I never thought that I’d miss washing dishes in my kitchen…but after 12 days on the road, not only did I long for my own dish sponge (we all have personal relationships with our favorite dish sponge brand, right!? RIGHT!????) but I also missed my beloved rice cooker.

Of course I missed my children dearly…so much that we’re not gonna talk about that right now. But thank goodness for wonderful friends like Diane and Todd, who generously opened their home to host a party for me. The home was filled with good friends (do you see Matt and Adam in photo #2?), TONS of food (they cooked 8 dishes from my cookbook!) and a magical setting.

I’ve been waiting 3 years to meet this man. THREE YEARS. He’s as crazy as I thought he would be. And that’s his lovely wife to the right – she’s hilarious! Love them both. I told them my boys were going to marry their little girls.

Also got to see my blog-sistahs Jenny, Bee and Rachael. I love them too.

Diane even took time out to snap some photos of me…and since I didn’t really touch my camera that night, I have no photos of Diane or Todd myself (sad) but Clare made sure she snapped a photo of my hosts, including the very very handsome Mark.

Then off to San Francisco where I started the morning with an interview at KTSF, romped with great friends at the Foodbuzz Festival with these cool people. Breakfast with Foodbuzz was the best. It was the morning I decided that the best hangover cure was a Bacon Bloody Mary. I must give a big big shoutout and thank you to Stephanie of Wasabimon for driving Ms. Jaden and playing photographer.

Wait…is that David Chang of Momofuku in that photo below?! Why yes it is! More on that below.

In San Francisco, I also did a live television segment on View From the Bay where I cooked Firecracker Shrimp.

Little did I know the Boy Scouts were gonna be there in the live audience! I wanted to just hug them all.

Biggest surprise was that brand new author and very talented chef, David Chang of Momofuku was in the station as well and also cooking his ramen dish on TV. What a sweetheart. Stephanie and I hung out in the Green Room together with his co-author, Peter where he confessed that he was massively hung over. Something like 100 shots the night before. But doesn’t he look so happy here? He hides his hangover well. I want to cook for this man.

I also managed to pack in a mini high-school reunion and a cooking class at Sur La Table! Long time friends Irene and Maria came to the class and new friends Ben of Cooking With the Single Guy (dinner with Ben, Stephanie, Sean and Samantha was !$!@*# awesome!)

These people who came to the book signing at Omnivore were so precious – one even came and gave me home made hot sauce!

A big thanks for a city that I still call home…and an even bigger thanks to the companies who sent me hundreds of products to give away as prizes at goodie bags, including Scanpan, MacSpeech, Chefs Catalog, Pama, Sodastream, Vine Connections, Marky’s Caviar and Van Gogh Vodka.

And then…there’s Seattle…for next time…

I’m currently in San Francisco (yay!) and this afternoon, I’ll be cooking live on View From the Bay which is also streamed live online. It’s on at 3-4pm and I think the cooking segment is on towards the end of the hour.

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Then tonight I’ll be at Omnivore Books from 6pm-7pm with a quick talk, booksigning and jackpot giveaway from my tour sponsors, Scanpan, Chefs Catalog, Earthy and MacSpeech.

Oh, wait til you see the goodie bags…I think I have enough for each event that I’m doing here in SF.

Elise of Simply Recipes is spending the next 2 nights with me. Where is she gonna sleep?

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Tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be spending some time with the good people over at Foodbuzz and will be at the Metreon for book signing 2pm to 3:30pm.

Saturday night is a cooking class at Sur La Table in Union Square 6:30pm. We’ll be making this:

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I Love L.A.

I’ve just come back from Los Angeles where the highlight of my trip was walking into a Barnes & Noble hand-in-hand with my Mom and showing her the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook on the shelf. I had the camera all ready to capture the moment, gave it to Dad and the moment he was JUST about to depress the trigger finger, the manager walked by and said no-no to cameras in the store. Party pooper.

