Can't impress 'em all

Just a Monday smile ... Congrats to the women's Olympic gymnastics team. Once I saw them all making fun of it themselves, I thought I'd join in the fun...

New Cooking for Real Saturday!! Seeing Red

Hey there!! Happy Saturday! Is it wishful thinking that you are even up this early on a Saturday? I could be really organized and type this up at another time, but sometimes I like to wake up and write something fresh on the day I post it. I can count on 1 hand the times I've pre-written a blog post and then put it up when it worked for me. So anyway ... I'm up! Looks like it's gonna be a nice day in Brooklyn and I hope you start it off where you are by joining me for another episode of Cooking for Real.

This week I call it "Seeing Red". I've mentioned here before that it's really one of the neat things that comes along with having the show, I get to plan menus and even have fun with the titles. It's a very small part, naming the shows, but I get so much joy from it. Obviously the color red play a big part today...

Ok, here's the menu:

Radish Salad - When I started Cooking for Real a few years back, this was the only ingredient I really didn't favor. I mean, I would eat it, but I didn't look for it on the menu. It shamed me lol. I thought, how can I love food and have this thing in my way? So, I kept buying them and finding ways I liked them, radishes that is. I love them for crunch and texture in a soft taco and that got me thinking one day about making a radish salsa kinda, enter ... my Radish Salad. The pic is above. Tastes good today, even better tomorrow when the colors start to bleed!!

Ok, then to stay with the red theme, I marinate some red meat in red wine and red pomegranate juice then let cipollini onions soak up some of the red too in a recipe I call Red Wine and Pomegranate Hangar Steak with Cipollini Onions. I thought about this after a trip to Boston (my memory is bad, the city was actually Providence, RI and the spot was called Al Forno) for an event with a co-worker. His parents took us out for dinner and I had a steak with a charred molasses, red wine flavor. It was super charred lol and I loved it. Thing is, my steak here isn't charred because it's indoors, but feel free to char away, with discretion :-)

And cut it right! It's easy. Just look at the meat, see which way the muscles run and then across, perpendicular, against the grain or flow of the muscles. This helps it tear easier when you chew. Sounds so barbaric, huh? I know ... I love meat. Sorry to the vegans. I really am. There's nothing better than a steak sometimes. When I did this master cleanse diet a few years back, it took me months to get my steak craving back. It scared me! lol. Ok, here's a quick dessert you can whip together ... and I do mean "whip"...
It's my Strawberry Fool! It's so simple and I love the way if feels when you take a big scoop that's way too big for the capacity of your mouth. It's so smooth from the whip and sweet and tangy from the strawberries. It's also so simple I can't believe I haven't planned to share this recipe sooner. Sometimes things are so simple it's hard to even call them a recipe and that's how I feel about this. I mean, some berries, some honey, some heavy cream and a few other typical kitchen ingredients and there's some dessert on the table. Love it!! Hope you do too!!!

Cooking for Real!! Season 10 @ 1o!!! Today on Food Network and Monday at 3pm as well!!!

Tell a friend. It's natural to tell people when you don't like something, but if you do like something, it's sometimes hard to share ... share my recipes and share a smile with me!

Hiatus ... or Hi, ate, us

Hey there!! Wow, well I have been gone from here for over a week *slapping my own hand*, sorry if it was a trusty click here and there for you during the week for an escape. I know the feeling, if TMZ or CNN ... my two sources for online news, lol, were down, I'd go crazy. And not that I'm either of those, but I do regret not being able to post blogs regularly. Good news is it's because I'm busy. I feel like I have plenty of stuff to chat about too! Miss the regular unloading of stuff. Ok, so how do I do this? I'll number the stuff...

1. I just got back from Eleuthera, one of the outer islands in the Bahamas. It's my new favorite place and the food there is crazy! I've been so much some of the locals have taken me in like family and on this last trip I made Bahamian Peas and Rice with them and took videos of it! Look for the edited version of it here soon!

2. Next Food Network Star: After Party! It's back this season and Adam Gertler and I are back to talk about all the fun happenings on NFNS. Last year our episodes aired on Cooking Channel, this year they are scheduled to be on Dish Network. We won't begin airing After Party until the final weeks of the show and we begin taping them later this week! Last week I actually got copies of all the episodes up to the 9th show and I've been watching them, taking notes and living out weeks of stress and anxiety in just days. I could tell ya who gets kicked off, but it would be a whole 'nother form of "death by chocolate" TEEHEEHEE!! Get it!?!? That's another reason I miss writing, you totally accept my corny side. Ok, on to the next one like Jay Z and Swizz Beats ...

