Paula Deen had a bit of a freak out last week on the set of the "Today Show" after an NBC staffer accidentally walked into the shot and hid behind a kitchen island.
"Oh my goodness, can you all see? What is he doing in here? Does he work here?" Deen asked Al Roker as she prepared her Nutty Orange Coffee Cake to promote the New York City Wine & Food Festival. "He doesn't have a gun does he? Should we pull out our knives?"
Roker laughed along with Deen, although it became a bit awkward after he asked her what she was making.
"Nervous. That's what we're making -- nerves, nervous," she said. "Is he from this country?"
But all became hunky-dory once more when Deen learned the man did indeed work for NBC.
"Oh so you do work here, well here," Deen said as she handed him a slice of cake.
The model-actress-cook stars in a new video for the Eels' "That Look You Give That Guy." Band member Mark Oliver Everett told Slashfood's sister site, Spinner, that "I always dreamt of dating someone as beautiful as Padma Lakshmi. I should probably just go back to dreaming."
The video shows a date between the two with the sometimes burger eater feeding Everett's dog, Bobby Jr., and hawking her cookbook. Product placement brought to you by the Glad family of Padma.
Doesn't the heat make you daydream about being someplace else?
Someplace tropical and friendly, where the heat is part of the romance -- bellying up to a Havana lunch counter, enjoying the languid spinning of a lazy ceiling fan, the cool droplets crawling down the side of a sweating glass, the tinny tenor of cantador Beny Moré. And, naturally, a coffee.
You're thinking, "Coffee?! Who daydreams about coffee while sweat is making tracks down your spine?"
Me, that's who.
Brutal summer days are made for cafecito -- the thick, strong Cuban-style espresso brewed with sugar that's best when belted first thing in the morning. It may look like a regular ol' espresso, but the extra sweet kick might just jump-start your day a little quicker.
Summer leaves seafood lovers craving lobster in some incarnation, whether it be tucked into a buttery roll, scattered throughout risotto or luxuriating in the butter-cream bath of lobster Thermidor (thought to have been a favorite of Napoleon).
However you like your lobster, getting to its tender meat can be nightmarish, with spiny claws and juice flying everywhere. Not so in this excellent Howcast video, with a demonstration by chef Marc Murphy of New York City's Landmarc, who knows his way around the leggy critters. Who knew you could either snip open or crush those dastardly knuckles? Or crush the tail under a towel?
Oh, man. So this squirrel was caught on film with its head stuck inside a Yoplait yogurt container.
The squirrel attempts to do all of its usual running, jumping, and generally squirrelish activities against the majestic backdrop of a white, elegant gazebo at South Carolina's Furman University -- all while wearing the container on its head. Apparently the videographer, a WYFF photographer, helped the squirrel remove his cap after filming this footage.
Baristas are getting increasingly used to people describing their morning fix as "too pretty to drink," and not only because it's their first caffeine of the day. Latte art, a particular way a barista will "fold" steamed milk into espresso to create a heart or a leaf-like design called a rosetta on a drink, has been mesmerizing café goers (and even the baristas themselves) for years, but it's still seemingly a work of magic to most.
Well, I don't want to burst any (milk) bubbles, but latte art isn't magic,it's skill -- well, skill and a little abracadabra. The former because it can take months or even years to master the intuitive art of marrying two liquids, and the latter because a great latte artist can disguise not-great coffee under a stylish surface.
Certain things are just too hard to watch -- whether it's a friend's super-serious expression as she winds up to bowl or your boyfriend in the throes of "Guitar Hero".
That's how we felt upon discovering this video, a greatest-hits compilation of cocktail-shaking by New York City's top mixologists. The 10 minute long odyssey features 30-second clips of 33 mostly-male NYC barkeeps. It starts with the Cars provocative "Shake it Up" and trails off eerily into bar noise, the cacophony of shakers and fierce, game-face expressions.
Boring? Nope. Oddly mesmerizing, in the same way that you can't look away from "The Bachelor" but might put your hands over your eyes.
These are true practitioners of the art, however, so let us know if this gets you inspired to go practice your shakin' style, whether it's the one-hander (some bartenders put the other hand behind their backs, sommelier-style) or the hard shake practiced by Tailor's Eben Freeman. And here's a pretty raspberry-and-gin laced Belmont Stakes elixir from Gourmet (the race is on Saturday) in case you wish to practice your skills before the weekend hits.
Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is the second in a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.
Maybe things got rolling a little fast with my last post about making the perfect cup of French press coffee. So let's back up a sec.
Some readers had pretty visceral reactions to my suggestion that they ditch the ol' whirly grinder in order to make a tastier mug of French press joe, and I understand: Blade grinders are cheap, burr grinders can be expensive! But not alldecentburrgrinders will chop your wallet as well as they chop your beans, and your cup quality should skyrocket as a result. Learn why and see a ridiculous video of me after the jump.
I love toast and there is absolutely no shortage of good toasters out there, but what about one that could handle a pita (or other kind of flat bread)?
Design Blog recently posted a short video demonstrating a new pita toaster design. Even though it's just an idea right now, Design Blog sees plenty of potential. From the post I assume that the pita toaster should be able to handle the pita being stuffed.
I think this is a great idea, but it seems that a toaster oven would be able to handle a pita sandwich. What do you think?
Chris Cason is Tavalon's tea sommelier, and in this clip, he explains out to create simple syrup infused with tea, which can then be turned into a tea soda that sounds really quite tasty! I'm looking forward to trying this out on my own at some point. Have any of you created a unique beverage with tea?
My poor feed reader has been a bit neglected over the past few days, and, after finding this gem on Grub Street, I'm sad that I didn't catch up sooner. If I had looked at those feeds sooner, I would have found Food Party a few days earlier, and brought some much appreciated laughter into my life.
Food Party is a cooking show/artsy spoof on a cooking show created by New York artist Thu Tran. Episode three is the funniest thing I've seen in forever, and I mean laugh-out loud-every-two-seconds funny. From the donut tree to the fresh eggs, to illustrating the seven deadly sins through deviled quail eggs to the devil, this is definitely the most creative cooking show you'll ever see.
You won't see this one on Food Network, folks. However, you can apparently get them on DVD.
This a a pretty amusing video of a man smashing watermelons with his head. Apparently he broke a world record for smashing 40 watermelons in one minute. While I applaud the effort, I just don't see the point. I've never understood why someone would think to do something like smash watermelons with their head in the first place, let alone want to make it into a world record.
I dunno, I guess I'm just a girl. Anyway, relax and enjoy a watermelon-smashing moment.
This is Liz. She's an artist who works in a very delicious medium; Jell-O.
In this particular clip, she shows how she fashions San Francisco's entire Mission District out of the gelatin dessert.
The process is simple, but tedious: Liz takes pictures of the District, and then uses the photos to build molds out of balsa wood and foam core. Then, she builds silicone rubber molds around the sculptures, and when they dry, she makes the Jell-O and lets it set in the molds.
(Oh, and Liz makes Jell-O the way us normal people do, but sometimes she adds additional coloring to make the sculpture more vibrant). She also sprinkles dry Jell-O around the model to represent streets and parks).
One caveat about working with Jell-O (besides the overwhelming urge to consume your sculptures, of course) has to be the fact that eventually, it gets moldy.
But instead of letting that ruin her work, Liz uses the moldiness as a metaphor for change and adaptation within urban areas.
April showers bring May flower-covered cupcakes. Yes, spring is in full swing, time for the ultimate in stunningly beautiful, impress-all-your-friends-with-little-effort cake decoration: sugared flowers.
Martha Stewart has an instructional video on how to candy flowers, definitely a Good Thing. Start with pesticide-free edible flowers, such as pansies, marigolds, roses, dianthus, violets. Mix egg white or meringue powder in water and brush onto the petals with a clean paint brush, then sprinkle front and back with extra-fine sugar. Dry on a rack for two to four days until completely dry, then use to make adorable cupcakes like the ones in the picture.
Bacon is that wonderful, ever popular breakfast meat. There have been lots of bacon related items floating around online lately, from cups to bras to chocolate bars, but have you ever wondered how it's made? Check out this video to get the inside scoop.
April showers bring May flower-covered cupcakes. Yes, spring is in full swing, time for the ultimate in stunningly beautiful, impress-all-your-friends-with-little-effort cake decoration: sugared flowers. 
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