

This week's newest show is called TV Dinner Deluxe. I talk all the time about my mom cooking great meals growing up, but I remember very distinctly the day my dad brought home a big box the size of saaaay a modern day washing machine. Inside it was the newest thing on the market, a microwave!!! It was soooo big ad heavy, these days they are smaller and do much more than popcorn, leftovers and TV dinners. After the microwave came into the kitchen it was easy for my mom to take a night off from cooking with the simple zapping of a tray of food that had everything: the veggies, the starch, the entree and dessert.

A quick piece of Cooking for Real microwave trivia; In the first season when I was trying to get the show on the air regularly, I had only 6 episodes to make an impression. In the planning stages I had a little bit of input on what I wanted on the set as far as vibe, colors and equipment. I begged like crazy for a microwave and got it. Never used it, but I was just happy it was there. I seldom melt butter on the range at home as I do on set, I zap it! It's faster and uses a smaller dish. So anyway, months later after getting the good news that the show was picked up for another season, I returned to happily tape 13 episodes this time and I was so happy to be there it took me a few days of taping to even realize the microwave I begged for had mysteriously disappeared from the countertop. So if you ever see a microwave on my set, that's me chasing a dream in season one back in 2008, thank you so much for allowing me to get to season 9. Three years later, I'm still in awe and very appreciative of this path in my life. I'm working hard and having fun, hope it shows. Ok, back to the newest episode ...

On TV Dinner Deluxe I recreate one of my favorite combos starting with my Easy Chicken Pot Pie, a quick and easy side of corn named after my bestie called Natina Corn and for dessert a tasty and simple Apple Compote. In case you are wondering my second fave was the salisbury steak, mash and brownie that never really got done in the center teeheehee. Plus, with friends in the house I serve up a quick drink you can pull together on the fly, my Rosemary-Lemon Starter

Yes, I said guests! Along for the ride today are 3 of my friends! My bestie Natina, my best male friend Jeff and Natina's bestie and good friend of mine as well, Robin. If you are wondering how the heck I'm going to fit 3 people on the show with me at one time, read-up on my set change in a post I called Pull up a Chair. Then, tune in for the fun and food this Sunday morning at 11AM eastern and tomorrow, Monday at 4PM eastern.

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Diner Breakfast!!

Hey there! Well, I just got back from a little vacation and it was actually just in time for the quick blast of winter we got here in NYC. Real quick, before I tell you about the new episode this week, one of our blog buddies in comments used the chilly spring weather to make one of my season-straddling meals. Check out Holly's post on Random Cravings about my Beef and Barley Stew with Crusty Pepper Bread.

Ok, so tomorrow's Cooking for Real is called Diner Breakfast. Check out this episode's dessert first (shout out to Anne Thornton!!)

I'll tell you about those buns in steel in a sec ... teeheehee, but yeah the I titled the show Diner Breakfast, because there is nothing I love more than a greasy spoon breakfast. Sometimes I take the morning off from cooking and walk to my local one here in Brooklyn called George's. They have the biggest mimosa's I've ever seen at a diner, but that's another blog post.

Really, there are many diners I go to in many states and all over Brooklyn, so my inspiration is not specific to a place, but totally specific to the dining menu. Sometimes there's something perfect about a diner steak and some scrambled eggs for breakfast! I love it after a good hour of shoveling zig zags into the snow. I actually conceived the idea and subject for this episode when I was on vacation with friends last September. I ended up making breakfast everyday for everyone and felt like a short-order cook. I loved it and one of the things I kept hearing about after the vacation was how perfect everyone thought my eggs were. I thought, it's pretty easy and that's what I do on the show. Sure, you more than likely scramble eggs and have your own technique, but the cheese added can sometimes mess up texture. I do have a technique for scrambling I've used over the years I love, so I thought ... why not share it on the show? So the recipe is pretty simple, but the technique can take a few times to get right. That's something to think about when making a meal from a recipe. You pretty much have to have all the elements right; ingredients, temperature, tools, equipment, etc. and then the technique has to be there as well. So, if you ever have a problem with a recipe, don't stress. There are so many elements. Things can happen and they do. Just relax and give yourself time. No big deal. Cooking is like trying to get to Carnegie Hall, keep practicing and sooner or later your food will perform like an orchestra in your mouth! If not, try another instrument, ahem, recipe ... not everyone is great at everything. I will admit, it takes me a few times to get sushi rolled pretty. Totally uncoordinated at times. Ok ...

