STOKED: Made the switch to Wordpress... finally

I can't bring myself to delete this link or have it automatically be redirected to my new site I learned so much & grew so much as a person on my very first blog, March 23rd made it my one year anniversary. The new one is sleeker, easier & I must admit more organized, so PLEASE check out www.singleservingbytes.com. I hope you all enjoyed the show. I'll be giving my 2 cents, behind the scene details & recipes to make to coincide with viewing the episodes & a swanky cocktail for the shot game.

STOKED!: I'm A Member Of The Food Network Family

Actually I'm SUPER STOKED! This is why I've been MIA & I had to wait for all the details to be concrete before I could say anything. I am so excited & am so happy I can share this experience with all of the amazing Chefs especially Chef Stuart & Chef Brian & my uber cool boss & friend Tom. We got a super cool time slot after Diner, Drive Ins & Dives... FN's #1 show. Here is Food Network's official press release:


FOOD NETWORK TASTES THE GLAMOROUS LIFE IN

“PRIVATE CHEFS OF BEVERLY HILLS”
New Primetime Docu-Soap Premieres on Friday, April 9th at

10pm ET/PT

NEW YORK – Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 – Food Network peeks into the high-demand world of culinary glamour in Private Chefs of Beverly Hills. Premiering Friday, April 9th at 10pm ET/PT, this delicious docu-soap follows six gifted cooks from Big City Chefs, Beverly Hills’ premiere private chef placement agency. On-call 24/7, the chefs must cater to the whims of their over-the-top and eccentric clientele in Los Angeles’ most posh neighborhood.



“Viewers go inside the world of private chefs who cater to the ultra high-end and even higher maintenance Beverly Hills clientele,” said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network. “These six chefs bring humor, skill and creativity to each encounter making for a very funny, compelling and entertaining series.”



With a litany of outrageous requests coming in to Big City Chefs owner Tom Stieber, each episode features the chefs tackling assignments like cooking for both humans and canines in a doggy spa, injecting flavor into a salon’s Botox party, pampering young millionaire’s glamorous camping (or “glamping”) trip, indulging aging 80’s hair rockers intent on living the rock ‘n roll lifestyle, and becoming unwitting participants in a medieval murder mystery party held behind the stone walls of Los Angeles’ only Scottish castle. The cast includes six chefs with varied culinary expertise and backgrounds.



Jesse Brune: As one of the break-out stars of Bravo’s show Workout, Jesse Brune is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef, personal trainer, and lifestyle consultant living in Los Angeles. Specializing in healthy and organic cuisine, Jesse has catered a wide range of events and teaches cooking classes across America.



Manouschka Guerrier: A former model, Manouschka Guerrier learned all she knows about cooking from her mother Jacqueline and professionally-trained Haitian grandmother, Olga. As the quintessential single, Manouschka owns and operates Los Angeles based brand Single Serving, where she celebrates the single life and teaches other singles how to serve up chic, easy, and affordable meals.



Brian Hill: Brian Hill got his start in the culinary arts by catering parties for friends as a side job. His talent for American, European, and Caribbean cuisine quickly attracted celebrity clientele, such as Eddie Murphy, Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey. In 2006, Brian appeared on the first season of Bravo’s Top Chef. In March 2010, he launched a gourmet street food truck in Los Angeles.



Stuart O’Keeffe: Irish-born Stuart O’Keeffe discovered his love of cooking at a young age while helping his mother and aunt prepare family meals. He studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology where he earned a degree in the Culinary Arts. After moving to Los Angeles, Stuart soon became a highly sought-after private chef and is the face of Tupperware® as their North American chef.



Sasha Perl-Raver: A self-taught freelance private chef in Los Angeles, Sasha Perl-Raver has been cooking since age 16, her clients currently include directors, producers and celebrities, and her recipes have been published in four volumes of the “Little Big Book” series (Welcome Books). In 2007, she made the jump to food and entertainment journalism and is currently a featured contributor to NBC.com.



Brooke Peterson: Brooke Peterson discovered her interest in food as a young girl, learning from her grandmother how to cook for large groups on small budgets. Brooke’s introduction to lifestyle entertainment began with her teen cooking show, Cook with Brooke, on Varsity Television. In 2007, she hosted the original Yahoo! Daily Web series, Cheap N Easy, teaching viewers to prepare meals in five minutes with five ingredients for less than $5.



# # #



FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 98 million U.S. households and averages more than 9 million unique web users monthly. In its first year Food Network Magazine doubled its rate base and passed the one million circulation mark. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com) and Cooking Channel, is the manager and general partner.

STOKED!: I Have A Song!!!

