It’s that time of the month! We have another cookbook giveaway. This month we are featuring Memorable Recipes by Renée Behnke.

Jamie Oliver will travel to one of America’s most overweight towns to teach the residents how to make healthy food choices.

A new movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Chronicling the memoirs of Julia Child and the experiences of a food blogger determined to cook the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year’s time…

Rachael Ray is one of the Food Network’s most successful icons. From 30-Minute Meals to cookware to EVOO and even dog food - she has come along way.

I’ve been trying to get to Washington DC for months now. Why? Two reasons: Carla Hall and Teddy Folkman! Carla is in the limelight after her time on Season 5 of Top Chef. Teddy Folkman flexed his mussels and now he is a contestant on The Next Food Network Star…

TEQUILA is an aficionados guide with 60+ recipes for both cocktails and food! One of the cocktails Joanne Weir created is the Surly Temple, which the media is going crazy over…

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) has just concluded their 2009 conference and have announced the winners of this years IACP Cookbook Awards. In the baking category, Sur La Table’s The Art & Soul of Baking took home the award.

The first International Food Bloggers Conference will convene in Seattle from May 15-17, 2009. The conference will feature three days of sessions on topics regarding food, writing and technology. It is organized by Sheri Wetherell, co-founder of Foodista.

Renée Behnke’s new cookbook touches on many of the foods she has encountered in her travels around the world and she wanted to show how they translate back to the American table…

As each guest chef arrived on site at this year’s Int’l Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, they found all their prep work done and their station setup on stage. The prep work was done by eight hard working students from The International Culinary Schools at the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago.

The James Beard Foundation has released their 2009 Nominees for Restaurants and Chefs. Here in Southern California, we are proud that the following restaurateurs and authors have been nominated for their various categories.

Images from Day 1 of the International Home + Housewares Show 2009 in Chicago, IL

Suvir Saran is one of the most respected chefs in Indian Cooking today. Suvir will be showcasing his line of porcelain dinnerware and kitchenware for his line of products called American Masala at the Int’l Home + Housewares Show…

One of the chefs that will be doing demos in the GOHO Gourmet Studio at the Int’l Home+Housewares Show in Chicago is Nate Lippy. Nate runs an online food blog called Food, Drinks and Rock n Roll…

Reports are out that Cat and her partner Jennifer, are pregnant. That’s right, they are BOTH pregnant. Jennifer, who has had two sons already, is due in April, while Cat is 4 1/2 months along.

Carla Hall, one of the top contestants on Top Chef, just completed a news interview on DC/VA/MD Cable News Channel 8 which is run and operated by the local ABC affiliate in DC, WJLA…

Since I have started my food blog back in October I have met many new friends along the way. One of those people is Cory. Cory is actually friends with my old roommates Lee and Marc. Cory celebrated his birthday recently…

I was on Hulu this afternoon and found this clip of Stefan during his exit interview. This was not aired in the episode. What caught me of guard is that he is a human being after all…

I have been waiting ALL SEASON for this moment. Every year for the last 5 seasons of Top Chef I find myself on the edge of my kitchen counter waiting to see who will be named TOP CHEF. This season was no exception but I got an added bonus this season. I know one of the contestants!

Top Chef’s Carla Hall surprised many viewers by coming from behind to land a spot in the show’s finale, which airs tomorrow night on Bravo. Recently, the DC-based chef chatted with the Buzz about her secret weapon – love – and her plans for the future…

It’s going to be an interesting night on television for me tonite. American Idol’s Top 36, Group 2 is performing tonite and the finale of Top Chef Season 5 will air right after that! We are down to Hosea, Stefan and Carla! I’m rooting for my old friend Carla. Let’s see what this underdog has up her sleeves…

Pamela Sheldon Johns knows that everytime we have guests coming over we ask one thing: What should I serve?

Pamela makes this easy with her new cookbook, 50 Great Appetizers, offering 50 tasty recipes guaranteed to wow your guests…

First lady, Michelle Obama announced that have decided to retain Cristeta Comerford as the Executive Chef for the White House…

There is a great op-ed piece written by famous Italian cookbook author Marcella Hazan. I had a few chefs that taught for me at Sur La Table and was always uncomfortable when they referred to me as “chef”. While I was in charge of the school, by no means had I earned the same title that these true chefs had. Here is a bit of the op-ed piece and a link to the remainder. The piece was in the N.Y. Times on November 29, 2009…

Ris taught a few classes for me at Sur La Table when I was the culinary manager there. Ris has a passion for food that is so infectious. She really bonded with the students and brought the student’s infatuation with food and used that to magically enhance the flavor of the dishes they made that night…

Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts has filed for bankruptcy. While in Chapter 11, the Napa Valley food and wine museum, will come up with a plan to restructure itself. The center plans to reopen soon and focus on profitability…

I remembered that I have an autographed cookbook from Thomas Keller. When I worked in DC, one of my kitchen assistants bought me a copy of The French Laundry Cookbook during her visit to the restaurant for which the cookbook is named after. She got Mr. Keller to sign it and I was just beside myself when she gave it to me…

Carla Hall is one of the most fun, dynamic, people persons I know. Carla and I met when I worked at Sur La Table and she was one of my chefs and instructors. Carla really cares about food from all angles, from history, taste and presentation to how her guests react to her food…

So…according to Eater LA, a great food blog of Restaurants, Bars and Nightlife in LA, Marcel Vigneron, Season 2 runner-up of Top Chef has set up permanent residence in the LA Metro area and will be working with José Andrés at the Bazaar! In a previous post last week of José’s most recent visit to LA, I mentioned that he will be opening the Bazaar in the new SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Also in the report is that the Bazaar has a scheduled opening date of November 14. Matt from MattBites and I have a future dinner date already planned!

A new blogger friend, Matt Armendariz of MattBites.com, took Friday off to spend time with his guests visiting from Spain. He said they were going to spend the day at Disneyland.

Later in the day, I got a Twitter from Matt saying that he just met José Andrés inside Disneyland! How awesome is that?? Matt and his friends were very lucky indeed to have met a “Food God” as described by my friend Herb.