I also taught at Sur La Table in Los Angeles…my first class at my favorite splurge store. Not knowing what to expect, I arrived 2 hours prior to start of class ready to start prepping and working to get the class ready. When I arrived in the LA store, there was a kitchen staff of 4 already at work, prepping everything!

I wanna bring them home!

Wonderful class, fantastic food and lots of laughs.

What an amazing smile…

Got to hang with fun people like Jenny Kayano and Rachael of La Fuji Mama

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Then there was this party that my very very favorite people in the world threw for me….but that’s for another post….

It’s hard to capture the moments on my camera sometimes when I’m smack dab in the middle of the action. Outside of my little food world in my kitchen, there’s no “pause” button or “do-over” button in life while I fumble with my camera.

By the time I whip out the camera, turn it on, adjust, focus and click,

The moment is gone.

And it’s just not quite the same to say, “hey guys, um…I missed that moment, can you spill that drink all over yourself again?”

So for my very first book signing party in my hometown, I handed my beloved camera to Nathan. He’s almost 5, so of course I duct-taped the camera around his forehead, over his shoulder so he couldn’t drop it. With specific instructions on “take a picture of these lovely people” and “take a pic of this yummy plate of food!”, here is Nathan’s take on the evening.

I love the eyes of a 5 year old!

Right after that party, I was off to NYC, where my first event was the NYC Dumpling Festival. Oh…what’s this coming my way?

Hmmm…closer inspection…

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a massive dumpling filled with BABY dumplings – I think like close to 1,200 dumplings. This thing weighed 900+ pounds.

I was the M.C. for the Dumpling Festival sponsored by TMI Foods, the makers of frozen dumplings, noodles and dumpling wrappers. They raised $30,000 for the Food Bank of NYC that day! I could just lay here and fall asleep on this giant pillow.

I never got a chance to show you behind the scenes at the Today Show. The day before I went on air, we had a rehearsal. Yes, a rehearsal because this show is very professionally produced and they probably wanted to meet me first to make sure that I was not an insane person who dresses up like Rachael Ray….well…at least in Photoshop anyways.

When I get there, I was all ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work prepping for my segment.

There’s vegetables to cut! Meat to marinate!

But nope.

They are PROFESSIONAL.

Everything was already done. evvvveerrrryything.

There’s a kitchen staff that chops, preps, styles, organizes and choreographs. All I had to do was walk through the what we were going to do on the segment and make sure all the ingredients were in place.

My segment was to be 4 minutes 45 seconds and we literally walked through every second of the segment – timing everything and even choreographing the exact moment when we walk over to the stove, when the rice is stirred and what gets handed over to whom with what hand.

Confused?

Yeah, so was I, especially when I scribbled my notes on the back of a crusty envelope.

And then…they asked me, “Shall we go to the prop room and pick out dishes?”

I nearly fainted. I want. Mommy.

Could I sneak past security and bring home with me? Will all cram in my suitcase?

The next day, they sent a car to my hotel to come pick me up and then I was promptly whisked to the green room.

Which isn’t green.

But who cares because Rod Stewart is in the house!

I got made up like a big girl.

As I was waiting for my turn to go downstairs to the studio, I had a moment of panic.

What if the kitchen crew all called in sick today? SHITSHITSHITSHIT!!!

But sure enough, they were all there. Very busily getting things ready for the segment.

There was nothing for me to do.

Except just stand there and look all purty.

And then ACTION! (Don’t you love my big whoooooosh! bangs? I forgot to look in the mirror SIDEWAYS) If I haven’t forced you to watch the segment 5 times already, you can click on that image right below and it should go to the video clip.

It’s been an thrilling 24 hours, starting with a book signing at Barnes & Noble at 68th and Lexington in NYC – and seeing for the very very very first time, my cookbook in a bookstore.

A real book, done by me. In a real bookstore.

I saw. I cried. I took a photo.

Of course, I’ve seen the book up on Amazon.com and friends from around the world have sent me photos of my book in their bookstores, but since the book has been out, this was my very first time ever seeing it in person with my own two eyes.

