The taping of Season 5 of Kelsey’s Essentials was our best yet. I still have to pinch myself every time I write “Season 5″ — I truly feel like I have the greatest job in the world, and I can’t believe I’ve been at it for this many seasons now. Each time we shoot, there are plenty of highs and lows that make the experience both challenging and rewarding. Here are a few of my favorite moments of Season 5 that made this season unforgettable. Look forward to seeing them when you tune in to new episodes on Wednesdays at 8pm ET.

Melvin was one of my favorite personalities that I worked with this season. And I wasn't the only one he won over — this guy may be the most popular person in all of NYC. While we were filming, he had a constant flow of loyal customers coming into the shop acting as if they were his best friends, including the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who took a Vine video of us working together. Melvin's Juice Box  is clearly a regular morning stop for many in lieu of a coffee run, and I can see why.

Ina Garten has been one of my favorite Food Network personalities for years. She’s also one of the only people on the network that I hadn’t met before. Imagine my surprise when while we were filming in Brooklyn at Smorgasburg, Ina came walking around the corner hand-in-hand with Jeffrey, filming a piece for her show. I was completely starstruck and had to keep it together, since I was on camera at the time. When the day wrapped, I was so disappointed she was gone and I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself. Lucky for me, we ended up being seated at the same table just a few weeks later at the Daytime Emmys. For the record, she is every bit as lovely as I hoped she would be.

I was in the car heading to the studio for our first day of shooting in the kitchen when I received a voicemail that said, “I’m calling to congratulate you on your nomination!” I spent the rest of the car ride trying to figure out what I could have possibly been nominated for. Needless to say, I didn’t even know I was eligible for an Emmy nomination or that my name had been submitted. It was the world’s best surprise and the perfect thing to kick off the final week of our shoot. The crew was so nice and excited for me that they surprised me with a cake at the end of the shoot day.

Of all the recipes that I made during the 13 episodes we filmed this season, this Fresno Pepper Hot Sauce was my favorite. I want to pour it on everything these days. I was completely inspired by JoJo to make my own essential hot sauce after seeing her artisanal Sriracha setup, where she was aging her hot sauce in oak barrels. (Amazing!) (If you missed the Season 5 premiere, "Fiery Foods," you can watch the whole episode online.)

During Season 4, I was pregnant with my son, Oliver, who surprised us all and came shortly after we wrapped about a year ago. I never thought in a million years that we’d be celebrating his first birthday on camera during the next season. It was such a treat to have my little family on set with me to celebrate such a memorable occasion for our little guy — and who knew he would be the world’s best cake smasher? We were all dying with laughter as he completely destroyed his birthday cake. To be surrounded by our family and friends for the episode made it that much better.

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes posts from Kelsey Nixon every Wednesday, and tune into new episodes of Kelsey's Essentials every Wednesday night on Cooking Channel at 8pm ET. Find all the recipes from Kelsey's Essentials here.