3. Website relaunch: I have discussed this forever, but it is finally very close to relaunching. I am working on some fun giveaways and stuff to relaunch and I hope for it to be a place you visit regularly for recipes, tips and smiles. Stay tuned here for all the details, but as it stands, it's sitting at SunnyAnderson.com and my web department (sounds so big right?) is working on an announcement page that should go up in the next week or so. I'll also have newsletter sign up, just trust me, I won't spam you or send you daily stuff. I dislike it in my own inbox, so I wouldn't do it to you. Just major announcements and stuff.

4. Sunny's All American Celebration; This is a special I've wanted to do for years with The Food Network and if by some chance in life I ended up on ESPN, I'd still want to do the special, just with a concentration on sports, not food. So, that should tell you how close this is to my heart, I've wanted to tell more people about the real stuff that happens in the military for years. Not just the artillary and war-time missions, but the humans, just like you and I, that have jobs to do everyday; for the benefit of the country. There are mechanics, doctors, teachers, language experts, artists, photographers, radio hosts (that's what I did), and for all those people, someone has to feed them. That's where the special jumps in. I'll show you how and where the military trains it's chefs, it's stuff never before seen on television. I also take a trip home to cook for some war veterans at a cookout, but before I do that I head over to my grandma's house close by to prepare some of the dishes in her kitchen and it's all caught on tape for the show. I cannot wait for you to see this. I've shown some of the early edits to friends and they are the kind that tell me when they don't like something (yes men get you no where) -- they all liked it and have mentioned it days after I showed the preview! So, it looks promising. Mark your calendar or, act like it's 2011 and mark your DVR and Tivo, July 2nd 10AM, July 4th at 6PM!!!

5. Hi, I'm on Hiatus: Some have noticed I'm not on weekends anymore. I knew this was going to happen, but didn't have time to tell you, nor did I know it would upset some enough to ask where I was. This is really sweet of you to notice I was missing. Thing is, we ran out of shows! When I started you supported me so much that Food Network put Cooking for Real on everyday during the week. I talked about it in a blog called I'm Getting Stripped!. I'm still stripped Monday - Friday 1130AM and 4PM eastern on Food Network. When that happens before you have about 100 episodes taped, you can run out if you don't tape often. That's basically what happened, No new episodes means, no weekends. We had to move around my taping schedule to work with taping for the 4th of July special I did for the network. I just finished taping Season 10 a month ago and if you ask me I don't know how they get things done so fast over there, what with all the other shows they produce in-house. Cool thing is, when Cooking for Real comes back on weekends, it's perfect timing ... I return July 2nd! The same day as the All American Celebration!! And I'll remain on Saturdays at 1230PM until further notice, or how it usually works ... you tell me, then I explain. Sorry, I've been so gone from the blog :-(. Missed ya! Ok, So Cooking for Real returns to Saturdays at 1230PM July 2nd!! Spread the word! Which leads to ..

6. I tweet now. I have to tell you I fought it for some time, but it's fun. I just have the same issues there as I did here, do you care about what I write? I look at some people's tweets and some seem very convoluted and thought out and as if they are building an image instead of just being themselves. Ever see a tweet and wonder if the person is really doing what they say or eating/cooking what they say? Where are the photos?!? Lol, So look, I'm no food stylist, I just love to eat and cook, but rest assured, I'll always live and cook, for real :-) and post the evidence lol. We need to start asking for evidence, I see plenty of "theater of the mind" out there. I dunno, just doesn't seem like me to tweet, but I do see the benefits, I can reach more people in an ever increasing social media age. When are we gonna get back to the old school pow-wow, eh? So, get on my twitter feed and let your friends know about show times and stuff going on. Click here Sunny Anderson twitter.

7. Crest and Scope. I just started working with them, seems they liked my smile and wanted to work on my breath lol. Really, there's some new stuff on the way and if you are mouth obsessed like me, stick around for some new products from Scope and Crest. As before with Viva and Lipton, this is a product I already use and love. So, trust me and my smile, it works, this isn't just business. I understand when I say I use something it's important for that to be true :-). I mean I once took an ex to the dentist to get his teeth checked out and I even stopped the beginnings of a great relationship with one guy because he had no oral hygiene and I was too dumb to figure out how to bring it up. What a missed relationship, he was so smart and funny, just funky. His breath stunk up his whole apartment lol. Oh gawd, the memories and stories I could tell. He ended up getting picked on about his teeth in a very public way by someone else, went to the dentist and started dating her! It didn't work out (maybe because old habits die hard?), but he did eventually find true love and got married. Too funny. So, stick around there are some new Scope and Crest products I've teamed up with that are coming out for us food lovers this year hint hint ...

