Rice has always been the staple food in Filipino cuisine, but until recently, plain and fried were the only varieties we knew. It was only a few years ago that we started playing around with rice recipes such as java, garlic, chili, and Chinese. But what seems to be a hit among Filipinos is rice toppings, wherein meat and vegetable dishes are served on top of a box of rice. It’s the same old Filipino food, but packed in a light, convenient way. You’ve probably seen them in malls, sidewalks, and school cafeterias.

But although they come in handy on busy days, they’re often overpriced, especially considering that you can do them yourself at home. That’s right-you don’t have to run to the mall whenever you’re craving. What’s more, there are no long lines and you can mix and match toppings as you please. Here are some Filipino food recipes that make excellent rice toppings.

Chicken Curry

It’s more Indian than Filipino, but it fits in perfectly with other Filipino cooking recipes. Curry blends well with rice because of its strong flavors. Use it on plain white rice-flavored varieties will wash out the taste of the curry.

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken meat, diced

1 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp curry powder

1 small onion, chopped

½ tsp powdered ginger

¾ cup flour

¾ cup butter

2 ½ cups milk

garlic to taste

Procedure: In, melt the butter and sauté the ginger, garlic, onion, and curry powder. Set on low heat and let stand for about 1 minute. Add in the broth and milk and stir until the soup is thick. Stir in the chicken and cook until the chicken is done. Serve over white rice.

Stir-fried Beef Teriyaki

Filipinos love teriyaki dishes because of their distinct Asian flavor. They make excellent rice toppings because they’re easy to cook and personalize-you can make them all-meat, all-veggie, or a mix of the two like most Filipino recipes. This recipe can be prepared in advance, perfect for those hectic weekdays.

Ingredients:

½ kg beef round, cut into strips

3 tbsps teriyaki sauce

2 tsps cornstarch

2 bell peppers, cut into strips

6 spring onions, thinly sliced

4 tsps vegetable oil

Procedure: In a bowl, mix together the cornstarch, teriyaki sauce, and half of the vegetable oil. Stir in the beef and refrigerate for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, stir-fry the onions and bell peppers in the remaining oil for about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan, then stir-fry the marinated beef for another 3 minutes. Stir in the vegetables and cook until the beef is done.

Honey Lemon Chicken

This tasty topping provides a good contrast to wild and flavored rice, especially the Chinese and garlic varieties. It also goes well with cold Filipino desserts recipes and salads. The dish is fairly easy to prepare; you can have it ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

4 pcs skinless chicken breasts, chopped

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup butter, melted

2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp seasoning

Procedure: Preheat oven to 325oF. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish with the bone side facing down. Sprinkle with seasoning. Set aside. Mix the honey and hot water, then add the butter and lemon juice. Pour over the chicken breasts and cover with foil. Bake until the chicken is just done. Remove the cover and baste with the remaining sauce. Continue cooking until the chicken is browned, basting occasionally to add flavor.

Sweet and Sour Pork

A favorite viand among Filipinos, sweet and sour pork is a perfect complement to almost any rice variety. It’s great for kids as it offers a nice blend of flavors and a balance of meat and vegetables.

Ingredients:

¾ kg pork loin, deboned and sliced into bite-size pieces

2 ½ c pineapple chunks (reserve juice)

1 tbsp soy sauce

¼ c vinegar

¼ c packed brown sugar

½ c onion slices

1 pc green onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp cornstarch

½ tsp salt

¾ c water

Procedure: sauté the pork in vegetable oil until it turns light brown. In a bowl, combine the water, pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, salt and sugar. Mix until well dissolved. Pour over the pork andlet it simmer until the meat is soft. Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water, then add to the pork. Turn down the heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Stir in the pineapple chunks, pepper and onions. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then serve over rice.

Could a horse trainer, born about 154 years ago, teach us anything new today? Would the methods be old hat or would they be useful?

The answer is a resounding Yes!, they are enormously useful.

The horse training expert referred to is named Jesse Beery. Beery was a world famous horse trainer from the late 1800’s who possessed amazing ability with horses.

Fortunately, Beery’s secrets remain after all these years. His information can be found in his book he wrote in the late 1800’s. However, very few copies of his book exist. It is virtually impossible to find an original – much less one that is readable.

Here is a partial reading from the first chapter of Beery’s book:

Fear is the principal motive which causes the colt to resist training. It is natural for him to kick against an unknown object at his heels, to pull his head out of the halter as from a trap, and if of a bad disposition, to strike and bite if he does not thoroughly understand you.

His fear is governed by his sense of touch, sight and hearing; and it is through these senses we obtain a mastery, and at the same time remove his fears of the halter, the robe, the harness and the wagon. These are the fixed laws which govern the actions of all horses, and the training of a colt is merely teaching him not to fear the working apparatus, but to respect his master, and to obey his commands as soon as he has learned their meaning.

