Did you catch The View!?

Hey there! Well, it's not even been a week and I am still really happy about going on The View! Take a look if you missed it!!!

Did you want to watch the full episode? Click here ... The View - Victoria Beckham, Sunny and Bedbugs! :-)

All the ladies were so nice and as I explained to you in the post below, I was worried if Whoopi would make one of her cameo appearances during the segment. Imagine how crazy it felt to watch the show on Friday and see not only that, but Barbara Walters munchin' on one of my PB&J Pancakes! I didn't notice it during the taping because I was caught up in the moment on stage and I remember briefly seeing a monitor with Whoopi on it, but I find when things are live you are hyper-focused and often lose the details for the big picture right after it's over. Kind of hard to explain, it's like saying plenty of stuff consciously and knowingly, then two seconds later when the event is over, you are left wondering if you said all of what you think you said or if you thought to say some of it and didn't get a chance to. Better? I'm just trying to let you know how it feels for me. I'm hyper aware and there's a part of me so hyper aware that it is ready to speak and fill in the blanks at any moment, coupled with movements and other things your body needs to do, I have to say I don't know how to make it work, it just does. I say that because some people ask me when I meet them how I manage to cook, instruct, tell a story and look at the camera. The answer is, I have no idea, it just happens. Anyway, totally off topic, but to bring it back around, I had no memory of Barbara Walters noshin' on my goods, but I was so pleasantly surprised with it all. The video is below, I think my favorite part is when Sherri needed me to slow down on the pancake ingredients. She is hilarious! The yelling at Jeffrey, the beating the eggs joke, I can't believe how much fun it was in just a few minutes.

So, I didn't tell you but I went on a little vacation the day after I taped The View and ended up watching it air Friday with my guy and one of my best friends, just steps from the beach. I just got back today and although I've always made it a practice to go on vacation at least once a year, I've never had the occasion of doing that and watching myself on The View. It was truly a neat moment and I cried like a baby. I am so happy and I think it would be phony to act like all of this is totally normal or expected. This gives me another chance to urge you to chase the dream. Whatever it is, it can bring you some unexpected moments of happiness. I just enjoy cooking and sharing and talking about pretty much everything to anyone, it's what made radio so enjoyable for me. So, to do this job is truly rewarding. It's why I really mean it when I meet you and tell you thank you for watching and even here on the blog, thanks for reading. You are supporting a dreamer willing to do the work and I can't thank you enough.

Ok, stick around these parts because I still have cool information for anyone that has asked in the past about the bowls I use on Cooking for Real, details about them are one of the most asked questions and I have answers! Plus, more behind the scenes stuff from the most recent taping of Cooking for Real. I wrapped just a few weeks back and it looks like the first new episodes from that season begin airing in November. I ate and cooked comforting winter food all summer to prepare and write down my recipes for this new season, can't wait for you to see all the food!

P.S. "radiodugger" over at fnf - thanks, means plenty coming from someone in radio land :-).

Catch me on The View Tomorrow!! Friday!!!

Hey there! Well, tomorrow is the day! I join the ladies on Friday's episode of The View and assist host Sherri Shepherd with her foray into cooking at home for herself and her cute little son, Jeffrey. She talks about him plenty on the show so you get to feel like you know him and he sounds like a ball of fun, which makes since because so is Sherri. I don't want to give away much so I'll just say we had a great time. The segment is called Cooking Sherri and it's a result of her moving to Harlem and not being able to order the food they want to eat. We taped the show Tuesday and I was so nervous I barely slept the night before. I wonder if everyone gets like that? Luckily I had my girls with me to calm me down and make me look presentable …That's my hair stylist Hadiiya Barbel on the left and JJ on the right does my make up. These are two very talented women and I'm so lucky to have them by my side when I do because I share them with other women that have seriously busy schedules. We were all smiles and ready to go. We took that in our green room, and then right before the show we were escorted right by Victoria Beckham prepping for her appearance on the same show. She has a clothing line and had models there for a mini-runway show after her interview segment. The dresses were allllllll beautiful! I can't wait for you to see them, they've been on some A-list celebs and I didn't know they were her designs, pretty cool. So a few turns and an elevator ride away from our first green room was a bigger green room where all of the guests and the guests' guests (say that fast) could hang out before going on. There were pictures on the walls from all the seasons of The View and the lights were dimmed so people could watch the show on the television. Take a look …I hung out in here for a second and the next thing you know it was go time! A producer came to get me as the previous segment ended and you can see in this next picture the hard working crew changing the set during the commercial break ...We were only out there for about 6 minutes, but it was so much fun! I don't want to give anything away, but I will tell you one other thing I was nervous about. Whoopi Goldberg! You see, I watch the show all the time and whenever there's a cooking demonstration or food on the set, if Whoopi eats it, it's golden. Many times if the segment is hosted by someone else, she'll pop in from no where to steal a bite then disappears into the plush greenroom just steps away from the stage to share with the ladies, or not :-). For days all I could think about was first, possibly meeting her, but then if she would pop out during my segment with Sherri and take bite of something. I even said it to the producers the day before, I was excited about it all; Sherri, the cooking, The View and maybe even a Whoopi walk-on!! So, I did get to meet Whoopi and the ladies and even got a chance to tell Elisabeth how much I love her line of clothing because the jeans fit a regular-sized woman like me. Everyone was so nice and you can tell it's such a good work environment, pretty cool. I hope you catch the show to see if Whoopi comes out or not while Sherri and I are preparing breakfast. Here I am with Whoopi after the show was over …She was sooooo nice and humble and tiny. All of the ladies were tiny and just as sweet! Ok, to paraphrase the ladies … I hope you take a little time to enjoy The View tomorrow!! Check your listings, but it airs on ABC in NYC at 11AM for the satellite lovers!