For the Diner Breakfast menu I have my Perfect Scrambled Cheesy Eggs, then I do the diner steak, but dress it up a bit because if I'm at home, I'll treat myself a bit better than the diner. To please that, I offer one of my go-to steaks that is so simple and really flavorful, my Grilled Rosemary Steaks (totally perfect for a pan-fry or broil if you want). Then, I sweeten it up with the easiest way to homemade cinnamon buns, my Easy Glazed Cinnamon Buns. This is all about behind the scenes here so if you want to see the cinnamon buns before the show or how they were developed in my home kitchen, I blogged about them in a post back in Nov. '10 called Buns, Apps, Cravings, Fun and More!

Ok, a big thanks to Darius Williams for his guest blog while I was away! Check out the newest episode of Cooking for Real: Diner Breakfast, tomorrow at 11AM and Monday afternoon at 4PM on Food Network!

Also, starting Monday Cooking for Real begins to air weekdays at 1130AM EST, in addition to the 4PM EST show. Two different episodes each day and this Monday's 1130AM airing of Cooking for Real is the most recent episode I call Easier Than It Looks with Darius Williams, owner of The Cupcake Gallery in Chicago.

Ok, so don't forget your chance to watch, for real :-) ...

Cooking for Real on Food Network

Sundays @ 11:00AM

Monday - Friday @ 11:30AM & 4:00PM

All times are eastern. If you ever want to look at the Food Network schedule for your time zone, bookmark this link

New Cooking for Real Sunday! Easier Than It Looks!

Hey there! I'm on the hunt for the elusive 15-pound lobster tail :-), but in the meantime I have a new Cooking for Real airing Sunday I want to tell you about!!

It's called Easier Than It Looks and a friend I met right here on the blog stops by to help me prepare the whole menu. This season, we added diner-like seating on one counter in the kitchen and I had guests come by and hang out while I cooked for a few of the episodes. Well, Darius Williams, owner of The Cupcake Gallery in Chicago was a guest on one of those shows alongside two more of my friends. We had so much fun taping that episode and he clearly has such great cooking skill, that my producer and I agreed asking him back to tape another show would be a great surprise and idea. So, after taping what he thought would be his one and only show, we approached Darius to ask him if he had it in him to do another show with me. He said yes instantly, what a champ! Here's Darius in a pic we took just moments before we asked him to come back for another show ...That's Jenna, Darius, myself and Fiona. Jenna thankfully filled in for a guest that couldn't make it due to weather and Fiona is a friend I met years ago and she was actually on another episode of Cooking for Real called Irish Eyes Smiling

We took lunch and Darius came back to tape Easier Than It Looks. We made my Sweet Glazed Butterflied Chicken and Tater and Asparagus Toss. Want to hear a funny little behind the scenes tidbit? Okay :-) ... after going through and reading the introduction I wrote for the show once, we stopped and decided to changed the title of the latter recipe because at first it was called "Asparagus and Tater Toss", but that sounded too much like I could be saying "Tater TOTS" at the end and confuse people and quite possibly upset the tots biz, so my solution on the fly was to simply switch around the words and call it the "Tater and Asparagus Toss". It sounds so simple now, but when I said it as a solution it seemed genius! Teeheehee ...

OK, catch the show this Sunday at 11AM and check out the blog Monday for my first ever guest blog from Darius himself recounting his experience taping Cooking for Real with me! Then don't forget the rerun of the episode Monday afternoon at 4!

We're done taping!

Hey! Taping got the best of me and I wasn't able to keep up with the pace and post blogs at the same time for the last three days, but I still have pictures and videos from shooting the 9th season of Cooking for Real. We just wrapped today and just in time for another snow storm! Look who joined me on the show yesterday ...
It's AARTI!!!!! And please believe, we had a PARTY! She came on a show I title "It Takes Two to Salsa" and salsa we did :-). She is such a ball of sunshine and having her on felt like the thing to do. We met when I was taping NFNS: After Party and have been online chat buddies ever since. I can't wait for you to see us in the kitchen together!!! She a blast and really brought some crazy flavor!! We taped the first show of the day together and I still had another to go. So, she headed out to get some things done, but not before leaving me a sweet note in the green room ...Sweet huh? She's the best and I hope you are catching her show, it's such a nice departure from the norm and the flavors she can brings into your kitchen without any new shopping, is so valuable. Trust me, you have these ingredients or can get them in your grocery store.