8. Cooking for Real ... the book. It's on the way! Well, it's going to feel like my website talk, it's going to take a while, but the process is started and I'm excited!!! I've heard some good buzz, I just want you to know I'm totally emotionally connected to getting published and it has everything to do with me wanting it as a kid. I grew up in love with words and reading and always wanted to be published. I still have my childhood dictionary. It was my best friend. Throughout school and travel to different countries, I just fell in love with language and words, they almost tried to talk me into being a cryptologist in the Air Force because my language skills scored so high on the entry test. But I fought it, I wanted to be a television news writer, what I was already doing in high school. Little did I know, I'd get trained for television and radio, then get put in a radio department as a disc jockey. So, it was a goal early on to write and be published, but I didn't know for what or how. I would sit in the DJ booth in San Antonio, New Orleans, Montgomery and Detroit thinking, maybe I'll write a book on getting ahead in the radio business. Then, when I got the gig at HOT 97 in New York, it seemed to make sense, because I'd done well for myself in the business, without a manager or lawyer or anything. Just hard work, a resume and good ratings. Reality was though, even back in 2001 when I moved to NYC, radio was a shrinking business, so who would buy the book? Plus, who cares what I have to say and how do I market it? These were the things I thought about. (I also want a farm one day, there I said it). Then, I'd sit and daydream about maybe a book of poems? A travel book? Then, the stories I could tell from being in the business, it would sell, but I'm not a sell out lol, I'd have to change so many names and places to protect the parties involved, it'd be like a Million Little Pieces. Trust me, I sat for years and years always wondering not just how to get published, but what would make sense and how I, as an author would have enough weight to sell the book. So, here I am now in this career field where people expect you to put a book out?!?!? Not me thinking and dreaming about it, but people asking me "when is your book coming out?"!!!!!?!????! I have to tell you, I feel like someone listened to my dream back then as a grade school kid, they just didn't tell me to relax and wait. So, I'm now content with working and waiting. I've actually always worked to make myself happy in the moment, but who knew as a kid that work could make you happy years later after the work is done? All these things I've done in life add up to now and it sounds simple, but really there are just some things you can't get to directly, it has to be presented to you due to your work and proximity to your dream, then you take the path towards it. Pretty cool. Finally, a military special to show my love to the people that raised me and a cookbook on the way to solidify a childhood dream. Unbelievable. If you do it right, or shall I say do it write :-), it'll all fall into place one day. Just trust it and realize that if it doesn't happen before you are done with your trip here, it's ok. The goal sometimes isn't the goal, the pursuit of happiness is and I'm on that trip every day. I think my thank you page will be a chapter in and of itself. Cannot wait for you to see the book! Heck, I can't wait to see it all printed and bound myself!! Ok ... has it been a year already cuz the ...

9. AC Food and Wine Festival is back!! My pool party on the deck aka "Sunset Sliders" is back as well!! Get tickets now, they sold out last year!! Click here for Sunset Sliders TICKETS. I'm also hosting Sweet & Stylish this year, I have the menus for both and will put them up here soon! Get the Sweet & Stylish TICKETS HERE. Actually catch all the details of where I'll be that weekend by checking my page on the website here Sunny Anderson at AC Food and Wine Festival. Also, if you want to see how it went down last year, just look at all my posts here Sunny Anderson at the 2010 AC Food and Wine Festival.

10. Finally, I'm headed to California soon, I was hoping to get to the Garlic Festival, but I'm in Atlantic City the same weekend as the funk fest in Gilroy, Cali. :-( I will be on the west coast soon though to chat about the special I taped for my All American Celebration.

Stick around!!! (excuse typos, I'll catch them during the day and fix em, working on a double dose of cold medicine to kill the cold before I start shooting NFNS After Party Friday. Ok, take care!!!

Sweet Obsessions ...

Hey there! Well, I confess ... I was away for a few days on vacation. That's why it's been dormant here and in the comments. I'm dealing with a bit of jet lag too, but give me a coupla days over the weekend and I'll be back in bloggin' shape!

In the meantime, I have some sweet obsessions I'd like to share, today and tomorrow on Today :-). Yep, I'm hangin' with The Today show crew tomorrow (Saturday) morning for some holiday sweet talk! I have a few desserts to share along with the recipes and some tips on making them super simple. Catch me in the 8AM hour on the east coast. Until then, my current sweet obsessions ...OOOOOHHHH ... Bean paste neva tasted so yummy!
AHHHHHHH ... Flavors galore!!

OHHHHHHHH! Nutella! I'm headed to the city for the required rehearsal for The Today show, then the treadmill! See ya on The Today show tomorrow! Happy Holidays and eating!!

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!