I know I've been MIA, but until 7 am PST on 4/10/10 I can't explain why, trust you're going to be just as stoked as I am... but I had to come on here prior just to share thee most AMAZING gift I have ev-ER received... actually I'm lying it's a super tie with Shannon Pope animating me for Single Serving, that was a dream I always had... but inspiring a song, being a Muse for such an incredible thing as music is a notion I never thought I deserved. On top of that, aside of material things I don't have much, I rent... I'm single, I finance my car... shoot neither of my folks own a home for me to go to. It's been my life's mission to have a place of my very own... to own something, something that is mine & NO ONE can take away from me. To belong to something, to inspire someone, to belong to someone... hmm, didn't expect to say that publicly... (screw it!) but I will say that I am extremely lucky enough to own a spot in the hearts of those that care about me the most & I am proud to announce that I have a song of my very own. My very talented, beautiful & BRILLIANT friend has written one for me... WOW, I'm speechless. I can't do this justice by trying to find the words to explain how this feels. Click below to read the lyrics & hear the gorgeous song by Ken Christianson to hear "my song". I hope you enjoy it half as much as I do:

http://wp.me/p8ki8-ks

Stoked: I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Sorry for the delay in posts I broke the screen to my Macbook & have been bummed beyond belief. Today I was feeling pretty craptastic, Flo's in town (so I'm already hormonally emotional & JACKED up!) & I just found out about what happened to that precious, precious baby girl Shaniya Davis & how she was found murdered. The image of her tiny hands holding on to a person she trusted, leading her to her subsequent death is MESSING ME UP beyond words. Why are people so cruel? I wrote an earlier blog about my friend Lee's film "Precious" & how Mo'nique convincingly played the mother from hell but little Shaniya's egg donor takes the crown. I really wish I were in a position where I can help Women & Children everywhere. I really feel like it's my calling, I pray the good Lord will make this dream of mine a reality & no more will innocent lives have to endure such horrible, horrible fates. It's really hard for me to snap out of these moods I emotionally crawl into after hearing such devastating stories, I actually went back to bed. The ugliness that lives inside of people scares me, but then I realized I am one of the lucky ones, I have amazing friends. My friend Lucas Culshaw painted this picture of me. YAY I'm a Culshaw Girl!He like Single Serving's director Mike Kallio work in the Horror industry & the way they view me, care for me, protect me & genuinely want the best for me lifted my spirits today in what I thought I would easily spend the rest of the day numb to life. Lucas even painted this while listening to death metal.. HA! Awesome. I'm a huge fan of pin up girls & there aren't very many Black pin-ups, Vargas, my favorite artist in this genre, only painted four. Don't even get me started again on my excitement that in mere weeks I FINALLY get to see a Black Disney Princess *swooooon* too bad Shaniya won't, there was no one to protect her. OH a piece of me died today, I swear! That poor little girl!

Well I don't really want to go back & forth on the subject of the matter anymore & I'm sure you don't want to read anymore it's such a sad story. The interesting thing about time is how much can happen, how much can change from mere seconds to an eternity & the dichotomy of life. From my perception of horror that crippled me to another who makes a living from horror that lifted my spirits right back up in a matter of minutes, today was most certainly an affirmation for the abundance of blessings I have & an intersting study of what it means to be human. Thank you Lucas. May God bless & keep baby girl Shaniya, I will never forget you. "For Precious girls everywhere" -Lee Daniels

Tickled Pink: DOWN with Lady Gag Gag

AND I swear if they even think of casting her in this I will go Postal. What fantastic news to wake up to this is an article according to www.jezebel.com written by Margaret Hartmann.... YAY I wanna play the Black drummer Shana Elmsford... I LOVE JEM!!!! Oh my inner 12 year old is just too STOKED for words oh AND I'm waiting to hear if I got free tix to see the Pixies tonight, may this day NEVER end! WOW I was JUST talking about her at the Hello Kitty event & blogged about it earlier see previous post here.  

 Jem's Truly Outrageous Comeback

Hasbro has successfully revived the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, and now a Jem and the Holograms film or TV series is in the works. High School Musical writer Peter Barsocchini is attached.

STOKED: A kiss is just a kiss

I am a MASSIVE Disney fan always have been & my ♥ has always belonged to the 2D kind, that's why the intro to my show is animated. Now several times a week I get random little flashes of realization that we have a Black President a feat I have never thought possible the other is a Black Disney Princess ♥. 

Every time I think of it my eyes start to well up. The idea of seeing someone that looks like me as a fairy tale heroine is overwhelming & I honestly it's something I thought I would NEVER see happen in my lifetime! 

So this year is a fantastic year for me as far as believing that dreams really do come true. I have a leader that I LOVE *swoon*, a Disney Princess that I can really relate to, I not only have an animated heroine that looks like me... I actually have one that is me embarking on my adventures in the kitchen, a new love "Single Serving" & I will be exiting my "Jesus Year" on 09/09/09. The possibilities are endless. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