Ask Alton

Thanks to Rainy Day books who hosted Food Network superstar Alton Brown for a book signing, I was able to meet the star of "Good Eats" himself! But most of all thanks to Jamie for alerting us to this event and thanks to DeAnna for helping to make this (as always) a fun and memorable evening for the 3 of us.
Our autographed copies of Good Eats 3. Awesome!

Jamie had whole nutmeg in her pocket to prove to Alton that she is a hard-core fan.

He was very entertaining and full of goofy energy. Just like he is on the show. What? You've never seen Good Eats?! And you call yourself my friend?! Good Eats is not your average cooking show. It is awesome. Filled with over-my-head knowledge and humor about what scientific processes are really taking place during cooking. He has goofy visual aids and memorable ways of explaining just what's happening. I love him. And I love to use his episodes and recipes in my classroom. Kids think he's a nerd but I think they're just trying to play it cool. Trust me, kids. He's way better than any other educational video or lame-o, boring cooking how-to show. Start DVRing it now. I find myself learning a lot from any episode, even the ones where he cooks things I'm definitely never going to cook. Like squid.

Anyway, when we finally get our chance to meet him (after waiting in line for over 2 hours) I'm trying to be all super-fan-ish and explain how I teach cooking labs and a "Science Chef" class and how I love his episodes. He then proceeds to ask me what my favorite fatty-acid is. Um, what?! Who has a favorite fatty acid?! I was so thrown off I stuttered around and couldn't even think of what an appropriate answer would be. What?! I felt as if he was calling me out on my qualifications to teach food science because I don't have a "go to" favorite fatty acid. I tried to change the subject by saying "wouldn't you rather know what my favorite episode is? It's the pizza crust episode!"
What the heck, Alton?!

I tried to laugh it off. But I was shook up. I quickly explained my new "most embarrassing moment" to J and TW as we left. TW proceeded to do what all good friends do--google fatty acids to figure out what I should have said. By the way, these girls know everything there is to know about food and such so if they didn't have a "go to" fatty acid, I didn't feel too bad.

Hindsight being 20/20, I think I should've gone with Omega-3s. Dang it. I take an Omega 3 supplement every night so clearly it's my favorite. Maybe I'll write a follow-up letter to Alton.
Despite this little incident. I still love Alton. I've created a little shrine to him in my classroom and I told my Science Chef students all about the fatty acid incident. I've got no shame.