Between shows I chatted with the crew at AOL DayBreak and the video is up now, no need to click away though, I've got the code ...

You’re watching Daybreak: The Rich Beg for iPads. See the Web's top videos on AOL Video

Pretty fun, thanks to the team from AOL! Such pros!! Oh wait, before I forget ... I also had some other studio guests! If you hang out in the comments here a bit you may know of Charles. A few months ago I met him in Philly at an event I hosted for Aetna Healthcare and he asked if he could visit the set. I never say no to a visit! I don't have a studio audience show, but I'll set up a chair and hand out some candy :-). Here we are right before a quick tour of the Food Network kitchens and my set ...That's Charles next to me and his guy Tremaine, next to Aarti. Pretty cool they got a bonus with the visit from Aarti, eh?! I can't wait for you to see this new episode! I don't know how we got any cooking done, it was all laughs and chatter. Love her!

Then today, I decided to have my parents stop by and hang out with me! The production team worked hard to plan a funny surprise for them on my show. I'll save what it is until it airs, but check out just a small part of the team hovered around the surprise trying to figure out how to make it work within the show on my set ...I mean ... for the better part of an hour more than 20 or so people were brainstorming and working on the staging of the surprise. They discussed at length the hows, whens, how fast, where, everything, you could imagine for what will end up being about 2 minutes of television. Total group of pros, this hard work has nothing to do with a paycheck, this is dedication to doing the best. Pretty cool to watch them work it out. The hard work was worth it because the surprise went off without a hitch and it's pretty funny. I can't wait for you to see me catch my parents off guard when it airs. This episode is called, "Fish n Grits". As soon as I get new airdates I'll let you know.

Ok, one last thing before I fall asleep to the sounds of American Idol ... I went to Columbus, Ohio this past weekend to hang out at Giant Eagle Market District and cooked for a crowd of smiling people. If you were there thanks so much for turning out to have fun and eat, for real! I'm glad you stuck around for dessert :-). Here's a pic of the culinary team that helped everything go off without a hitch ...Giant Eagle is a huuuuuuuuuuge superstore and each time I go, I feel like big time grocery shopping is the one thing I miss living here in NYC. We don't have football field grocery stores in the city. That means you have to go all over the place to get many things. I don't mind because I end up finding so much more than I'm looking for, but I truly envy you if you are close to a Giant Eagle. I mean ... dry-aged beef, gelato and Cap'n Crunch for sale under the same roof?? Sign me up and upgrade my membership please. Teeheehee, for real.

Ok, last, but not least. A special huge hello to straight A student Zamarius from FAIRMOORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! Sorry it took me a few days to post, but I'm a woman of my word Zamarius! Hug your mom!

Ok, I'm heading to Los Angeles to tape Access Hollywood with Kit and Billy Monday, stick around for some California love :-).

From snow to Ohio!

Hey there! Well, day 4 of taping Season 9 of Cooking for Real was plenty of fun!! I opened the window to my hotel and saw what the weather did over night ...
Not much, eh? I got to work and the day started with some friends ...There they are getting all ready for their close up. When I have airdates, I'll share more details. We had a great time taping, I wonder how we got any cooking done. For real :-)

Ok, well it's the end of the week and I'm beat! Hence the quick post ... I'm in Ohio though, ready to hang out tomorrow at the Giant Eagle within the Kingsdale Market District in Columbus. Come on by if you are in the area, I have a fun menu and plenty of smiles to share :-).

Pull up a chair!

Hey there! Day two is over as we continue to tape the 9th season of Cooking for Real and it was just as fun and exciting as yesterday. Well, I finally got my act together and between the action caught a snap of the newest addition to my set ...Chairs!!! Also if you look close I have a new extension to my counter for guests to lean in and have a bite! This season we decided to have some people come and hang out with me while I cook, for real :-). It looks like a bar or better yet a diner counter!!! Which reminds me ...
Teeheehee, totally showing my age. That show was so funny! Ok, then I got a picture right before we finished the last show of the day ...That's Wendy Waxman looking over her selections for the final dishes I'll plate everything on. Each time I go back to tape a new season she has a new additions to my "show cupboards". This time around I'm noticing some really pretty textured and painted bowls and plates. Can't wait for you to see them all! Ok, stick around for more stuff! Day three on the way!

