The Reality of Putting Yourself Out There

One week with no blogging makes a food writer crazy! I had every intention of sitting down and composing a bunch of different pieces but the world outside of food blogging wasn't having it. First it was preparation for and the running of an arbitration for my paid profession. Then my car suddenly dies one morning, was thankfully jumped and started, but then needed $7000 in repairs. Yep, that was my week.

But life is funny...and the world often seems to sometimes equal itself out. When I came home Wednesday from my ill-fated trip to the car repair place I realized I had missed a call on my cell phone. It was from a young lady named Katie calling from Master Chef. Yes you read that right. They are taking applications for Master Chef Season 3 and I one night in a whirlwind of inspiration decided to apply. So my application had made it through and here she was inviting me to the Open Call casting in Washington DC on Saturday.

Then I had a decision to make. I have had an experience with a reality cooking show and although a local based competition, once you cook under the pressure of 1 hour or 45 minutes there is nothing like it....and you find yourself wanting to do it again but on the other hand, the competition was Saturday and I had an unreliable car and what was I going to make, and when would I drive up for a 10am start, and where would I stay and what would it be like..and...and....

And my friends. My fabulous friends who are my family. My friends told me I would be crazy not to go. My dear friend Kandice offered to drive. My friends Jim and Jennifer offered up a place to stay the night before at Bigglesworth Manor (their home which deserves the name by the way). Other friends offered up places to stay and ideas and someone to watch my son and there was so much support that even if I tried to talk myself out of it, they wouldn't have let me.

So Friday afternoon Kandice and I drove up to Northern Virginia and stayed the night with our good friends of Bigglesworth Manor and I made a dish that I thought represented me: meatloaf with a basil and roasted tomato sauce and a side cauliflower smash with roasted garlic. The sauce was Kandice's idea... remember that roasted tomato and basil spread? Well Kandice said I had to find a way to use it so I did. And it made a fabulous sauce when thinned out with Fresca...I kid you not.

This dish was made and tasted and then remade at 7:00am the next morning. The components were packed up and stored in a newly acquired  Rachel Ray "casserole keeper" and we headed to the venue. While I can't give a lot of details, I can tell you I got there a little before 9am and was number 275. I got to shake Chef Gordon Ramsey's hand and he told me, "Good luck". I go to meet some home cooks just like me, one who was really cool and I hope gets on the show and others who scared me with the food they brought.I also got to stand in line for 6 hours until it was my turn to present my dish and make an impression on a show producer in less than a minute but I also got to spend that entire time with my dear friend Kandice...and at the end we were still friends!

It was a great experience and even if I am not called on to compete to be the next Master Chef I am glad I put myself out there. My good friend Zack often says that when you put yourself out there, the Universe has no choice but to respond. I think he's definitely right. This may not be the opportunity meant for me, but there is one out there. In the meantime I will continue to write this blog that I love and cook for my friends and family and eat at great places and share those experiences with you.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt