Lauren's World, Food Time, Excellent: 'Capital Cooking'

THINK WAYNE'S WORLD, the skit, not the movie. It's filmed in what almost looks like a house. There's an amateur entertaining you. It's low budget in a charming way. But at times, it can make you cringe. (Think of Wayne's mom coming to the basement to do the laundry mid-show.)

Lauren DeSantis of "Capital Cooking" is new to the cooking and public-access television scene. Her trade in real life is practicing healthcare litigation at Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan & Suelthaus; she's been working there and living in D.C. for almost two years. But instead of using weekends to score billable hours, according to DeSantis, in "all of my spare time, I produce and host 'Capital Cooking," which can be seen at various times on Comcast channel 95, RCN channel 10 in D.C. and Cox cable channel 10 in Fairfax.

Just like Sandra Lee on the Food Network, DeSantis is pretty and thin, and her recipes are also of the semi-homemade variety, such as using pre-sliced cheese and canned cream of mushroom soup for a sauce, or store-bought mix for a cake. But instead of the bottle-blonde look, DeSantis evokes images of Midwestern homeliness and talks fondly of her Italian family from St. Louis.

While the show is only a few episodes old, DeSantis already learned how to respond to the spontaneity that is a cooking show: when her spatula broke mid-stir (audience cringe moment), she quickly jumped in with her hands and joked under her breath, "That's not good." With a quick smile, she later found her backup rubber scraper, hailing the need for spares in the kitchen.

The goal for "Capital Cooking," dreams DeSantis, "would be to get picked up by a national television network. Right now, we are doing our best to perfect the quality and content of each episode."

DeSantis hopes to one day "take the show on the road and film in the capital of each state," but right now the local show airs in three states and one district (Maryland, Virginia, Missouri and D.C.). (You can check out two episodes online here.)

For all of you aspiring chef celebrities, DeSantis shared her secrets to getting in front of (and behind) the camera. Express 5 ways to score your own public access cooking show:

1. Develop the Episodes: About a year before I started filming the show, I started a notebook of my ideas. I started coming up with recipes based on themes and drafting scripts. I also would brainstorm with friends and family about what to name the show. One morning I woke up from a dream and told my husband that I wanted to name the show "Capital Cooking." He liked the idea so I went with it.

2. Funding: The majority of the show has been paid for out of my pocket, but I have received funding from Matchbox, Ping by Charlie Chiang and Eat and Smile Foods. We are still working on our underwriting campaign.

3. Producing: After taking several production classes at the station, I became a certified producer. I sent out some volunteer requests to find a crew. My crew helps with the filming, editing, directing, photography, Web design, etc. All of the equipment rental is provided courtesy of Fairfax Public Access.

4. Getting on Air: I started contacting stations and asking them about the requirements to submit my show; I submitted my proposal and it was approved. I have to submit my episodes each month and meet the deadlines of each station. We are currently trying to "bicycle" the show to stations all across the country.

5. Experience: I don't have any prior television experience and I'm not a professionally trained chef. I've been cooking at home most of my life. I love food and cooking shows so I had been wanting to do this for a long time. Dreams can come true!

Written by Express contributor Stefanie Gans

Photos, from top to bottom, by Shauna Alexander, Ashley Mosley and Mary Diaz