Pack and repeat. Car rides and unloads. Vegan gluten free and all natural food coloring. Does it make sense? I feel like it’s been ages since I wrote! I was in an LA time warp for two weeks and could not find a quiet moment when I wasn’t dozing off to write. In fact, now that I have returned I still can’t believe I was there for two full weeks. It went so fast because so much was condensed into this time.

Oh my goodness! Those days made me realize how incredibly important it is to journal. The places I go, the people I see, the creativity of developing and making food, the things I learn, everything is an experience and it’s part of a larger story I am telling. As I traveled from the Grove market to Sprouts Market and Pavilions I wondered the difference in the quality of food on the west coast versus the east. I also realized how much these people love their Trader Joes! If you couldn’t find one item at Whole Foods you have four other places to ponder which makes working in LA quite versatile for a food gal.

Although the days were packed with organizing and travel, setups and pack ups, I found light in the smaller things. Like getting to work outside under an avocado tree or decorating a kitchen with oblong- plump oranges or lemons or limes from the nearest citrus trees.

Those are the little things that make you go…oh!

I remember sitting in Rochelle’s office brainstorming show topics. In my novice experience this was the first approach to bringing a show to life! It all seemed like it happened years ago too. So much work compressed into a time warp. I always looked forward to the creative calls we had with JJ where he would spew out recipe ideas for the show. My job, was then to bring that to life. I spent evenings and days zipping around finding props, locating butchers and grocers near the set, calling equipment rentals, and finally coming together with my culinary team- who were fabulous! And, I realized after all was said and done that my organized self needs to be even MORE organized, which makes my head spin.

An eight day shoot turned me into a stair hustler, being that the culinary team had a kitchen on the first floor and the set was on second. A “frat boy” apartment was turned totally upside down with speed racks and tables full of props and ingredients thoughtfully placed about the living and dining area. Show labels and recipes were flying all over while equipment was getting misplaced. Certainly controlled chaos, but it felt amazing!