... And we're back!

Hi there! Today we started taping season 9 of Cooking for Real and I think I slept maybe 4 hours last night. I'm just too wired, excited, anxious, everything! Here's a shot from the end of today ... I call that picture "Lights Out!". A split second before we took it, the stage lights were dimmed because it was the end of the day for us. That's Jeff and Des, they've worked on so many Food Network shows, to list them would be silly. That's 2 shows down and 11 more to go! Can't wait for you to see them!!

As usual, I can't share all the details, but I can give up some goods. Remember how I mentioned the kitchen set got an addition? Well, I saw it today and I really like it. I'll take some pictures and post them up. I only thought to get that picture from above at the very end of the day. I was so focused on work I completely forgot most everything else. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe a full day and you notice at the end you forgot you even own a cell phone because you never thought to use it? Focus is something crazy, it just takes over everything doesn't it? Love, love, love the human body and how it works. Well, I am just so happy to be back and I love the recipes this season, plenty of comfort and ease. Easy for me to say, right? Can't wait for you to see them and give some things a try! I can tell you the names of the shows from today the first was "Smother and Hover" and the second was "Diner Breakfast". Tomorrow it's "Don't Scrimp on the Shrimp" and "Much Ado About Stuffing" :-).

I really have fun titling the shows and recipes, it's kind of an added bonus. I get to flex my corny side and it feels good teeheehee. Ok, I don't have much more except here's a picture I took while we were planning my shows. A sign of things to come ...That's Santos holding out my Caprese Steak, quite like my Caprese Burger, but you need a knife for this one. I let him do the honors of slicing it up so we could all take a bite! Can't wait for you to give it a try if you like a good steak with a twist! Then, this next one allows me to end on a sweet note ..
It's my Easy Blueberry Apple Pie, and although I love a shortcut of the ready-made pie crust, this is homemade, just as it will be on the show. I was planning these episodes around the holidays and I didn't really want to "phone it in" for holiday meals, so now I get to share with you a quick and easy method to perfect, flaky and buttery pie crust. It's easy, trust me! I'm not a pastry chef!! But guess who is?!? Another way to end sweet ...It's Anne Thornton, host of Food Network's Dessert First. If you haven't already, you have to check out her show! She is so much fun and she was planning her next season of the show when I happened upon her heavenly creation. She's holding it, but it's so far away, lemme give you a close-up ...Click on the picture, I beg you. It's totally worth a 30 second day dream! I stopped in my tracks when I saw it. You can't even really see what's beneath the whipped top, it's deep and decadent. I don't know what she calls it, but I can't wait to see it on her show!! Alright, time to get ready for day two! Stick around for some behind the scenes stuff!

My Turkey Coma ...

Hey there! Well, I am just now waking up from what I like to call my "Turkey Coma", a bit of hibernation, if you will. Truthfully I woke up yesterday from the coma, but by the time I got home from work ... it was time for a Tylenol PM coma. I somehow got the sniffles and with recipe testing this week among other events, I can't really be sick. I thought I could post a blog last night, but just 30 minutes after taking the meds, I couldn't even aptly respond to emails without thinking about how to spell simple words or compose a thought. So anyway, I hope you had a great turkey day and an enjoyable hibernation as well!!

I started last week with a trip to Martha Stewart radio where I handled the Turkey Hotline. The reason I mention that is the hosts, Kim and Betsy laughed and shunned me when I said I was frying my turkey ... inside instead of the recommended back/front yard suggestion. I told them, "Reeeeelax, I'd found a counter-top turkey fryer and intend to test drive it". Well ... it drove ...