Damn. I did good, real good. People around me at the store noticed the similarity between me and the gal on the jacket cover (except the gal on the jacket cover is 10 pounds lighter. That’s what writing a cookbook does to you.) and started congratulating me.

“Oh yes, that IS me!”

“Thank you, thank you very much. I hope you enjoy the book!”

I gushed with joy.

I still had a couple of hours til the event started, so I hopped into a cab to grab some lunch with my publicist and her friend, Maria.

Into the cab I go, still smiling from ear to ear, barely able to keep my happy feet from doing a jig.

And then I looked at the back of my leg.

All morning long.

This sticker was on my ass.

There’s nothing like a 10-inch long sticker advertising your jean size to the world to keep life in check.

I see it’s a sign from God and Buddha to keep me humble.

And heck yeah, it worked.

Had a fantastic book signing, with a very very special little bugaboo who took his first subway ride of his life to come see me.

This little cutie:

Who’s mother is beautiful lady, Ms. Smitten Kitchen.

And before I go to have lunch with my buddy Mark of the Culinary Media Network, I’ll leave you with my segment on the Today Show this morning….MOMMY, I DID IT!!

click on photo below to get video clip!

view at 6:30am, 35th floor at Westin Times Square

Well, yesterday officially started Day 1 of the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook book tour with a 5-day stop in NYC! I’ve been to the city 5 times this year already, and I’m hoping that next time I’ll get some kind of frequent visitor perk, like maybe a personal navigator, as the public transportation system is confusing and a bit scary for someone who gets lost even going to the grocery store.

Yesterday, I was the M.C. for the Dumpling Festival (more on that later…lots of pics…)

Today: Barnes & Noble

If you’re in town, I’d love to see you. This afternoon (Sunday 10/25) I’ll be at Barnes & Noble on 86th & Lexington between 3:00pm and 4:00pm signing books and giving away some cool cat gifts. In fact, I’m giving away these gifts at EACH book signing event throughout the Steamy Kitchen Book Tour.

• Scanpan CTX Saute Pan courtesy of Scanpan. This nonstick saute pan is PFOA-free, can sear, braise and brown and the best part is that you can use metal utensils without ever damaging the pan. Love this guy. I know you will too. I’m giving away one!

• MacSpeech Dictate – my secret weapon.
• $50 gift certificate to Earthy.com
• 40 gift bags from Chefs Catalog! Wanna know what’s in the gift bag?! There’s a small kitchen knife in there, a nice shiny, sharp one that I’m sure would look great in your kitchen! Your dull knife will be jealous.
• $100 gift certificate from Chefs Catalog
  

So, please come by and say hi and share a few laughs with me!

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Monday: Today Show

On Monday morning, during the 4th hour of the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda, I’ll be cookin! Both ladies will be in the kitchen with me and we’re making Korean-Style Burgers; Kimchi Fried Rice and Pork and Mango Potstickers.

Oh, you bet I’m nervous! It will be my first big-time national thing. In fact, I’m going to the Today Show studios tonight at 4:30pm for rehearsal. Yes! Rehearsal for a 3 1/2 minute cooking segment! It’s tightly choreographed, like a dance, and well…you don’t want to goof up on national television, right?!

The 4th hour is on a different times in different cities. Here in NYC, it’s on at 10am-11am. In my home market in Florida, it runs at 12pm on NBC.

The cooking segment is the VERY LAST SEGMENT on the show, if any major news happens, guess what gets bumped. So, please, BALLOON BOY’S PARENTS: JUST STAY HOME AND STEP AWAY FROM THE UFO.

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Tuesday: Judith Regan Show on Sirius

I’ll be on the The Judith Regan Show on Sirius XM! channel 103 during the 3pm hour.

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Wednesday: Martha Stewart Radio

During the 10am hour on Sirius XM Channel 112, I’ll be on the Martha Stewart Radio Show with Terri Trespicio