until Home Made Simple comes to film the show. Yikes! So I have to tell you how it all came about. A friend of mine who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone suggested that I apply for the show (As you can see I'm heavily connected to the industry by no more than 4 1/2 degrees of separation). Anyway, I thought what the heck. The next thing I know I'm filling out an application and sending it in.
Here are a few of the questions and answers from my application (this is really how I sent it in). I interspersed some old pictures to keep things hopping.....
What is the most challenging time of the day for you and your family? It would definitely be early evening when I’m trying to figure what to make for dinner...... to organizing some sort of effort towards homework....... to fielding question that range from “where do you think Bigfoot sleeps?” and “Do you know where that blue round thing is that I was playing with a week ago?” ......... to realizing I have absolutely nothing to make for dinner........ to figuring out how to get all the stuff from my class off the kitchen table so we can sit down and eat dinner.......if, in fact, I come up with something for dinner. Usually that time of the evening is all a big haze.
What one habit would you like for everyone in your family to change/acquire? I would love if small people in this house would a) remember to put dirty laundry in the basket and not under the bed. b) pee into the toilet and not around, behind it or in back of it c) have their eyesight adjusted so that they would have the ability to see Legos and small toys strewn about the floor. d) have their brains adjusted so that they would pick up said toy instead of walking over it. e) have their ears adjusted so that the shouted phrase “please put your shoes on!” is heard at the same decibel level as a whispered “who wants ice cream?” Oh. Sorry. You asked for only one. I got carried away with myself. Ok, if I have to pick one, I will say it has to be pick up after yourself. The big people as well as the small people are guilty of this also.
Describe your expectations if Home Made Simple were to choose your home. I would love a brand new humongous home, a big screen tv and a giant bus in front of my house.....Oh. Wait. This isn’t Extreme Home Makeover.....Never mind.... Ok, well, then I would love for someone to come in and help me organize my Tupperware and paint my kitchen....I would be the happiest gal around. I’m very easy to please.
Do you love to cook? Why or why not? I love the idea of cooking. So much so that I cut out recipes and purchase cook books with the full delusional intention of planning and cooking wonderful, exciting and nutritious meals that will be talked about for years to come. Then, I look at the clock and realize it’s 6pm and I haven’t taken anything out of the freezer. That’s when I hate the act of cooking and wish I was rich enough to hire a cute full time chef.
Have you had any professional cooking experience or training? No.....unless you count watching 6 seasons of Top Chef.......
What intimidates you in the kitchen? Everything. My biggest stumbling block would be in the planning and preparation. It’s amazing how much easier dinner preparation goes when you aren’t fumbling around in a pantry at 6:00 pm trying to figure what to make with a can of black beans, rice and barbecue sauce. When I’m prepared, I’m a culinary genius. When I’m not, it’s an exercise in convincing people that a bowl of Mini Wheats is a viable dinner option.
Is there typically another person in the kitchen assisting you while you are cooking? If so, who? Well, if you call two little people asking me a million questions in regards to whether "the Loch Ness monster really exists" and “where is my Boo Boo Choo Choo DVD?” assisting, then, yes, I have two boys who love to be a close as humanly possible to me while I’m handling hot pots and pans.
So there you go. That application landed me a video interview with the casting director Chad.....it We had the best time. My friend Gail came down from LA to be the "friend" that helps with a project. Chad was explaining how they are looking for lively, fun people to be a part of the show. Right at that moment my friend Annette arrives on the doorstep with a bottle of wine......well, look at that, we told him...... "fun just arrived!"
Prior to Chad arriving, Gail and I were running around the house trying to look calm, cool, collected and prepared.
"What do you want me to do with the broken legged guy in the playroom? He's just sitting here watching tv," she shouted to me from down the hall.
Hmmmmmm....good question. I considered telling Chad that he was the crazy uncle in the family that no one wanted, so we had to take him. Of course, that would invite too many questions. I briefly thought about rolling him out to the garage and telling Chad, "husband...what husband?" Then I remembered I wrote down I was married on the application. Rats.
"Just throw a tablecloth over him and put a potted plant on top of his head!" I yelled back to her.
"He won't stop talking! I don't think that'll work," she shot back.
"Fine. just let him keep watching tv," I said.
Chad ended up interviewing Cosme from his chair in the playroom. Later, when Chad called to tell me that TLC choose us for the show, he said the network "loved" Cosme. "Huh!?! Wha!?! He's a broken legged guy who was sitting in a chair. I almost put a potted plant on his head! What was there to love!?"
They loved him enough to have him film a cooking segment with me. Of course, I made the mistake of telling him this. I will never hear the end of it. Really. I won't.
Alrighty, I need to finish cleaning and straightening and primping and worrying and.....well, you get it. Talk to you soon! Karin
