Debbie with Eric Muscatell of amfAR

December 1, 2009 was World AIDS Day. On that day, I agreed to match any donation made on my donation page ( http://bit.ly/AIDS1 ). Together, we raised over $500 in one day! Thanks to everyone for your help.

I have been asked many times why I care about HIV/AIDS, and why I devote so much effort to a disease which has never directly touched anyone in my family. It’s just such a horrible disease that 33 million people are dealing with worldwide. In the United States, three times more people die from AIDS each year (including 2009) than all strains of flu combined, including H1N1! But yet, improvements in treatment have made this an almost forgotten disease, even as 2 million people were infected in 2007 alone. In Haiti, one of every three pregnant women has HIV. That’s 33% of the entire future population! My friends at amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) are working hard to help find a cure and put an end to AIDS once and for all.

On April 24, 2010, I am hosting a Benefit Dinner for amfAR in NYC. Please join us! There are only 30 seats, so get your tickets now. Click Here for more info.

And thanks again for caring. - Debbie

You never know what is waiting for you around the corner. Well, for me it was a chance of a lifetime with More Magazine in New York.

About two months ago I received an email from a freelance writer looking for women between the ages of 40 and 60 who were re-inventing themselves. Well, it sounded intriguing, so what the heck, I fit those two requirements, so I replied. I explained how for 24 years I had made my career working in the corporate world and as a Personal Trainer and Cycle Instructor and over the last couple years have made the transition into the culinary world, following one of my deepest oldest passions, cooking.

Well, much to my great surprise, I received a phone call about 3 weeks ago from…MORE MAGAZINE! It was editor Patti Greco asking me if I was still interested in participating in an article about women re-inventing themselves and spending two hours being mentored by a celebrity in my field of interest, for my area of interest the celebrity would be chef B. Smith! Oh my goodness now I really feel as though I’m dreaming. Of course I still want to participate, and to top it all off, they were going to fly me into New York City for the mentoring session with B. Smith and for a photo shoot and to prepare one of my original recipes for her.

Upon arriving in New York City, the first thing on the list was of course shopping, I was going for a fitting the next day, but what would I wear for that? After a long day of shopping at Bergdorf’s, I finally found the perfect outfit. After a fantastic dinner at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain with a friend, I was off to get some rest for the following day. Not only would I be going for a fitting for my photo shoot with B. Smith for More Magazine, but would also be meeting with amfAR to discuss our upcoming charity event (more to come on that in my next blog). The fitting went perfect, in the end they actually liked my outfit so well, I just wound up wearing my own clothes.

The big day arrives, I’m really excited so I rush down, hail a taxi, give the driver the address, thinking this would be sufficient, but instead I’m asked where the address is, I tell him across from Bloomingdale’s, everyone knows where that is, at least one would think a taxi driver in New York City would at any rate, but this one didn’t. So, in a panic I made a couple of calls and of course no one answers, but thanks to Barry and his Google phone and Google maps, we find the needed cross streets and arrive just in time. I’m greeted by Daisy, Associate Photo Editor, who whisks me off to meet the hair and make-up guys Nelson and Jordy. What a great time I had with these guys, and what a great job they did. Then while Jordy is finishing my eyes, B. Smith arrives, what a gorgeous lady which is equaled by her kindness and generosity.

Now for the shoot. It was just like you see in the movies, the photographer was such a sweetheart and made me feel so comfortable about being in front of the camera that I forgot it was even there. Before I knew it two hours had passed and I had received some great advice on my future direction as a chef. So make sure and look for and buy the February issue of More Magazine. I know I will!

By the way, for anyone who is curious about what I prepared for B. Smith, it was…..my Pistachio Encrusted Curry Sea Bass.

Click here to watch me on the Midlife Road Trip Show!

Recently, the Midlife Road Trip Show came into town. Watch the stars Rick Griffin and Sher Bailey in this fun night we had at the Dolce Debbie Test Kitchen!

Dolce Debbie as Sophia Loren

Who doesn’t love a good party? For me, that’s what I live for, and whereas I love to have themed, festive get-togethers, I decided this year it would be fun to add a little of old Hollywood glamour into the Halloween theme. So, needing to keep it a little macabre, I decided to do a theme on the Hitchcock classic “The Birds”. Easy enough, just find some black crows or any type of black bird, a bird cage, get some white pumpkins and spray paint a couple black...get where I’m headed…black and white. This is truly a case of less is more and nothing screams glamour more than black and white!