Look at that wing!!! Look, I'm not an endorser, but if you want to know where I got the counter-top turkey fryer just ask in comments and I'll give up the goods. The fryer does up to a 22 pound turkey and what I really like about it other than it actually works, is it's also a huuuuuuuuge vat for deep frying at home, so the next day instead of doing my stuffing bites in batches, I threw all 10 of em in the big vat with confidence that the temperature wouldn't fall due to overcrowding. I actually did my Stuffing Bites as croquettes, a bit bigger than the bites. I just roll the stuffing into a ball, flatten it, dredge in flour, then egg wash, then panko breadcrumbs. 350 degrees and about 6 mins later after a sprinkle of salt ... yum yum yum ...Perfect thing about this recipe is if you like your stuffing ... you'll love your very own stuffing bites! I serve it with the leftover cranberry sauce blitzed with some walnuts. This year I thought I wouldn't make cranberry sauce, but ended up doing it anyway. Hey, wait ... can't get ahead of myself. Did you want to see the bird? It was an 11.11 pounder, I brined it in a small cooler for 2 days in my fridge (I was shooting for 3 days, but my schedule didn't really allow it). Then I rubbed and rested it on it's end right on my counter top to let it dry and come to room temp. It took just 38 minutes to fry. I promise when I get my website relaunched, (I'm on track for a late January launch!) I'll get my act together and have more "styled" photos if you like, but there's nothing like a cell phone cam in a pinch ... :-)That's right before I tented it with some aluminum foil for a rest. Lemme tell you those legs just pulled right off! I broke it down and plated it. What do you do? Do you make slices of the breasts or do you take off the breast as a whole and then cut it against the grain? I do the latter, seems like there's more meat that way, a total optical illusion for me. Then I made mac and cheese, collard greens, sweet potato casserole with a pecan topping, rice, sweet ice tea, chorizo and plantain stuffing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce and a blueberry apple pie. Ok, ready for the "real" part of Cooking for Real? I was so busy the few days before Thanksgiving that I got up late that day, therefor starting late ... I did everything that day with no prep other than the bird brining. Here's the real part ... we didn't eat until Conan O'brien was on! Pretty late, but totally worth the wait. Take a look at dessert in the oven!I know they sell pie guards, but Kim over at Martha Stewart radio and I agree, it just takes up too much drawer space. Aluminum foil does the trick, non-stick aluminum foil is even better! (Cooking for Real! Don't need the fancy stuff to get it done!) The day after Thanksgiving we continued to hibernate and had pie first then I made some turkey pot pies out of the dark meat, the leftover gravy, some frozen rice, carrots, stock, cream and I made extra dough for the blueberry apple pie and froze it, so I used that for the crust. And yes, I totally support pre-made pie crusts in a pinch, but it's the holidays and I was feeling it, so I went old school and made it :-). Here are a few of the pot pie shots ...

We tore into those for late lunch, because of course the pie was a late breakfast, gluttons. For dinner we did a turkey day repeat with the stuffing bites being the only difference. Then Saturday for breakfast I made eggs, grits with the giblet solids I strained out of the gravy on Thursday and left over chorizo that didn't make it into the stuffing. I also made waffles and folded in the leftover sweet potato casserole, then made a pecan caramel sauce to drizzle over it, pretty darn good. I wrote down the recipe and I'll try to share it in a future show. We did the waffles two days in a row. I froze them the first day so day two, was all toaster time! I just sat here trying to remember every meal so I asked my guy for help, let me tell you how much we ate ... we just both got tired even trying to list the meals and what we had. So I've totally missed some meals here, but I just wanted to share. There were so many "snack" meals lol. The "hey, go warm up some of the stuffing bites real quick" or the "gimme a piece of skin". I feel like I'm in confession, I really over ate! Check out Holly's blog Random Cravings to see more turkey talk! She decided weeks ago to cook for real for 6 weeks, so last week she made some of my Thanksgiving recipes. Check out I'm Thankful for Sunny's Turkey Recipe and Thanksgiving Leftover Bonus!

Ok, well as if all that eating that wasn't bad enough, Monday morning was the first day of pre-production for Season 9 of Cooking for Real! What that means is I get in the Food Network kitchens and pretty much demo the bulk of the recipes from the menus I've pitched for the upcoming season. Lot's of eating!!! There are so many reasons we do this, but the main one is to make taping that much easier. When everyone on the team knows how I make it, what it looks like and how long the processes are, it makes planning each act of the show and each taping a breeze! You'd never guess how much time we spend talking about where in the show to start making each dish or if we need to move things from the oven to the stove top or vice versa. I totally enjoy the process and can't wait for you to see the new shows! So far I've plowed through shows I have tentatively titled "Easier than it looks", "Diner Breakfast", "Cookin' it Old School", "Comforting Classics", "Much Ado About Stuffing" and "Fish n Grits". Here's the first pic I took Monday, pretty much says it all ...

Alright, that's it. I'm headed to Chicago for a quick trip. Can't wait to tell you all about it and hope you'll join in on the plan! Especially if you like baking cookies :-) Stick around!