I'm doing The View!

Hey there! Well, this one will be fast ... I'm taping The View tomorrow!! I don't know when it airs. I'll get those details when I tape and pass it on to you. I visited the set today for a rehearsal and actually showed up just as some audience members were leaving from the live show today. I got a chance to say hi to a few then I took my place on the set ready to rehearse a cooking segment with Sherri Shepherd ...I have a fun and easy menu planned for tomorrow, but today it was sans food, just place markers, the producers, our culinary team, the crew and me. Here's my view from the stage ...I can't wait for the real thing tomorrow. As I was leaving I ran into Nancy Grace in the elevator! I watch her allllll the time and converted my guy to watching. We love her attitude and determination, but I really love how she honors the troops at the end of every show. Pretty cool to meet her. I'm about to knock out to get some rest so I'll be fresh and ready to go tomorrow. I tape late in the afternoon after the live show and then I'll head off to New Jersey to hang out and cook with the winners of the Coolest Summer Cookout contest with Lipton! A full day of cooking away from home, I can't wait!! Thanks to everyone that came out this weekend to the Healthy Food Fight with Aetna at the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, PA. It rained off and on, but it didn't stop us from having a great time while tasting some pretty healthy dishes. I still don't know who won the rounds yet. Here's one of the contestant showing off her chicken dish. It was sweet and tasty!

Ok, that's it! Hope your week started off nice!

BTW and Didja Know ...

By the way ...

Hey there! Remember when I said here that I'm back in the studio and I had a cool visit from the crew at Airman Magazine? Well, they are putting together an article, but they also shot video I have below. Because they are from the same department I worked in while a broadcaster in the Air Force ... they have file footage of me at work back then so it's cut into this short video ... take a look at me at 20, ahem with my real hair and big glasses! :-)

Who knew back then that video would all be archived?? I had a good laugh watching it! I should've worn makeup or something, which btw, I used to get in trouble for the color of my nail polish in the military, too funny. I get more of a kick looking at the old equipment, boy has technology really changed the face of broadcasting and journalism. Those days we checked and double checked sources, these days some journalists are so lazy, they'll take a tweet and use it as a quote to make a full story. Crazy, but also I guess the natural progression with the changing times, eh?

And Didja Know ...

Remember when I was at the "up fronts"? I mentioned it briefly in an unrelated post, then forgot to share, or didn't have time to share a picture of someone I met there ...

Yep, on the other side of me is Andrew Zimmern! The guy between us works with us in the Chicago office and if you didn't know, Travel Channel and Food Network are owned by the same company now, so it was neat meeting a few of the other people at the Travel Channel that day. Andrew was really cool and about to head out on another eating adventure. He asked if I would do a mini Q&A for his blog and I said suuuuuure! It's on his blog now, just click the link to Sunny Anderson on AndrewZimmern.com and read away!

Annnnnd ...

The best is saved for last ... I just got word yesterday that I'm booked for an appearance on The View!!!! Tuesday!!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! I met Sherri Shepherd last year in New Orleans and blogged about it in my post called Essence Festival Wrap Up. I of course was thinking at the time, boy would I like to cook on The View and feed the ladies and now it's about to happen! My segment is with Sherri and I don't want to give away what we are making, but I am just too excited! Please plan to catch it or Tivo or DVR! More details as they come!