It’s hard to believe that in less than 48 hours season 5 will wrapped! It’s been a full and exciting season that has left me exhausted but incredibly grateful for the work that I get to do and more importantly the people that I get to work with. When I show up each morning I feel as though I am surrounded by family – and I can’t think of any better environment to work in.

Our first week in the studio was a blast with highlights including visits and on camera cameos with my sister and best friend Julia. It’s the best when friends and family get to be part of episodes and I’m looking forward to a few more instances of that this week (including Ollie!). My incredible set designer Jeanne Lurvey outdid herself with baby touches on set this season to make it look as though Oliver could be crawling around in the background while I’m cooking away. She captures my aesthetic perfectly and I’m so grateful to have her keen eye as part of the Kelsey’s Essentials team.

The day we began shooting in the kitchen this week I was shocked beyond belief with news that I had been nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Culinary Host category. The term shocked is an understatement – I didn’t even realize I was eligible! It’s still settling and I’m pinching myself daily that my name is amongst those that I have admired long before I ever entered this field. I’m incredibly honored and can’t wait to be part of the festivities in June. Now I just have to find a dress! Heaven help me…what does one wear to the Daytime Emmys?! The crew on set was so nice to get me a congratulatory cake- they are always so thoughtful and supportive of me!

One highlight this week was coming home after 14 hours to a home cooked meal that was made by none other than my dad who was staying with us to watch Ollie each day. He swapped places with my mom and completely blew me away with his domestic skills! He was incredible with Ollie and even managed to do some laundry and cooking while he was here. Whatta’ guy!

Here are a few behind the scenes shots including how to make a grilled cheese extra melty in a pinch and what behind the counter looks like. Notice the 4-inch floor that they had to build for me so that I don’t look so darn short! I only trip over that ledge a few times a day….

Finally, I can’t get over how incredible it feels to walk in the door and sweep this baby up in my arms. He has been a complete champ while my schedule has been so demanding and I think that I’ve still managed a way to stay his “favorite.” T-minus two days until I can get back into my Ollie boy routine. I can’t wait!

Today we wrapped all of our field (aka verite) shoots. I can’t emphasize enough how fun it was to meet such an amazing group of people during these segments. It’s super inspiring to seek out and find those foodies who are taking their passion for food and doing something interesting with it. I can’t wait to share this talented culinary bunch with viewers  this season!

I can’t believe that I didn’t know about Miss Lily’s until recently. Think Jamaican variety shop with live radio broadcast meets juice bar and Jamaican restaurant on Houston street. Melvin is the ultimate juicing man and basically everyone’s best friend in the neighborhood. The morning we were filming with Melvin the infamous Jack Dorsey (creator of Twitter) popped in and took a quick Vine video of me and Melvin juicing up a “Garden of Vegan” drink. Crazy! Juicing has been trending and if you’re not a believer yet, swing by Melvin’s Juice Box and have Melvin make you a juice – you’ll never look at juice the same way again. I also had a blast cooking super legit jerk chicken with Suzanne who had literally just stepped off a plane from Jamaica. She was adorable and described everything as being “wicked-good.” I haven’t been able to shake the saying since.

One of the sweetest highlights over the past couple of days was visiting Mike and Sarah who make up S’more Bakery. They were SO fun to work with and I think that they’re onto something with the whole idea of s’mores being the next cupcakes. Their homemade mallows are crazy good and blew me away. We even made a double decker chocolate peanut butter mallow that was pretty much life changing. The best thing about Mike and Sarah is that hours after we wrapped our shoot they got engaged! Big congrats to them.

The term “dinner and a movie” has now taken on a whole new meaning after hanging out at Nitehawk for a few hours of filming. We highlighted their film feast series with Chef Michael where a gourmet menu is created inspired by a classic film. It’s movie food like you’ve never seen before and a truly unique experience. They do a brunch and movie series every weekend that I can’t wait to take Robby too.

We finished off the week by visiting two small food businesses that are blowing up as we speak. Chris and Robert of Kings County Jerky make the world’s most delicious beef jerky (you MUST try the Korean BBQ flavor) and Jo Jo is aging homemade sriacha in oak barrels – every one of her batches is unique and special. Either would be great food gifts for anyone who appreciates small batch homemade goodness.

I start filming in the studio on Wednesday and I’m reealllyy excited. I can’t wait to get my hands on the recipes for this season and do some of my own cooking. It’s going to be an intense schedule as some days we’re shooting three episodes a day! I will baby-step my way through it and crash at the end of each day. I have another day off to hang with Ollie before the craziness continues and we have big plans for the swings, singing songs, and filling that boy with as much milk and baby food as he’ll eat (we’re working on fattening him up!). My mom and dad swapped places over the weekend and my dad is hanging with Ollie all week. Ollie loves grandpa as his babysitter and they practice crawling all day long despite my hope that he won’t be super mobile for at least another couple of weeks!

Can’t wait to update everyone from the kitchen!

I was thrilled when Food Network Magazine asked me to be part of their Star Kitchen feature for the May issue of the magazine. I’ve been a big fan of this feature every month and always enjoy getting a peek into other hosts/chefs kitchens. (especially Ree Drummond’s kitchen and Ina Garten’s kitchen!)

A few months ago a crew showed up at my apartment and took a few photos for the magazine. Ollie was my sidekick throughout the shoot and it was tricky playing double duty as mama and cooking show host – I remember feeling so stressed about it! I was trying to time his naps with snapping photos and he was refusing sleep! The very talented Jeanne Lurvey who does the set design on my show  was incredible and helped me pull a few things together to make my kitchen look polished. (Let’s be honest, there’s usually a big stack of mail on the desk that needs to be sorted through and an assortment of dishes and baby bottles hanging out on my countertops.)  She also helped me with the fun apple artwork on the chalkboard, which I love so so much. More than anything, I’m grateful to have captured our home kitchen for the sake of memories down the road.

