To celebrate the official end of summer, here’s a recipe for a Technicolor Labor Day: combine a pink dress, light clapping down a short flight of steps, William Holden, and lots of moonglow.  Stir until smooth and easy.  Serve.

I first read that the Food Network would be launching a second cable channel on Memorial Day in February, when summer seemed a long time away.  A few weeks later, a friend recommended me to a production company that was looking for food people to talk on camera about their interest, love, passion for food to promote the new channel.  After  years in film production, I’d been content to stay behind the camera.  If they’d asked me to “audition”, I may have backed down, but they called it a “screen test” instead.  Actors “audition” but at a “screen test” you can just be yourself (or Lana Turner).  That’s a how I find myself, a week later, getting wired for sound in a New Jersey produce market (very unlike Lana).Once chosen, I was surprisingly calm until I got the call sheet the night before.  Looking over the crew names, I suddenly realized that all of these people would be there, loaded down with equipment, ready to work, and expecting me to say something, anything.  When I got to set, I smiled nervously, filled out the paperwork, and waited for my turn, terrified.  Sooner than I liked, the time came, the first question was asked, and I started talking and talking (and talking).  Through the jitters, I’d forgotten that the topic was food, and there’s always something to say about food.

Now that the Cooking Channel is up and running, I was finally able to catch my spot (though they used my real name, I was credited as a “market lover” – still not acting since I really do love markets).  It goes by fast but I’m thrilled that they found something in my ramblings to use and happy to be part of the conversation.
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With the days a blur of pollen and rain showers and my 200th post coming up, I thought it would be a good time to take a break, update my site and catch-up on my reading.  ABC New recently posted a list of recent cookbooks on Latin cuisine and I can’t decide if I want to start with Nirmala’s Edible Diary by Nirmala Narine, Jose Pizarro’s Seasonal Spanish Food – a finalist for this year’s Julia Child IACP award for a first book, or Daisy Martinez’s latest – Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night (click here for her interview with A Chica Bakes).   I’ll probably go with The Brazilian Kitchen by Leticia Moreinos Schwartz because it’s because it’s been leading my wish list since I tried her recipe for coconut brigadeiros last month.  There have also been some interesting one ingredient articles.  Now that the weather is fit for wandering, I plan on seeking out new markets and sources to include here.  Apart from last week’s look at cilantro, which always elicits strong opinions, John Willoughby’s Pimentón: It’s Spanish for ‘Better Than Paprika’ had me triple checking the denominations of my paprika, and I’m still not sure what the Indian spice asafetida does but can’t wait to find out.    That’s my spring break plan – cooking, reading, and shopping.  I’ll be back next week, still hungry and with a lot to talk about, unless I decide to ditch it all for sunbathing, flirting with Ivy Leaguers, and bebop.  Stay tuned.

With the constant threat of rain, I did my usual food shopping this weekend under a white sky.  Along with the usual Mccann’s oatmeal, baby spinach, and salmon, I’m constantly running out for more peppers, plantains, and vino seco since starting this blog, loving the colors they add.  Walking through the gray today on a search for coconuts (more on that later), I couldn’t help but feel happy despite the rain.  I’d wanted to post this version of Aquarela do Brasil for a few weeks and today seemed like the perfect day, even more so when I read the composer, Ary Barroso, wrote it during a thunderstorm.

Happy Fourth of July!  Say it with firecrackers!