By Michele Laudig, Phoenix New Times (blog) - Iron Chef Cat Cora  will be the star of our next Chow Bella event, on June 23 at 7 p.m.

We're thrilled to team up with our favorite local bookstore, Changing Hands, for a special night of cooking and chatting with Cora, who'll give a food demonstration and will sign copies of her latest cookbook, Cat Cora's Classics With a Twist. We'll also have prizes and giveaways throughout the night.

As the first female Iron Chef on the popular Food Network show, Cora's demonstrated her finesse with creating elegant, creative dishes from random ingredients.

In her new book, she shows readers how to

By DAILY SOUND STAFF - Chef Cat Cora, known for displaying her culinary skills on “Iron Chef America,” will lend her celebrity status to a fundraiser benefiting the hungry and homeless of Santa Barbara.

“Opening Nights — Opening Hearts: A Filmanthropic Event,” the official kickoff to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, will feature hors d’oeuvres and a specialty cocktail created by Cora. The event takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at Café Buenos Aires, across the street from the Arlington Theater.

Guests will be able to walk across the street to the theater, where the opening night festivities and screening of “Flying Lessons” will

Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO, USA - Cat Cora and I talk briefly by phone on her way to an airport somewhere, which is pretty much the best way to catch her these days. Cora, who might be best known as the only female contestant on the Food Network's Iron Chef America, is a professional chef who juggles cookbooks, sponsorships, promotions and a family production - she's the mom of a 6-month-old baby and a toddler.

Cora will make an appearance at 6:30 p.m. Friday during A Taste of Colorado at the Ghirardelli Culinary Center in the Fine Dining Area set up at Civic Center.

I mention to her

Kingston Daily Freeman - Kingston, NY, USA - The Culinary Institute of America has began a new series of podcasts with celebrity graduates, the first of which is now available for download.

The initial celebrity podcast - an internet audio file - is a 15-minute interview with Cat Cora, executive chef at Bon Appètit magazine and the first female Iron Chef on the popular Food Network program.

"Insight from the Inside" aims to give aspiring culinarians information about what it takes to become successful in the food service industry. The show is part of the ongoing series of podcasts from The Culinary Institute of America.

Cora graduated from the CIA in

Hispanic PR Wire (press release) - Miami, FL, USA - The 2007 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.

Authors will be on hand to participate in presentations, Q&A sessions and book signings. Maria Celeste’s first children’s book, “The Magic Cane” and Carmen Agra Deedy’s latest work, “Marina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folklore,” will also be available in both English and Spanish for

PR Newswire (press release) - New York, NY,USA - This has been quite a year for Chef Gavin Kaysen of El Bizcocho Restaurant at the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Fresh from competing at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or in France, an appearance on the "Today Show" and being named one of Food and Wine magazine's Best New Chefs for 2007, Kaysen has now been selected to compete on the Food Network's new reality series, "The Next Iron Chef."

The show is currently in production, and eight top American chefs will compete for the title of the next "Iron Chef." The other Iron Chefs are superstar chefs Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay and

Cleveland Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA - Acclaimed Cleveland chef-restaurateur Michael Symon could become the next Iron Chef.

Symon, a James Beard Foundation nominee and executive chef and managing partner of Lola and Lolita in Cleveland and Parea in New York, is one of eight noted chefs who will compete on "The Next Iron Chef," a new reality series, which premieres Oct. 7 at 9 p.m. on the Food Network.

The winner of that show will join the likes of Mario Batali, Cat Cora and Bobby Flay on the next season of "Iron Chef America," which pits celebrity chefs against newcomers in hour-long cooking competitions.

Scripps News - Washington, DC, USA - The Food Network is set to saute another season of its hit reality series "The Next Food Network Star" in June, when 11 contestants hit the road to cook for soldiers, basketball fans and others in the show's first traveling competition.

Season three of "The Next Food Network Star," starts June 3, at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT with a two-hour premiere followed by one-hour episodes each Sunday.

The finalists will battle outside of the cable network's New York studio for three of the nine episodes, with two stops in New Jersey and one in Miami, as they face challenges that test their culinary

PR Newswire (press release) - New York, NY, USA - The 2007 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Mrs. Laura Bush, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.

"This will be the seventh year of this extraordinary celebration of the joy of reading and the creativity of America's writers and illustrators," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "The National Book Festival brings authors and readers together to share the stories that touch

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pittsburgh, PA, USA - The way Cat Cora writes is a far cry from how she behaves on TV.

As the first and only female chef on Food Network's "Iron Chef America," Cora -- a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York state -- practices what she describes as "extreme cooking." "It's a ton of pressure," she says, "like a sporting event, right down to the very last second. It's really a show that people take seriously, but it's entertaining, too."

But extreme cooking is hardly reflected in the 39-year-old's two cookbooks, the latest of which is "Cooking From The Hip: Fast, Easy,

Idaho Mountain Express and Guide - Ketchum, ID, USA - The first Sun Valley Food & Wine Festival, at Ketchum locales and restaurants, featured cooking demonstrations by nationally known and local chefs, exclusive vintner dinners and a grand tasting event at the Elkhorn Golf Club.

The festival kicked off on Friday, June 8, with keynote speaker Jim Harrison at the nexStage Theatre in Ketchum and a well-attended reception catered by Ketchum's Ric Lum at 6 p.m..

In Harrison style, laid back and comfortable in his oversized chair, the acclaimed writer enlightened the audience to a few of his favorite and memorable dining moments, such as eating a 37-course meal in France. The