My Tuesday Night Laugh Fest - Hell’s Kitchen April 29, 2008

Tuesdays night’s episode of Hell’s Kitchen began with the elimination of Craig, while Ben narrowly escaped elimination.

As we’re taken backstage you hear Ben say, “I don’t know why I was up there man?”

Pssst, Ben could you come over here for a second. “Maybe it’s because you started celebrating when you still had six tables to serve. And the Red team only had two.” So my response to him would have been, “You jumped the gun. Remember?”

This week’s challenge in Hell’s Kitchen was to make a gourmet pizza. After tasting everyone on the team’s pizza the Red team went with Jen’s pizza. The Blue team chose Ben’s pizza without even tasting Petrozza’s pizza. How insulting.

The Red team won with Jen’s pizza which she called, “a little bit of Italy and a little bit of France.” It’s embarrassing that she won by a very narrow margin because Ben didn’t clean his mushrooms well.

Cooking 101 – You must clean your food properly.

Poor Matt, I get a kick out of his commentary and the faces he makes ever week. I call him, ‘Angry Man.’

And then we have LouRoss who broke down after the gourmet pizza challenge. Only to be called a, “it rhymes with witch,” by Ben. Remember Ben, the one with the dirty vegetables. What nerve.

The two teams managed to get through their dining services tonight. There were a few hiccups from Rosann and Christina on the Red Team and with LouRoss and Matt on the Blue Team.

Tonight in Hell’s Kitchen Chef Ramsey decided that there were no losing teams. So both teams had to nominate a teammate for elimination.

The Blue team nominated LouRoss and the Red team decided on Rosann. But as soon as Christina’s head was turned the back stabbing had begun. And presto the Red team had put her up on the chopping block.

To the teams surprise Chef Ramsey gave both teams a reprieve. With Vanessa leaving earlier that evening he decided she was going to be the only team member going home that night.

The Red and Blue team you better watch your backs. The knives are flying.

Hell’s Kitchen airs on Tuesday nights at nine on the Fox Network.

Are Black Men Expendable in This Country?

It is sad that in this country a black man must walk down the street practically naked in order to be safe from the people we pay to protect and serve us.

Public service announcements will soon read as this:

Attention All Black Males!

Please remove anything shiny from your person. Leave all cell phones, blackberries and keys at home. Keep your mouth shut; don’t even move your lips. Make no sudden movements, please. Or this may be construed as things that would make an NYC police officer fear for his life. If you don’t adhere to these precautions NYC police officers will aim and shoot. Not once, not twice but possibly fifty times or more. These officers will then appear before a judge and be acquitted of all charges. This concludes our public service announcement

Fifty bullets were fired. That’s right fifty bullets.

I shook my head back and forth when I heard the guilty verdict. But what was really disturbing was the fact that I wasn’t surprised by the verdict. My first thoughts were, ‘Are black men expendable in this country?’

But why wasn’t my first reaction outrage? It’s because unfortunately in this country we have been desensitized to verdicts such as these.

My heart cried out for all the men in my life; my fiancé, my brothers, nephews, cousins and extended family. But it also cried out for Sean Bell and his family.

Until we see white faces or hear names like John Smith, Jake Hall or Wyatt Long will we see a cry of outrage in this country.

Clearly, it is evident that policeman are afraid of black faces.

I understand what dangers policeman face everyday. I’ve lived in neighborhoods where I’ve had to watch my back as I’ve walked home from work some nights. I’ve carried paring knives in my purse for protection. I’ve had keys balled in my hand ready to strict if need be. I’ve had friends and family robbed, harassed and guns put to their heads.

But what is disheartening is where do we turn? It’s possible to be a victim of a crime any day of the week. And what’s more shocking is my friendly neighborhood policeman can take my life just as easily.

Sadly, I’d rather plead with a criminal to take all my money and my jewelry and spare my life. Than to say one wrong word or make one sudden movement in front of an police officer for fear I might be gunned down where I stand.

I think the Assistant District Attorney Charles A. Testagrossa summed it up nicely by saying, “We ask police to risk their lives to protect ours. Not to risk our lives to protect their own.”

Taking Care of Myself

My sister has been singing the praises of yoga and meditation for some time now. It is evident that this is something that brings her joy and has changed her life for the better.

I’ve never been interested in yoga because I’ve always been more aggressive. Things like karate, judo, kick boxing, tae kwon do those are the things I’ve always wanted to do.

But I’m open-minded and I told her I would try it and see how I liked it.

As time passed I felt more stressful. It was affecting my sleeping, working, and eating habits. I was in this really bad funk. Then my sister sent me an e-mail inviting me to attend a meditation class with her.

I immediately responded with a, “Yes.”

Saturday morning arrived and I had been up all night. I hadn’t slept a wink. Around eight in the morning I starting feeling sleepy but I couldn’t lie down because if I did I knew I would have missed the class.

I managed to stay awake and thankfully soon after my sister arrived. We arrived early; about 40 minutes early.

I’m already sleep deprived and struggling and my sister once again has not read the information correctly and we’ve arrived at the wrong time. Needless to say I wanted to grab a clock and break it over her head like they do in cartoons. But I digress.

By the time the instructor arrived I was a little giddy and slurring my words. This often happens to me when I’m deprived of sleep.

The instructor began the class with some breathing exercises that required us to close our eyes. Immediately, I became frustrated because I couldn’t focus. I struggled with trying to stay awake.

On the other hand I was able to be attentive while we talked with our eyes open.

As we neared the end of the class the instructor asked us if we would like to share the answer we had written down in our journals. She had asked a question along the lines of, “What did we want or need to do in order to make things better in our lives?”

