The first time I was invited to appear on the Home & Family Show was back when Chuck Woolery was still the co-host. (He has since moved on and was replaced by former "Mike & Maty" co-host Michael Burger.)
The two-hour live show is produced on the Universal Studios backlot in a house specially designed for the show. It looks like a real house from the outside, but if you look up to the ceiling in any room, you see only rafters covered with set lighting and electrical spaghetti. But most of all, I like that it's right across the street from the original Cleaver house from the classic show "Leave it to Beaver."
The Home & Family Show is very loose and comfortable, with a casual format and a "family" of regulars who often brings friends and family members in for a visit. At the top of the show Cristina and Chuck spend about 20 minutes in a casual chat on barstools at the kitchen counter. From here they introduce the guests on the day's show who are sitting amongst the regulars on the living room sofa behind them. Chuck and Cristina will introduce the guests and talk with them a bit during this part of the show. You don't need to complete Television 101 to know that at this moment it really helps if all microphones are in working order. Unfortunately, mine was not.
The hosts make their way around the couch introducing the guests, and they finally get to me. I talk about the books and how I came up with the concept and what we will be cooking today (photo 1), but all of this is lost because my wireless microphone is hopelessly dead. There's a mess of activity all around me off camera trying to figure out how to fix the problem. I'm oblivious, but as I'm talking I'm suddenly passed a large handheld microphone in an attempt to salvage some of what I say, but it's too late (photo 2). The moment is lost and they move on to the next guests.
Eventually we get to the first of the two cooking segments. Cristina has requested that I demonstrate the In-N-Out Double-Double Burger clone recipe. She's a big fan of the product (I knew I'd like her). But before we get the demo, the family members have gathered around the kitchen counter to sample some of the real burgers from the restaurant (photo 3). Little did I know that a prank was about to be played on family member Kym Douglas.
Check out that expression on her face as she bites down into the hamburger (photo 4). It's almost as if someone has switched the real beef patty for a rubber one. In fact, that's exactly the case. Poor Kym is having a very hard time biting through the little sucker.
She quickly catches on to the joke, pulls out the rubber patty (photo 5), and immediately blames producer Woody Fraser; aka: the show prankster. We all have a good laugh.
Now it's time to cook. I demonstrate how to make the Double-Double clone from scratch in their well-equipped kitchen (photo 6). Of all the shows that I've had the chance to cook on, this one has the most incredible and functional kitchen setup.
When we finish cooking and assembling the sandwich, Cristina dons the "big eyes" blindfold and gives our creation the taste test. She first tries the real burger and then the clone, and when asked to name the homemade version, she says puzzled, "I don't know." She takes a wild guess and is wrong. It feels great to be able to fool someone who is so familiar with the product.
In the next cooking segment, later on in the show, we prepare a clone of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
This time we are joined in the kitchen by Chuck's son, Michael, and Cristina's daughter (I think) who lend a hand in stirring the peanut butter, salt and powdered sugar together.
Michael accidentally moves the spoon a little fast through the mixture and powdered sugar goes everywhere -- all over his shirt, on Cristina's arm, on the floor (photo 8). It's the best part of the segment.
I show everyone how to cut some muffin cups in half so that they are more shallow and then line them with chocolate. We then fill each one so that, when chilled, it comes out tasting like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Even better, our version is twice the size of the real thing.
Cristina does a little blindfolded taste test again, this time picking the real one, saying that she could tell because it is creamier. Then I say goodbye.
Overall, despite a small microphone snafu, the show went pretty well.
Eventually I would be invited back a few more times, with Michael Burger as the new co-host.
If you want that Double-Double clone recipe for yourself, just click on this link. |
