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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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I start filming the next season of Kelsey’s Essentials this week and I’m a whole host of emotions. Excited, stressed, nervous, anxious…you name it! This will be the 5th season of the show. You’d think that I would be a seasoned pro by now, but the truth is that every season is a challenge as we try to evolve the show and make it better which means pushing ourselves to be even more creative than we were the previous season. It’s such a rewarding and interesting process that I’ve decided to blog my way through it this time around giving you a behind the scenes peek at how the show is made!

The hard work started weeks ago when we officially started pre-production. I (along with my culinary producer and production company) pitched show themes and recipes that needed to be approved by the network before actually putting pen to paper and writing the recipes. Then it was off to the test kitchen for a week where every single recipe was tested – making it as delicious as possible. Sometimes recipes are completely tossed out because they just aren’t good enough, and sometimes we get lucky and they are a hit the first time around. It’s always a blast working in the test kitchen and I love the talented people there so much.

About 10 days ago was “wardrobe day!” I work with an amazing stylist for the show that does a ton of shopping before showing up with nearly 100 options that include tops, dresses, sweaters, and jackets to try on. It took almost 4 hours for me to try everything on! She takes a picture of each good option that then need to be approved. By the end of it I’m a frazzled mess and have pulled a shirt over my head one too many times! While so exciting, it’s weirdly exhausting. It’s definitely a huge perk to the job that I don’t have to worry about picking out clothes for each episode (especially because I’m not the hugest fan of clothes shopping!)

We’ve had our final production meetings now and we officially begin rolling on Thursday and we’ll shoot for about 3 weeks. I’m taking these last few days before the madness starts to enjoy every second with Oliver. Grandma arrives today to save the day and will be hanging out with my sweet boy each day I’m either filming out in the field or on set. We can’t wait for her to arrive!

I’d love to answer any questions you may have about the process! I’ll be posting photos and maybe even a video here and there that will give you a taste of what it’s like to film a cooking show. I can’t wait to journal the process for my own memory. I feel so blessed that I get to do what I do and try to never take it for granted. It’s because of dedicated viewers and fans that this dream still exists and I couldn’t possibly thank all of you enough!

Here are a few photos I took of my wardrobe fitting and my time in the test kitchens!

Stay tuned…. here we go!

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