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Haylie Duff has had theentertaining gene since an early age. “I grew up in a family that loved tocook,” she tells HELLO!. “The love of wanting to entertain in my home startedbecause of my mom really.” And now in her final trimester and due quite soon,it is certain that she will pass this love of hosting to her baby girl.
As the second season of hershow Real Girl’s Kitchen on the Cooking Channel gets underway, the mom-to-be isexcited for her viewers to see what is in store. “It’s more of the samefrom last year but just elevated,” she explains. “Our recipes are better, Ifeel like I really pushed myself when I was coming up with what I was going tomake on the show.”
Photo: Ashley Cordova
And while the first season of this lifestyle docu-serieswas a success, Haylie admits that this time, she is heating up the kitchen evenmore. “The first time around I felt I didn’t have full confidence in my abilityto teach people how to cook,” she shares. “This year, I really felt like Iwanted to step outside my comfort zone a little bit and not only show peoplehow to cook but also learn with them. It’s just a really fun show, it’s shotbeautifully.”
The 30-year-old hopes to watch the premiere on April 25,but a little bun in the oven may prevent that. She jokes, “Hopefully I will bewatching it with friends or I will be having a baby that day. I’m not reallysure.”
With motherhood fast approaching, the multi-tasker has been busier thanever instead of taking this time to nest. “The truth is that shooting my showduring my pregnancy, I also did a special for Cooking Channel — all those thingskept me really busy and kept my mind off of all the stresses that come alongwith being pregnant,” she mentions. “There are so many wonderful things buthard things too, like you don’t sleep as well as you normally do so I thinkkeeping busy really was a positive thing for me.”
For any other concerns, she has younger sister Hilary,who is mom to 3-year-old son Luca. “She is more like 'it’s going to be what it’sgoing to be, go with the flow,'” Haylie says. “Don’t try to put too muchpressure on anything. I’m sure once [the baby] is here, I will be calling herwith more questions. Right now, there is not too much to ask.”
Photo: Yayo Ahumada
Regardless of the usual pre-motherhood concerns, Haylieadmits that her mother called her pregnancy, “the model pregnancy” because shereally didn’t have any major issues or discomforts… until now that is. “Upuntil two or three weeks ago, everything was really easy, but that last monthyou just feel huge — you are huge and you have a little bit of anxiety becauseshe is about to be here and everything is going to be so different.”
Instead of sitting around though and waiting to meettheir little girl whose name they already have picked out, she and her fiancé MattRosenberg are keeping the momentum going by renovating a new house. “I’m dyingto get into our new house because as you can probably assume, I’m like a crazyperson and ready to set up that nursery.”
One other aspect that Haylie is looking forward to is her closet. "I said to Matt the other day, I really miss my closet full of clothes [pre-pregnancy]," she notes. But, her post-pregnancy goals are very reasonable for any new mom who will be working to shed the pounds. "With that being said, I'm going to try to eat really healthy and hopefully I am able to breastfeed and we will take it from there."
We bet she also can’t wait to throw some epic parties intheir new place just like her fabulous baby shower thrown in March. “My sisterobviously offered up her beautiful home to us, but all the little DIY stuffcame out of pregnancy insomnia,” Haylie mentions. “I stayed up late at nightpainting the signs. I really wanted to do something different and not babyishso the flower crowns were something I was excited about. It felt very girly andspring time.”
Photo: Getty Images
Now as summer is fast approaching, this Real Girl is alsosharing her tips to hosting the perfect BBQ:
Do: Make a plan! It will keep your day stress-free. Set out yourserving dishes, make your grocery lists and prepare anything you can ahead oftime!
Don't: Try to make too many new dishes! You will definitely want somegood variation, but when I am cooking for a lot of people I tend to stick withmy no-fail recipes. That way I know I won't have some last minute messup!
Do: Go for big flavor. The grill can take a lot of flavor so don't bestingy with your seasonings!
Don't: Squirt water on flame flare ups. Unless you like ashes on yourburger... then go for it! Just move your meat to a cooler part of the grilluntil the flame dies down.
Do: Make some exciting sauces! Maybe a flavored ketchup, atruffle aioli or a zesty brown sugar BBQ sauce. People love fun sauces, and itwill give your food a "specialty" feel... spread on burgers, dipchicken wings or even veggies!
Finally... a Do & aDon't: I love when people offer to bring something. It is never nice toshow up empty handed! Do take people up on their offer, itmakes everyone feel like they had a part in making the party a hit! Don't replywith "bring whatever you want" or "bring anappetizer." This is how you end up with two fruit salads, multiplebags of chips and salsa, or lots of hamburger patties but mysteriously nobuns.