back in the day...

You guys, I feel like it's been a long time since we've talked...about me.  Ok.

Once upon a time, I was a single gal in my twenties, sans baby, sans food blog.  Cooking dinner for myself consisted of microwaving Trader Joe's Spanakopita and eating it at 9pm when I got home from work (which was at Last Call with Carson Daly where I was a Segment Producer).  But my passion for food still found it's outlet.  I often baked for co-workers and when a food-related guest was booked for the show, they turned to me.  See below.  Hi Padma!   

When Padma was booked, she said she wanted to bring Flautas for Carson, from her new cookbook.  But what she really meant was, I want your chef to make my flautas and then I want your food stylist to make them camera ready and then I will bring them out to Carson.  Well, we didn't have a "chef" or a "food stylist" - we had me.  And our prop guy, Bob.  So I left work mid-day, fried up some flautas, had a couple of panic attacks and a beer, and drove them back to work.  Then, Bob threw them on a plate of lettuce (because green leafy things always make food look fancy) and they were "camera ready."

She tried them in her dressing room pre-segment, in front of me, and made some comment about how they weren't crispy enough.  I almost cried, but thankfully the beer was keeping me calm, cool and collected.  The 'Last Call Chef/Food Stylist' name tag I was wearing helped too.  

I know what you're thinking, What A Fascinating Behind The Scenes Look At TV. 

Here's the second guest trying my-Padma's flautas.  He's a famous football player?  I can't remember.  What?!  I do remember that he ate 7 of them, and I wanted to hug his big body.  (Look at her face, she's all, eh, they should be crispier...) 

In case you're curious, here's a video of Padma actually making them (but Tom Colicchio's does most of the work) and here's the recipe.  Great Sunday football snacks.  Moving on.

My very first producing gig was with these guys, Jon Shook... 

and Vinny Dotolo...

They couldn't have made my job any easier.  I was a wreck, convinced we'd go long and blow up the studio.  They, on the other hand, were prompt, professional, fun, relatable, spectacular chefs and great TV personalities.  If you're ever in LA, do yourself a favor and get to one of their restaurants: Animal and Son of a Gun.  You won't be sorry.

So there you go, that wraps up my gratuitous history lesson all about me.  I'll bake you a cookie for listening.