In Which I Become a Food Stylist

Update: I still haven't met Jean Nidetch.

But recently I had the chance to meet and work with another really fantastic Weight Watchers Superhero, and that was almost as cool.

Last month, when the amazing Hungry Girl (Lisa Lillien) stopped in Pittsburgh on her book tour, I got a call from her publicist asking if I could help her out. Since I do some work at one of our local TV stations, the HG peeps got my name from a producer and heard I might be just the right lady to whip up some delicious dietetic food for her to display at her appearance on the local morning show - Pittsburgh Today Live.

That's right. I was Hungry Girl's "food stylist" for the day.

What a blast.

In many ways, Hungry Girl is a lot like Jean Nidetch.

• Jean started Weight Watchers in her living room with six friends. Hungry Girl started her HG empire with a small daily email service.
• Jean has lots of chutzpah. Hungry Girl has tons of spunk.
• Jean literally wrote the book on finding ways to enjoy your favorite foods in a diet-friendly way using lower-calorie ingredients. Hungry Girl takes it to a whole new level.

My experience as Hungry Girl's food stylist wasn't too much different than my usual food adventures. For example, I made some HG "Cowgirl Onions Rings" using onions, Low-Fat BBQ chips and Fiber One Cereal. As a Retro WW snack - I once made some French Fries out of Italian Green Beans. Also--For Hungry Girl, I made a cake from a box of yellow cake mix and a can of diet creme soda. My all-time favorite Retro WW cake was made of cornmeal and strawberries.

OMG. Hungry Girl is like Retro WW with a modern-day twist!

Anyway, the whole experience was terrific, and Hungry Girl couldn't have been sweeter or more appreciative towards me. And she even let me take a few pics at the studio...

Gratuitous Nerdy Fan Photo

Hell yes, I got my book signed. Holla! 

Girlfriend was NOT playing around with hair and makeup
 

Here is the final segment with all of the completed dishes all plated up nice and pretty. I made them all! You might even recognize some of the serving plates I used. I was soooo tempted to throw in a gelatin mold just to see if anyone would notice, but I thought better of it. Enjoy! And go buy her cookbook. It kicks ass!


Uh Oh! If you cannot view the video here, please click this link:
In The Kitchen With Hungry Girl « CBS Pittsburgh