#HSNCooks Part 1 with Curtis, Donatella, Ming, and Lorena!

I’ve been sitting at my computer completely dumbfounded for a solid 20 minutes. This is no exaggeration. I’m trying to wrap my head around my day because frankly, I don’t even know if it’s real. I think I had the first hot flash of my life at around 4:48pm today. That was exactly the time that Curtis Stone and Donatella Arpaia left the HSN green room to continue on with their day while I realized that Isabel and I had just spent an hour chatting with them. Right there on the couch, us four. Let me rewind for just a minute.

Celebrities- they are just like us, right? US Magazine says so. We see pictures of them grocery shopping, and hanging out with their kids at the park. THEY EVEN PUMP THEIR OWN GAS! All celebrities are fascinating in their own right, but none gets me more excited than celebrity chefs. Really, any chef. At the end of the day, chatting with people who hold the same interests you do, and who can better articulate the feelings behind food, family, tradition, love than you can, and who you can learn a thing or 50 from, there’s nothing better.

I was in complete shock when I received the email from HSN about this opportunity. And then I cancelled the office renovation plans I had with myself and promptly emailed back with something along the lines of, “OMGthisisamazingandIcantbelieveitareyousureyoumeanttoemailmebecauseyeahokaythisisawesome”.

Before I knew it, I had many emails hitting my inbox about chefs and times and social handles and agendas. Even so, I was not prepared. How can you prepare to meet four chefs that you admire and have been following for years?? The answer is that you just can’t. And this is what led me to the green room where Curtis and Donatella were just hanging out waiting to meet us. Shocked to see them there doesn’t even…

We talked about the obvious- food, inspirations, the relationships that are built around food- but we also talked about Italy and how Donatella’s grandparent’s farm has these beautiful fig trees and how Curtis looked forward to seeing sweet fudge at his granny’s house when he would visit. We talked about Donatella’s mom’s Zucchini Fritters recipe that she just cannot replicate, and how Pots de Crème is Curtis’s recommended dessert if you are looking for something easy and delightful. Fun fact: Donatella’s crib was placed next to the dishwasher in her family’s restaurant because it lolled her to sleep. To say she was made for this business is an understatement. (By the way, make her Ricotta Cheesecake!)

This conversation right here did so much for me that these chefs will probably never know. I have many wishes and dreams for my future with food and just being able to sit in the same room with these two (and the ones to come later) completely pushed me even more to come up with a plan, work hard, get exactly to where I want to be. Not that I see celebrity status anywhere in my future (I have stage fright for starters), I’m just so incredibly inspired. What a great thing to say you do for a living.

So there you go. That takes us full circle to my hot flash. All of a sudden the room felt like 100* as I realized that I had just sat with these two. As Isabel and I were left in the room alone for about 10 minutes, we just stared at each other. Words didn’t need to be spoken. Our awe and excitement was practically exuding from our pupils like laser beams.

Next, we were taken to meet Chef Ming Tsai. A couple of things you should know about Ming:

1. First and foremost, he’s deeply passionate about the Family Reach organization. Their mission is to provide relief to families fighting cancer. Unfortunately, a lot of families have to go through bankruptcy, losing their home, or the halting of medical treatments due to a child having cancer. With Family Reach, funds are raised to help these families with housing, bills, child care, and more. I would encourage you to check out this amazing organization.
2. He always have leftover Chinese food in his house.
3. He recommends using your left over Chinese food for a stir fry frittata or omelet.

I found out the second factoid after asking him for an easy, delicious breakfast that I could share with readers. He just thought on the spot with, “Use leftover Chinese food – I always have leftovers – add a little milk and eggs and you have a stir fry omelet or frittata”. We also talked about the saying from Dr. Maya Angelou, “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” Those are words he tries to live by. Personally, I think he’s doing the best job ever. Ming is involved with a number of charities and continues to teach.

Lastly, it was time to meet Chef Lorena Garcia.

Lorena Garcia is simply amazing. In jeans and a sweatshirt, she sat down and talked to us on the couch in the most relaxed manner. I felt so incredibly comfortable sitting with her and hearing about how she got to where she is. Did you know that Randy Jackson of American Idol fame is her manager? Yeah, it surprised us too!

With Lorena, we talked about how important it is to her to create recipes that are easy to follow, taste good, and the average home cook can make. Her cookware does the same. We were treated to a great story of her cooking a fabulous meal, including tuna cheek as the highlight, for many people. It was an outside dinner and, as luck would have it, just as she starts the courses, it rains. Welcome to Florida. 🙂 By the way, Lorena (although maybe a little bias) recommends that every Latina have cilantro in the home. I couldn’t agree more!

We really were treated to an amazing Saturday that I won’t forget for as long as I live. These four chefs are all so incredible, taking the time to talk with us, and really wanting to share stories and get to know a little bit about us too. Tomorrow I’ll be visiting HSN again to meet Jessica Seinfeld, Kelsey Nixon, and Scott Conant, and be in the live audience for the Donatella and Curtis #HSNCooks show at 2pm! I’ll also take a studio tour and eat lunch. Follow the hashtag #HSNCooks for all updates and behind the scenes fun tomorrow! If you want to check out the HSN-exclusive products from each chef, I’ve included a link to their pages below. Also, you can view the full schedule here: HSN Program Guide.

HSN-Exclusive Product Lines
Curtis Stone
Donatella Arpaia
Ming Tsai
Lorena Garcia

Additionally, all four of these chefs are very responsive on Twitter so follow them there and chat: @curtis_stone, @donatellaarpaia, @mingtsai, and @lorenagarcia.

If you are a big HSN fan, you’ll be happy to hear that their live audience is picked from real HSN credit card holders! I had no idea, and always wondered how those lucky few got to hang out on set for a show! It might be something to consider if you already buy from them, or now want to after seeing what these top chefs are offering. And then maybe you can be a part of a live show, too!

I’ll be writing a follow up post about tomorrow’s fun. Just call me the girl with the best weekend ever!

Some additional HSN info:

1. They are sharing the chefs’ recipes over on their Pinterest page. Check it out here: #HSNCooks Pinterest.
2. In addition to the chefs and foodies who are part of #HSNCooks, HSN also carries exclusive collections for Wolfgang Puck and Ingird Hoffman, in addition to carrying many of the national brands.
3. They have some great cookbooks!
4. KITCHEN GADGETS GALORE!