The first time I met Baratunde Thurston was back in 2008.  I think I was invited by Liza Sabater and/or Twanna Hines to have  drinks at a bar in the East Village.  It was an impromptu Black blogger meetup.  I knew he did stand-up comedy, worked at Onion, and most notably was the co-founder of the blog Jack & Jill Politics. Soon after meeting Baratunde, he was popping up everywhere–on my Twitter feed, at parties, and at SXSW.

About two weeks ago, I got a galley copy of Baratunde’s book, How To Be Black, from my friend Rachel. I started reading it immediately.  One of the added benefits of reading How To Be Black in public is the looks that you get when people see the book cover. I can relate to many of the things in the book, especially the chapters on “How To The Black Friend” and “How To Be The Black Employee”.

The book is part about being black, and  part memoir.  I kinda wish there was more memoir.  I am left wondering how did Baratunde make the leap from being a Harvard grad to being a stand-up comedian.  It would be nice to offer more insight on being the Black comedian.  As someone who worked tangentially in stand-up comedy, I know there’s a dirty underbelly to comedy especially when it comes to getting booked and getting paid.  When I read Tina Fey’s Bossypants, I wanted her to share more of the struggle of being a woman in comedy, and Baratunde could have added more as well.  Not as a woman, but as a Black man.  To be fair, I am a wee bit of a comedy geek, and not every reader wants to know how the hot link sausages are made.  Also, it would be a bonus to have a chapter on “How To Be The Black Couple”, but Baratunde is NOT Steve Harvey. Thank God!

How To Be Black is hilarious and very insightful. I highly recommend reading the book if you are Black.  I also recommend reading the book if you are White, but you may want to read it on your Kindle so as to not draw unwanted attention to yourself.

P.S.

I just checked on Amazon, and the book is $12.99 on Kindle and $14.40 Hardcover.  Advantage: People with a  Kindle.

Yesterday, I left New York City,  if only for a day.  I have friends who recently left for faraway places like Hawaii and France, but I went all the WAY up the Hudson to Hyde Park.  Hyde Park is home to the Culinary Institute of America and this past weekend it hosted the Bocuse D’ Or. The Bocuse D’Or USA is a food competition, but nothing like the Bacon Takedown or the Casserole Crazy cookoff.  It is where the top American chefs cook and compete in front a live audience. The winner of the Bocuse d’Or goes on to compete next year in Lyon, France with chefs from all over the world.

Let me set the scene.  I walk into the recreation center with five fellow food bloggers and we are led upstairs to the VIP section where there are delicious croissants from Bridor, coffee from Nespresso and a crepe station manned by CIA student volunteers. BTW, today is Croissant Day! Below us, the bleachers were filled with a boisterous audience as if they were attending a March Madness basketball game.  There were four kitchen stations where the chef were cooking. The music blaring was the best European club music. The event was MC’ed by a very energetic Angela May who kept the crowd cheering for the more than five hours of the competition.  It was amazing to see the work of professional chefs cooking with precision and moving in their tiny kitchens with speed and grace.  I learned something new. I had heard of sous chefs but yesterday I learned what a commis is.  It is a junior chef. The commis who worked the chefs were very skillful and not considered junior by most people other than chefs.

The winner was  Richard Rosendale who is the executive chef of The Greenbrier, which is a luxury resort in West Virginia.  His competitors were Jeffrey Lizotte, Danny Cerqueda and William Bradley.

In the VIP section, we ate well all day including this beef tenderloin that was sou vide with spices including cinnamon and star anise. It was like a mole sauce but it also had Asian flavor. It melted in your mouth!

Thanks to KitchenAid for inviting me to Bocuse d’Or and to Jackie Gordon for facilitating our group of food bloggers. It was fun!

Last night, there was a preview party to for the IACP conference which will be in New York this March 29-April 2nd.  This year’s theme is the Fashion Of Food. It was great to see fellow food bloggers as well as cookbook authors as food makers. Sponsors include Driscolls, Bulldog Gin, Brooklyn Brewery, Jarlsberg Cheese, Jimmy’s No. 43, Voss Water.

Carrots. Everyone eats them raw as a snack or just as a side dish. In 2012, carrots will be more of a star than an understudy. I had to most delicious carrots with onions dish in December, and I could eat them everyday. Besides the 2012 Pantone coloris orange so it just makes sense. Here’s a recipe for Carrot Cake Jam from the blog Apron Strings.

Artisan Marshmallows. Making marshmallows is becoming really popular. Emily of Nomnivorous has made hot pepper marshmallows, red velvet ones and also cardamom. In Brooklyn, Baked and Whimsy and Spice make yummy marshmallows. Eater spotted the trend of savory marshmallows.

Flavored Salt. Sea salt has gotten everyone acclimated to coarse salt. Now salt comes in different flavors will be big in 2012. You can make your own by checking out Jaden Hair’s recipes.

Just like I don’t believe that nothing is “the new cupcake”, I don’t feel that anything can replace bacon. However, duck fat is the new ingredient to add willy nilly. In the past month, I have eaten duck fat cookies and edamame cooked sauteed in duck fat. Duck fat in doses is nice, but could be a quack.

Cornmeal.  It is not just  for cornbread or frying fish. Cornmeal cookies, cornmeal pancakes and cakes are other ways to use cornmeal.  You can chalk it up to Southern influences, but I think cornmeal is a grain that people will substitute for flour in some recipes because of its texture and corn taste.

January, I froze my ass off. There was lots of snow. I spoke at Long Island Social Media Club, and was featured in a NewsDay article about social media and business.

In February, I organized a Blogging While Brown Meetup at Bier International in Harlem.

In March, I went to SXSW with a press pass. I also was quoted in an Entrepreneur article about cupcakes.

I went home to Atlanta for Easter, and my sister and I had tea at the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead.

I organized our fourth annual Cupcake Craft Night at Etsy Labs in May. We made polymer clay jewelry and we had a big crowd. Also Rachel and I went up to Gardiner, New York to judge the Gardiner Cupcake Festival.

In June, I co-produced TECHmunch NYC with Babette Pepaj. Also, Cupcakes Take The Cake hosted our annual picnic in Central Park.

In July, I traveled down to Philadelphia for the Philly Vendy Awards. I had a blast! I also went to Montreal in mid-July. It was my first trip to Canada and first time using AirBnB.

Rachel and I went on a tour of Celebrity Cruise ship, The Summit, as we doing a Cupcake Cruise in August 2012.

Just a photo of myself wearing blue eyeshadow in August. I also spoke at Berkeley College in downtown in late August about blogging and social media.

I love this trio of bracelets. I also try to take more photos in natural light.

I volunteered all year long doing social media for the Vendy Awards and the event was in September. Here’s a photo of me with Nicole Taylor. I also spoke at Rochester Institute of Technology at a social media conference.

In October, I met Jesse Jackson while in Detroit visiting a cupcake bakery business, Just Baked.

In November, I went to Orrville, Ohio for the Smucker’s Blogger Conference. I had so much fun, and learned a lot.
I was also in Upscale Magazine in an article about cupcakes.
I was also in the November of Upscale Magazine in an article about cupcakes.

Cupcakes Take The Cake celebrated our 7th anniversary of cupcakes blogging.

This year has been challenging with two moves and two deaths of loved ones. Also, money has been tighter as I keep hustling to make ends meet. I would like a full-time job doing what I love. I would love to lose about 50 lbs. I would love to connect with a man who can I share my life with. I’m ready for 2012! It may not be better, but it will be different and new.