There's a Top Chef in my neighbourhood!

You know me - I LOVES my Top Chef - except this Seattle season that's been kinda blah and don't even get me started on Josie being back...
Anyways - I loves my Top Chef.  I also love certain chef-testants - namely Top Chef o' my heart Ashley Merriman.  *le sigh*
BUT - we also might know I got major love for the chefs that rep the ATL like Richard Blais and Kevin Gillespie, to name a few.  And with as many times as I've been to FLiP, I never ran into Blais.  Ever.  So I kinda figured it was the curse of me: I can't ever seem to nonchalantly run into people I've seen on TV - until last night.
My old man and I were at our local Harry's Farmers Market WAAAAY OTP.  I was in a funk because, well, the whole Avid thing, right?  So I was moping around the store trying to figure out what was for dinner.  Then I remembered that this particular store was hosting Kevin Gillespie for one of their Salud! cooking classes that night.  I would've signed up but let's be real, I don't think I'd ever get the chance to cook pork belly (even if it is in Kevin's signature delicious style) on any given day with my domestic partner being Vegan and all...but it would've been cool to add to the list of fun and interesting things I've done this year.  I would've done it for that but it was $79.  It doesn't sound like much BUT Christmas is coming up and I feel like everyone is trying to take money outta my wallet.  And I just flat out forgot.  I've got a lot of shit going on, man.  Cut me some slack...
So imagine my surprise when we ended up at Harry's the same day as Kevin!  WHAT?!  I hoped to get a sneak peek of him teaching the class as we shopped so I creeped around to the window with the hopes to catch a glimpse of him.  But he wasn't there.  Aww.  So, very loudly, I said, "Where's Kevin?"  And here he comes walking past me looking like he was on a mission so I blurted out, "There's Kevin!"  He didn't hear me.  I didn't intend for him to either.  But there he was in all his glory!  Kevin Gillespie on a mission!  Wowzers!
I got extremely star-struck (which means super shy) all of a sudden and then I couldn't concentrate on what the hell we were doing for dinner.  I couldn't even find my freaking vitamins!  I was so preoccupied with how I was going to ask for a photo with Kevin that I forgot what we were even doing at Harry's!
So there we were, in line to check out.  I abandoned my items (and threw cash at my old man to cover my purchases) and went to look for Kevin.  He was hiding out in a little nook before the class officially started at 6:30p.  I went outside and waved at him through the doors.  When he saw me, I kindly mouthed, "Sorry to bother you, can I take a picture?" and held up my phone.  I thought he was going to pose for me between the glass - which would've been just fine - but instead,  he graciously waved me around to come back into the store and met me halfway.
Of course I gushed about how he was my favourite Top Chef contestant and how he should've won over those shitty Voltaggio brothers.  But he was super nice and gracious about the whole thing.  He said that the Voltaggio guys weren't that bad and I was like, "Well, the producers like jerks so that's why you didn't win.  You're too sweet!  But you should've won - you're way cooler!"  He was really nice about the whole thing.  I need to learn how to act around people I'm excited to meet.  At least with Sharon Needles I had a little liquid courage.  Last night, all I had was my burning rage about my job, which made me a bumbling fool.  But you know what?  Kevin was great.  For the 5 minutes I got to talk to him, he was a really cool guy and I'm seriously thinking about making my reservations to Woodfire Grill now for when my Dad gets back to the states in March.  Yes, you HAVE to reserve that far in advance!  A coworker went and she had to make her reservations 1 month in advance...

So - in short - I was having a bad day yesterday and BAM Kevin Gillespie made it all better!
Thank you Kevin!  I hope your class was awesome!

Good-bye Final Cut Pro...Hello Avid!

The last few days have been rough. We filmed part of our education pieces, feverishly packed releases and most recently, I had to disassemble my office (again) and rearrange it (again) so that my workstation can transition from Final Cut Pro 7 to Avid Symphony 6.



Hello, my name is Katzi and I'm...I'm...stumped.

I haven't touched Avid since their FCPX disaster known as Avid Xpress DV and that was...errr...roughly a decade ago. That's a long time out of the Avid game. Granted, ALL editing systems do exactly the same thing - well, almost - and now I'm having to undo all the "bad habits" I learned in Final Cut and transition to the industry standard. 
While it's great and everything, I'm super intimidated because once again, I'm thrown to the wolves on my own. Maybe I'll channel my inner Liam Neeson via The Grey and do some makeshift Wolverine claws with broken bottles and go balls to the wall (my usual way)



OR

I can get my shit together and just make it work, dammit!