And my answer was: “Take care of myself.” Then I attempted to explain all the obstacles that I felt were in my way.

And she said to me, “You’re going to have to take it—no one is going to give it to you.”

Now I’ve heard this before, but when she said it on that day. I truly heard it for the first time.
I have to take it! I have to take it! It just kept running over and over in my head.

That was an Aha moment for me. I knew why all the things happened to me that day; they happened for a reason.

The sleepless night, arriving too early, the frustration, and the stress I had been under. All those things had to happen to me in order for me to receive what I needed to receive that day.

And I was relieved of some of my stress almost instantaneously. Because I knew that moment was the beginning of taking care of myself.

How Not to Have a Heart Attack from Blogging

Blogger Russell Shaw technology blogger out of North Lauderdale, Florida died in March of 2008 from a heart attack. In December 2007 Marc Orchant another technology blogger died of a massive heart attack as reported by the New York Times.

Is it conceivable that you can have a heart attack from writing? It’s ridiculous you might think. But yet in still here we are with the reports of bloggers having heart attacks.

Is it possible? Yes it is and here’s why:

Some people blog for the wrong reasons. They hear how bloggers such as John Chow made over $30,000 dollars in a month. Or the infamous copy of Jeremy Shoemaker’s check from Google adsense for $132,924.97.

The potential of making that type of money is irresistible. Some dive in immediately with the hopes of overnight riches.

But the first question they need to ask is: Would they blog if they were never paid a dime?

Okay, let’s do some math. We’ll start with an example of a go-getter. The go-getter has 5 different blogs on various topics. They write a minimum of 7 articles a week, per blog, giving them a total of 35 entries per week. This gives them a total of 140 articles per month. And you can see how easily the numbers become astronomical as the number of blogs goes up times the number of entries. Ask yourself can you juggle family, work, yourself and blogging without giving yourself heart palpitations?

You can if you follow some of these suggestions:

• Start off slowly. Get your feet wet don’t dive in head first.
• Determine how many times per week you will make weekly contributions to your blog.
• Make a commitment to write that minimum each week.
• Adjust accordingly. Increase or decrease at your discretion.
• Set time limits

If you are a newbie blogger such as me there is a technical side of blogging you must learn. I can be very stubborn when it comes to figuring out how to do something. So I would find myself spending hours linking from website to website trying to figure out how to do certain things.

Then one night at 3 am I said to myself, “Stop! You started blogging because you wanted to start writing again. But you’ve just spent the last three hours trying to upload an html file and figure out what a sitemap was.”

I was upset with myself for wasting all that time. Because the more I researched the more confused I became.

So now I set time limits. I designate certain days when I’m allowed to learn the technical side of blogging. And I get one hour to learn as much as I can. When the timer goes off I must walk away. I have to even leave my office for awhile so I won’t be tempted.

I hope that some of theses suggestions help you set boundaries so that if doesn’t affect your health.

I would love to hear some tips that fellow bloggers might have. Feel free to leave me a comment.

Until next time Happy Healthy Writing!

The Food Network is making me Crazy

Does watching the food network make you feel inadequate as a cook sometimes? Yes, I do refer to myself as a cook because the title of chef requires more knowledge and training.

My fascination with the food network started out of boredom from the same ole staples in my kitchen. Some of my regulars would be baked chicken, rice and green beans. Occasionally, there would be spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, meatloaf and mashed potatoes or a roast. Then on a have-to-put-something-on-the-table-night there were franks and beans, hamburgers and french fries, sandwiches or pizza and salad.

And then the mouth watering Sunday dinner consisted of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, candied yams and cornbread with homemade lemonade or iced tea. Banana pudding sometimes if they were lucky.

My family never had a problem with Sunday dinner and neither did I. But I was getting tired of Monday through Friday’s meals.

As I became more frustrated we began to eat out more. And the more we ate out we began to get sick of that. Don’t want to eat at home and don’t want to eat out either.

So what do I do? Run out and apply to the top culinary schools in the country? Perhaps visit one of those establishments where you can prepare your meals a week in advance. Both of those options required either time or money or both.

So what did I do? I turned on the food network.

My sister had been trying new recipes out on the family and most of them came from her favorite cooks on the food network. Some dishes were hits and some were misses. But the ones that were hits were different; flavorful. I wasn’t use to having these flavors on a daily basis. And I liked them.

So I started watching some shows on the food network. I tried 30 minute meals with Rachel Ray, Paula Deen and Emeril live to name a few. But the one that stood out with me was Iron Chef America.

I watched and watched very carefully. Meals were prepared from beginning to end in front of my eyes.

I’m not really one to follow recipes. I prepare by using the method of cook to taste which works well for me because who better than myself to be the judge of my own cooking.

So what did the food network teach me? It didn’t exactly teach as much as giving me ideas. It got my creative juices flowing and opened my mind to healthier options.

For the first time in my life I started using olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh vegetables, chicken broth etc…

I sauté, grill and bake things in ways I never thought of preparing before. I’m cooking vegetables like, squash, zucchini, colored bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower on a regular basis. I even tried broccolini courtesy of my sister, but I didn’t particularly care for it. But I tried it and that’s what matters.

I’m using new phrases like EVOO—extra virgin olive oil for you amateurs out there. And I finally figured out what a reduction is. And that one had me stumped for a minute.

The food network is great but I would also like to give honorable mention to Top Chef courtesy of the Bravo network. I watch for entertainment purposes in addition it has introduced me to new techniques that I’ve never heard of.

Lastly, I would like to give an honorable mention to Hell’s Kitchen courtesy of the Fox network. It provides me with non stop laughter and several ways on how not to do things in the kitchen. And for some reason I like Chef Ramsey.

Until next time Bon appétit!