Television Hilarity!

Well, I’ll be leaving town tomorrow morning early. Gone for the long weekend. No cooking this weekend!

Going to meet my sister in Palm Springs for some sun (she lives in San Francisco and it’s been pretty gloomy and wet up there...not to say snowing here!) and to hide out. For good reason – I’ll be making my national television debut on Sunday evening. The new Food Network series “Ultimate Recipe Showdown” – mine is the first show, “Chicken”. Sunday, February 17, 9 pm Eastern. It is better that I cringe in private. My husband will have his best buddy over to watch at home….I don’t think I could stand to have my pal Mike say, “wow, why do you look so….electrocuted?”

And my sister, Lori, was the one who stuck it out with me throughout the taping. She calmed me down when I was shaking so bad, I could have had an unfortunate "Saturday Night Live" Julia Child/knife incident! She told me which outfit looked like “you’re not wearing THAT, are you???” and wiped the lipstick off my teeth. I couldn’t have survived the experience without her!

While I’m apprehensive of how I’ll appear a fool, the actual experience of doing it was wonderful. I LOVED my fellow contestants – all so talented and gracious. You’ll see Michelle Anderson along with me – she won the National Chicken competition last year (and $100,000!) so she knew a thing or two about cooking chicken....nothing like just a little competition! And I had a soft spot for Lauren, the darling, super talented young woman from New Orleans. She is just wonderful. Everyone was wonderful! And be sure to watch my good pal, Jenny Flake of "The Picky Palate" when her show airs, “Comfort Food”. I just think Jenny is the best thing since sliced bread. So kind, talented, and level-headed…she’s been a sort of mentor for me and I’ve so appreciated her input and support.

The Food Network and High Noon staff were just terrific. From producers to cameramen to our prep assistants, they were professional, supportive, and fun to do this with. I spent a lot of time laughing, which went a long way to helping me not pass out. And Guy Fieri….he was not only hilariously funny, he was helpful (I mean, doing the live shoot, he saw me start to do something stupid, and his commentary put me back on track!), and just a really nice guy. I was nervous and freaked out, but I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything.

I hope you all enjoy the show. It’s a good concept and I think it will be pretty entertaining.

And by entertaining, I just hope you laugh WITH me instead of AT me!!!

Mike, you listening?????