My problem is that I'm impatient. I'm also a visual learner. I also need some kind of support system. And I also need someone to remind me that it's okay to walk away. I shouldn't have to go through this alone and I know some Avid savvy folks but it all comes down to time and money. They'll want to be paid for helping me since I'll be the one "officially" on the clock but we just don't have those resources yet and that makes me sad. I guess the only support system I have is the notepad I took bare bones notes on and my dear friend, Google.

To tell you the truth, I've been counting down the days until my office upgraded to Avid and now that it's here, I'm a nervous wreck. Sure, I want nothing more than to have the title of Avid Editor under my name but now, I'm wondering if I should stick with it or keep my focus where I've been keeping it - with my true love: After Effects.

Maybe I have cold feet. Maybe it's first day jitters. Either way, I'm nervous that it'll take me more time than I thought to break all my bad habits and time is something I don't have at work, unfortunately. I should probably calm down and collect my thoughts.

I'm grateful for this opportunity and I'm super grateful that the company switched to Avid so I just need to chill, reorganize my brain and take it one day at a time...

My old man said: Remember, you control it, it does not control you.  Well said.

Adventures in Dessert: The Cookie Dough Pie

After all my Food Network / Top Chef watching, I wanted to take all the culinary skills I had learned while being sick and use them for reals!  That meant finding the right recipes to try my new skills on.
I already know I can execute a damn fine Hot Toddy but can I really elevate my dessert game - especially after this flop?
Okay, it wasn't that big of a flop but people were saying it was too sweet which, to me, sounds like it could've been better.  Am I beating myself up over it a little too much?  Maybe.  But you live, you learn and you move on...to Cookie Dough pies.
That's right - Cookie Dough Pie.  After seeing the recipe in the latest issue of Bust, I wanted to try it.  Why not?!  I designated the old man and me as the dessert bringers for Thanksgiving so it was the perfect time to try it out, right?




1. I hardly ever shop with a cart, much less with a freakin' list!
2. The cookie dough portion
3. In the recipe, they say that you'll end up with extra cookie dough and you should bake cookies to garnish your pie with (I garnished with 4 but I packed up the rest with the extra whipped cream I made)
4. The scary egg custard part.  I say "scary" because there's egg tempering involved and you know what?  I accomplished it without scrambled eggs!  Hooray!
5. My favourite thing to make: homemade whipped cream!
6. The various layer stages of the pie
7. The finished pie!
8. A pretty slice of pie

It was a complete success!  At first, I was really critical of the taste and my pie crust substitution - I substituted a "traditional" graham cracker crust since I couldn't find the chocolate wafers - because that's what I do but it turned out all right.  I could really taste the light brown sugar in the cookie dough but I think that's because I knew it was in there and I may or may not have packed the measuring cup a little too full with it but still, it was good and everyone liked it.  Sounds like I'll have to make it again!  I also have my eye on the first recipe on the page o' recipes c/o Bust: the Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Gluten Free Crust.
The old man attempted a vegan pumpkin pie a few years back and let's just say it didn't turn out the way he had hoped but I'm pretty confident that if I try this particular recipe, I might be able to pull it off!  Granted, pie crusts aren't my thing but I'll give it a try.  Maybe this one might turn out magnificent!  Buuut I'm not going to unveil it for Christmas dinner or anything.  I think I'll attempt this between holidays and make sure the recipe is slammin' before I present it to my family.

So...I'd like to express my gratitude to Bust Magazine for having such a kick ass recipe!  Actually, I'd like to express my gratitude to Bust Mag in general because I've been an avid Bust reader since the Girlfriends issue (with Missy Elliot on the cover) in the 90's.  That's how I found out about and fell in love with The Donnas.  That's also how I started to feel more confident about my body and it helped me recognize my rights as a woman.  It was quite possibly the coolest gift my step-sister could've given me as a teenager.  I haven't missed an issue yet and I plan on never missing one.  EVER.  You shouldn't either! Check it out!

I'm thankful for: My family!

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I'm thankful that I was over my sinus infection so that I could enjoy time with my family!




