Kitchen adventures of a different kind

Last Christmas, I promised I would try to learn how to manage computers. My friends have been egging me on to get "computerized" and be part of the "techie" world. The year is almost over and I haven’t touched the key pad of any computer. I know everybody is going "techie" and almost all my friends have iPods and the latest "techie" toy in the business. I have remained my old antiquated self – I can’t e-mail, don’t know how to access or send one; don’t know what an iPod is and the only high tech gadget I can touch with my own hands are the cell phones.

Even then, with all the numerous features a high-end cell phone offers, I only use them for making and receiving calls. I don’t text. I find it a bit impersonal or perhaps, I don’t have the patience. I like hearing people’s voices and the nuances of conversation. Oh well. And when a friend says he will send e-mails to me, I tell him to send it to my office’s e-mail address. Thankfully, I have a bunch of young, vivacious staff who does all the "high-tech" things for me.

Last year, too, I told myself, I will try to visit the kitchen and learn how to cook. Nada. I have not done it yet. Maybe I am not made for the kitchen. However, that gave me an idea. Why not send my niece to the kitchen? Thus, my niece is going to don the toque and the chef’s uniform. I am sending her to the Center for Culinary Arts, the same school where dear Ai Ai de las Alas is enrolled in. Aside from the 10 gallon hat, the chef’s toque has always fascinated me. Why do chefs wear the toque? They seem like British royalty out to watch Prince Harry and Prince William play polo. It has a certain class.

And in the kitchen, chefs are royalty. Look at Cristeta Comerford. Doesn’t she feed the entire Bush family in the White house? Or Filipino chef Ron Bilaro who has done cooking for Oprah Winfrey and other millionaires in America. Chefs can be the powers behind the throne. Elvis Presley, it is said, used to gorge on peanut butter sandwiches and his chef would prepare for him layers and layers of peanut butter sandwich.

Cheffing has become fashionable. There are pretty faces in the kitchen. There are Leah Sison who owns N Restaurant, Melissa Sison of Mylk Restaurant, Heny Sison, and Reggie Aspiras, among others. Reggie is, aside from being a chef, a food writer and columnist, a specialized instructor and consultant. Recently, Reggie published a cookbook titled Kitchen Rescue, a compilation of the readers’ questions and her answers culled from her Kitchen Rescue column in another broadsheet. Kitchen Rescue is widely read as the readers love it for its collection of recipes from Reggie herself and some guest chefs. The book is filled with cooking tips and tricks, glossary of kitchen and food terms, directories, indexes, new recipes and articles on various topics – from how to keep your lettuce fresh down to tips on cooking the perfect fried chicken.

Kitchen Rescue is exclusively distributed by Emerald Headway Distributors and is available at all leading bookstores and magazine stands.

Confessions on a Dance Floor

The Diva is back. This time on the dance floor.

Madonna’s new album, Confessions On A Dance Floor, a Warner Bros. release, once again establishes Madonna’s preeminent place on the international club scene.

Featuring the debut single Hung Up, Confessions On A Dance Floor is, in the artist’s own words, "about having a good time straight through and non-stop. I want people to jump out of their seats."

A certified global superstar, packing stadiums worldwide with her astonishing stage spectacles, Madonna, a multi-Grammy winner, has made music history with international sales of over 200 million albums. Her enormous influence has spanned 33 No.1 dance hits; five chart-topping albums and 46 Top 40 singles and 20 MTV Video Music Awards.

Recorded earlier this year in London, the album was primarily co-produced and co-written by Madonna and Stuart Price. Also known as Les Rythmes Digitales and Jaques Le Cont, Price is one of the UK’s most electrifying young DJs and remix wizards, who initially forged a creative partnership with Madonna as her musical director on both the 2001 Drowned World and 2003’s Reinvention tours.

A cultural innovator of astonishing diversity and enduring appeal, Madonna has defined our era with her sound, style and vision that have inspired countless artists and fans around the globe. In the process, she has pioneered a new model of creative empowerment, overseeing a multi-faceted career that encompasses virtually every aspect of contemporary culture.