Une Petite Pomme: My 7 Minutes of Fame....Sort Of....

Thanks to a dear, sweet friend from high school and a thoughtful producer at AM Northwest who took pity on me kindly invited me to be a guest on the show, La Pomme made her television debut last night cooking up "Peas and Pancetta in a Flash." For those of you who are not from Portland, here in our fine City of Roses, we are fortunate enough to have our very own hour-long morning show. Having been on the air since 1976, most of us Portlanders have sat in the AM Northwest audience at one time or another. We all think quite fondly of this show. (I always think of my Granny when I use that word...fondly. She preferred to sign her cards that way: "Fondly, Granny") Currently, AM Northwest is being hosted by the very funny, Dave Anderson, and darling, Helen Raptis.

Now, you may be perplexed as to why La Pomme was on AM Northwest last night, since the name implies a morning show. Well, without getting into the nitty gritty, the "powers that be" currently air the first half hour in the morning and then, the first and second half hour in the evening under the name of AM Northwest Primetime, but the whole thing is shot in the morning which, for those of you who know my morning habits, getting there...on-time...wide-awake...and actually thinking clearly...early yesterday morning was quite the challenge for me...but I did it....(thanks to a lot of back-up help from my sweetie.) And yes, of course, I was a bit nervous. Nervous about the fact that when I get nervous I tend to laugh...loudly...and tell bad jokes because I think I'm funny. And, I was nervous about the timing since I was invited to cook on the show and I needed to have an edible meal that really takes about 30 minutes to make, ready to eat in 6 minutes. To my relief, after I arrived...on-time mind you...I was ushered back-stage and right up to my very own cooking island. There I could set-up and cook away to my heart's content and then, the whole kit and kaboodle was wheeled on-stage when it was my turn. Can I say that I've never actually made pasta without being interrupted and even had time to stir it a few times while I watched it cook? I almost started whistling.

The actual time I was on-camera was an absolute blur. I remembered nothing that I said or did so I was quite anxious to watch the debut myself. At 6:45 pm, my family gathered around the television and waited. As we watched the final minutes of the lead-in show...a movie in which the main characters wore mullets that would put Billy Ray Cyrus' to shame...I had a sudden curiosity about the actual viewership of my debut here on Comcast Channel 302...but that quickly vanished as Dave Anderson appeared on the screen welcoming people to AM Northwest. With rapt attention, we watched the exercise segment, the book review segment, the ceramics show segment and all of the advertisements for the Japanese Gardens, assisted living centers and car dealerships out on SE McLoughlin. I knew my time was drawing near and I suddenly started to panic, "Had I itched my nose on-camera? Will it end up looking like a "pick"?" And then, there was Dave Anderson saying, "Our next guest writes a popular local blog about the mingling of food, family and life...." and I was on. I'll let you be the judge of how I did but I do have two thoughts, "Lose the sweater next time." And, I can already hear my kind, sweet mother saying, "Sweetie, stand up a little straighter next time....and maybe get the bangs out of your eyes." We never stop being a mother, do we?




Thank you so much, Julie and Tammy, for making this opportunity happen for La Pomme and since it appears that I didn't pick my nose, I'm hoping you'll invite me back.


All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010