1. My Mom / 2. Oni / 3. My aunt Carmen / 4. Oni and her new friend / 5. Mom's lovely (and delicious!) turkey / 6. Oni's pretty salad / 7. Mom's vegan Green Bean Casserole / 8. Mom's vegan cranberry sauce / 9. Oni's dessert spread - the aftermath / 10. A slice of my Cookie Dough Pie - recipe here

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Sick day photos PLUS a warm winter drink

Some snapshots from my sick days



And finally - here's my documented second attempt at making a Hot Toddy. It was Lauren's idea and I had to try it since I remember the one at Trader Vic's being quite amazing. My first attempt was all eye ball guessing measurements since I guess I thought I had been gifted with the power of eye-balling measurements correctly since I had watched Food Network for most of my sick days. Turns out, it was a complete fail and even I couldn't handle the extreme boozy-ness of it. LOLWUT. So, I sucked it up and found some directions via the interwebz and actually measured out my ingredients which yielded a pretty darn good cocktail. I don't think my meds agreed with the booze but it made my chest feel a lot better (and warmer).



Here's the recipe I used:
1 oz brandy, whiskey, or rum 
1 Tbsp honey 
1/4 lemon 
1 cup hot water 
1 tea bag 
Super simple!  And non-threatening!  And let me tell you - tea was the key!  I used hot water in my first attempt and it felt like it was missing something.  Lo and behold, it was tea.  

What's your favourite Winter drink - sick or not sick?

PS - Photo #4 looks like soap suds in a coffee mug, right?  Wrong!  It's actually warmed vanilla Rice Dream that has been blended with my immersion blender for my first homemade cappuccino in forever!  I'm not a big milk or soy fan so Rice Dream is perfect for me!  And because it's already flavoured with vanilla, it needs minimal sweetening with coffee.  Try it!

When you're sick, sharing does NOT mean caring PLUS NaNoWriMo progress

Apparently after the Summit, my body wants to go into shut down mode so I've been home sick the last few days with a pretty bad sinus infection.  I'm back to work today for the first time since last Wednesday and let me tell you, I still feel awful.
It's no surprise that it's something I picked up at work since I've been running my body ragged the last month and all the parents I work with have been bringing germs to share with all of us!  Lucky for me, my body didn't go into shut down mode until after the main event, so...there's that.
Either way, it was a great opportunity to get cracking on my NaNoWriMo story for this year.  I'm up to 22,653!  My best and highest word count yet!  Go me!  I don't see me finishing it by the end of the month BUT this will be one story that I don't abandon.  I have a tendency to do that because since I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2009, I've written a new story every year and every year, I tend to forget about the characters I've created for that year and by the time next year comes around, I have a new set of characters to hang out with.  This year will be different, though.  I can feel it.  The story I'm working on is really quite close to my heart and I'm hoping this will be the first story I will have ever finished.  EVER.
That's right - I've NEVER finished a story.  Sure, I've had writing assignments in school and all that but I never ended them with a solid "The End", it was always a kind of open-ended "The End...?" or maybe an unfinished extra credit script or short story here and there.   Nope, I've never been able to finish even a short story.  Why?  I have no idea but I am determined to finish this one - even though, technically, there's no ending. 
So why this one?  Why now?  One word: Closure.

Is anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo?

Post-Summit Hangover

What a weekend!  Actually, the last few weeks have been pretty hectic and I can honestly say that I am SO glad it's over.  What's over?  Oh, you know, just a *small* 3-day convention that my job holds for owners, managers and instructors from all over the world.  What is it?  Check out my promo video here!
Have I been stressing out about it?  Yes.  Have I lost sleep over it?  Of course.  Am I glad it's all over?  You bet your sweet ass I am.  And to prove it, I took the following three days off to recover.  Was it enough?  No but I am very grateful to have had that time off.  It feels as though last year was really easy and harmonious but I guess that must've been Beginner's Luck since last year was my first time and this year was quite the challenge.  Sophomore Slump?  Perhaps.  Either way, it was still a success.
Here are a few photos from the craziness...



1 and 2: Working on audio edits with Michael for the videos featured in 3 and 4 / 3 and 4: Class opener test run and class opener during class / 5. Set up for Power class / 6. The Testimonial Team gathering testimonials for me / 7. Event In Progress / 8. Kick class / 9. Holy crap - I actually posed for photos at the post-party! / 10.  A visit to Lady Rainicorn at CNN Center (there's a long, hilarious story paired with this but I'll spare you - unless you really want to hear it)

The videos in 1-4 are like my little babies.  I worked really hard on them and I was such a nervous wreck during playback for rehearsal and during class playback because all I ever really want is for people to enjoy the things I've made.  I got lots of compliments on it but as an artist, my work is never really done but these are going in the books as a success!