Here’s a story that’s worth sharing – on the day that the magazine came out last week I received a text message from my dad that he had taken my Grandpa Jack to Walmart that morning to pick up a copy and my sweet Grandpa told the clerk that he wanted to buy every copy that they had in the store! He bought every single one and then proceeded to hand them out to friends and family. He was particularly proud of the feature because there’s a note about my Grandma Charlotte’s Dutch oven pot that was handed down to me after she passed a few month ago. It’s a piece of her that I will always have with me and I will always cherish it. To think of my Grandpa beaming with pride while flipping through the magazine makes my day. What a guy.

…more behind the scene’s posts coming this week! Today we experienced a fire on a kitchen grill and I helped make a salt and vinegar potato chip ice cream flavor. Things were exciting and interesting to say the least. More great stories and details to come!

What a whirlwind of  3 days! I had a great time shooting over the weekend and the pleasure of working with so many talented people in the industry. As exciting as these days are, I forget what the exhaustion feels like. Standing on your feet for 12 hours while talking in front of a camera all day kills you both mentally and physically – in the best way possible. One huge perk is that I’m constantly enjoying delicious food (or drinks!) and basically eating like a queen all day long.

I was blown away by Geoff and his amazing Tasting Table space that’s used for everything from a test kitchen to hosting events. It was hands down one of the coolest spaces I’ve been in all of New York City. We were discussing all things mocktails and I got my shake on (which I looked completely ridiculous doing). Virgin cocktail maker right here folks!

I also had the privilege to cook alongside the one and only David Burke. The man has built and empire in the food world and is unbelievably respected. To be invited into his kitchen was such an honor. He’s super passionate about working with pink himalayan salt blocks and has perfected the art (we’re talking patented techniques). I could eat steak seared on a salt block every day for the rest of my life.

We then moved on to the Williamsburg waterfront for Smorgasburg and the first annual Hot Sauce Expo (my mouth is still on fire!). Smorgasburg is like a breeding ground for the next latest and greatest in the culinary world. While the food and people were amazing, the weather was awful! We arrived first thing in the morning to beat the crowds and ended up being delayed for hours because of crazy 30 mph winds and abnormally cold temps. We decided to just get through it. Nothing like filming a cooking segment with ingredients flying everywhere and frozen fingertips. One welcomed surprise on this day was literally running into the infamous Ina Garten while she was shooting for a new show. I was literally filming on camera while walking and talking when my camera crew all but ran into her camera crew. I was completely star struck! I’ve met most everyone on the Food Network and Cooking Channel but Ina is one of my favorites and I’ve never had the privilege of meeting her. Because of the tight schedule and the crazy weather I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself that day, but never in a million years would I have guessed that the first time I “ran into Ina Garten” would have been while we were both filming on camera. Pinch me please!

One fun element of this season is that my sister Kylie is shooting the still photographs. I LOVE having her on set everyday and I’m thrilled that her beautiful photographs will be featured in each of the episodes.

Our final day was spent exploring Koreatown and cooking up some Korean tacos with Phil on the Kimchi Taco Truck. If you’re a New Yorker and haven’t spent time in K-Town, you’re missing out. I’m a big fan of the bakeries in particular! This day was a good reminder that you never know what production will throw your way and we ended up shooting well into the evening which meant walking in the door well after 10 pm after a 12 hour shoot day. I couldn’t get to bed fast enough.

The hardest part hands down is trying to juggle being a new mom and doing my job well – which means being totally focused while I’m shooting. I miss that sweet baby boy terribly each day (even though he is having a BLAST with grandma), but I’m grateful that we knock out an entire season in just a few weeks so that I  can spend more time with him on a regular day to day basis. I’m enjoying 2 days off before we jump back into things and eating up every move Oliver makes. (he’s almost crawling!) We’ll shoot for 3 more days this week at different locations before heading into the kitchen next week.

Any questions about the production process? I’d love to answer them!

I survived day 1! The first day of filming is always intense and exhausting but so so fun. The day started early at 5:30am when hair and makeup arrived at my apartment. It felt a lot earlier than 5:30 thanks to a baby who had a rough night and was resisting sleep! My mom was so sweet to get up early and help Ollie get going for the day and even managed a breakfast run for everyone. This first photo was my view from the makeup chair early this morning – then it was off to our first location shoot of the day!

We arrived at Whole Foods to spend some time with Yugi the ramen master. He’s doing incredible things with authentic ramen with unsuspecting flavor profiles that work in surprising ways. He was so charming and a delight to work with.

These lovely ladies make up the “glam squad” or “pretty committee” and I adore them. I feel like I haven’t put myself together since Ollie was born spending most days in yoga pants with a ponytail. After these miracle workers are done with me, I feel like a whole new girl, or like a dirty car that’s just been through the car wash!

Our final stop was in New Jersey to visit the brother sister duo that makes up Pipcorn. They were so much fun to work with and I ate my weight in tiny popcorn. I remember being surprised on the first day of shooting Kelsey’s Essentials (way back when) that they actually use clap boards in television production still. In a way they seem old-fashioned, but we most definitely use them all throughout the day. It’s always a surreal feeling to hear them say, “Kelsey’s Essentials – season 5 – day 1 – take 1 – rolling rolling.”

It was a great first day and I’m stoked for the second. I missed my sweet Ollie boy but knew that he was in the best of hands with Grandma. Nothing beats walking through the door to have him jump into my arms with a smile and a giggle.