Each one of these senses must be educated before the colt is trained. A colt’s education may be compared with that of a child to a great extent. A horse’s reasoning powers are limited to his past experience. So we must reason with him by acts alone. Hence the importance of beginning every step with the colt right; for by our acts he learns.

The successful school-master aims first to teach the child to have confidence in him. Hence the first lesson we give the colt is simply to teach it to have confidence in us and that we are its best friend and don’t intend to hurt it.

The book continues with the first lesson a colt is to have which is

“How to gain a colt’s confidence.”

Fortunately, horse trainer Andy Curry discovered a legible copy and made it available for horse owners who want to learn this incredible information.

Andy Curry encourages responsible horse owners to check into Jesse Beery’s book and learn what it has to teach.

Dad had a butchery in a small village and as a small girl I used to watch my mother make brawn. She used to cook ox trotters for hours in a huge pot on the old wood burning stove. When so soft that the bones were quite clean, she took the soft mass of meat and sinews, chopped them up and mixed it with the clear stock left in the pot. This magically became a stiff jelly in the fridge.

As a young mother I watched her make brawn for church bazaars while trying to keep my two active youngsters out of trouble. Now, many years after her death, I cook for myself only and I try to imitate the taste of the brawn she used to make, for the exact recipe was never written down. Nor is it now as few people still make it.

Brawn is so quick and simple when prepared in a pressure cooker and I have found that it is a really nice standby to have in the house.

You will need:

• 1kg well cleaned ox trotters. (I buy it frozen at the supermarket butcher
• Enough water to cover the trotters in a pressure cooker
• Salt and pepper
• 1 – 2 Tablespoons vinegar for every liter of water

I remember my mother’s brawn had a slightly sour tang and I read that vinegar leaches calcium from bones. Ma was born in 1903 and her mother 25 years before that. Now where did housewives in the 19th Century learn about this?

Method:

• Cook the brawn in a pressure cooker for about 11/2 – 2 hours
• Let it cool of with the lid on until the contents are just cool enough to handle
• Strain and remove the bones
• Chop up the very soft solids and put it back into the stocktaste
• and add more salt if required Pour into containers of your choice.
• Mine goes into the fridge in an oblong Pyrex dish covered with foil.

When set there is a thin layer of soft fat on top that can easily be scraped off before serving. It does not freeze well.

Seasonings can vary and nowadays I add an onion stuck with a clove, a few peppercorns, some herbs such as thyme and a sprig of rosemary for some subtle extra flavor. I use only ox trotters and not beef shin as well as my mother used to do when she made brawn for church bazaars. I prefer the clear jelly and soft textured residue that came off the bones as she used to make it in my early childhood.

Sometimes brawn that contains curried meat as well is set into loaf shapes and thinly sliced for serving. Others might prefer to add squares of sliced ham or other cold cuts, chopped hardboiled egg with finely chopped parsley, small cubes of multi colored cooked vegetables such as beet root and pickled gherkins or carrots and peas.

Personally I hanker after the taste of early childhood when I tasted what my mother must have tasted in her childhood home on the family farm, as she watched her own mother make brawn. Maybe the vinegar was also used as a preservative in those days before refrigeration hence the tangy taste of Ma’s brawn?

Enjoy!

This is a traditional Gujrati recipe. It’s very easy to prepare and very healthy too.

DAPKA KADHI RECIPE

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE KADHI

2 tablespoons Bengal gram flour (besan)

2 cups fresh curds

1 teaspoon green chilli ginger paste

2 curry leaves

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons chopped coriander

Salt to taste

FOR THE TEMPERING

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

A pinch asafetida (hing)

1 red chilli, broken into pieces

2 teaspoon ghee

FOR THE DAPKAS

1 cup split yellow gram (Yellow moong dal)

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon green chilli – ginger paste

1/2 teaspoon sugar

A pinch soda bi carb

Salt to taste

Let’s check out the recipe for Dapka Kadhi!

The ingredients to make this are whisked curd, curry leaves, mustard seeds, finely chopped coriander leaves, asafetida, little bit of Soda bi carbonate, ginger-chilli paste, sugar as per taste and dry red chillies.

Then we have, clarified butter as well as oil.

We got Bengal gram flour, and we also got split yellow grams, which we have already prepared (cooked).

We’ll also require some cumin seeds and red chilli powder.

TEMPERING:

First we will pour some oil into a frying pan and add a little bit of clarified butter as well.

We’ll proceed with the spices when the butter heats up. In the meantime, let’s create the Dapka Mixture.

DAPKA MIXTURE

Take cooked split yellow grams in a bowl.

Then add in ginger garlic paste and salt as per taste.

Put in some sugar and soda.

We have to whip this mixture well.

TEMPERING:

Add mustard and cumin seeds into the pan after it heats up.

Add curry leaves and dry red chilli after mustard seeds splutter.

CURD MIXTURE:

Next, we need to mix Bengal gram flour with curd.

TEMPERING:

Add a little bit of asafetida into the pan.

Pour the curd mixture into the pan.

Add a little bit of water.

We need to cook it till it thickens.

MAKING THE DAPKAS

We need to make small lumps of cooked yellow grams and immerse it into the pan mixture.

We need to serve it when it’s cooked properly and the lumps rise to surface.

The yellow gram lumps are called as dapkas. These have cooked and risen to the surface, and this indicates that our recipe is ready.

We’ll sprinkle coriander leaves and then serve.

Serve it alongside rice and a piece of papad (Lentil wafer).

Mayonnaise is such a versatile condiment that tastes great and works with many types of foods. Mayonnaise is made up mainly of eggs and has a thick consistency that works for anyone.

• Coleslaw is the most famous side dish and snack that contains mayonnaise. The dish consists of cabbage and carrots shredded to make thin pieces. What makes this dish delicious is how the mayonnaise complements the vegetables without giving the dish an overpowering taste.
• Chicken and Tuna Mayo is a sandwich that, believe or not, is not entirely unhealthy. Instead of having condiments that contain many unhealthy preservatives, you have mayonnaise which doesn’t contain as many flavourings and added ingredients.
• Devilled Eggs taste amazing if you are a person who has the taste buds for this snack. The eggs are boiled until it is hard. They are then cut in half and have the yolk removed and placed into a bowl. Mayonnaise and curry powder is then added to the egg yolk and mixed together until smooth. Using a piping tool, you can refill the egg whites and add paprika as a garnish.
• Egg sandwiches are great for people who don’t enjoy eating meat. This is such an easy snack that children could prepare it (provided an adult is supervising). For the egg fill you first need to cook the egg as if making scrambled eggs. Once it is cool, you add mayonnaise and mix it well then add it to the toasted bread. Toasted bread is more stable and doesn’t absorb liquids as quickly.
• You can also use mayonnaise to complement the snack you brought with to work. To spice it up a bit and allow yourself extra flavours, why not add a bit of curry powder to it? You can then dip your favourite (or least favourite) snack into the sauce. If you don’t enjoy curry powder, other possible spices or ingredients to add to your dip would be paprika, chilli slices, cucumber, melted cheese (which will need a bit more preparation), or your favourite bell pepper. If you use spices a lot you may want to get them in bulk from a cash and carry wholesaler.
• Other traditional side dishes and snacks also include mayonnaise. Some people will make pasta salad that gives them their daily intake of carbohydrates. To make this you first need to cook the pasta according the packet instructions, and then add the mayonnaise, salt and pepper. This is a simple dish that can taste good without being over filling.

Molecular gastronomy is the process of using science and chemistry to prepare food. It’s a modern movement of cooking that often changes the physical makeup of cuisine by using ultra creativity to come up with completely new and often abstract dishes and flavors. I recently had the opportunity to enjoy a Thai fusion meal where a molecular gastronomy chef cooked up a series of fusion Thai dishes for us to sample. Our meal, which was served in courses dish by dish, was a creative modern take on Thai cuisine.

We started off with a tom yum shrimp cocktail. Now as you probably know, tom yum shrimp is one of Thailand’s most famous soups, but serving it as a cocktail beverage, laced with alcohol, is a completely different twist to the dish (now drink). Just like a normal bowl of tom yum soup, the cocktail was full of lime juice, but that’s where the similarities ended. The cocktail included a splash of gin, soup stock, and for the shrimp, rather than being added to the cocktail, it was grilled on a bamboo skewer and used as the mixing stick for the beverage. The chef instructed us to give the drink a whirling stir with the shrimp skewer, eat the shrimp in a single bite, and then sip down the cocktail as we pleased. While it indeed reminded me of any Thai tom yum soup, it was so contrastingly different at the same time.

After the cocktail, we had foie gras red curry. The foie gras, being typical of French cuisine, while the curry flavors and spices were influenced from Thai food. This was a fusion Thai dish, meaning ingredients were definitely not typical of traditional Thai food but a merger of two different cuisines. The creamy foie gras paired with the spicy flavors of typical Thai food, and a lovely hint of basil, made the dish rich and melt in your mouth. Again, it was an idea and mingling of flavors that I had never experienced before, and it was extremely delightful.

To round out the main courses we then had green curry. But instead of being served temperature hot as a normal Thai curry, the chef decided to completely change the makeup of the dish by serving it frozen. After the blend of green curry was cooked with coconut milk and reduced so the flavors were condensed, it was then flash frozen into a thin bowl like structure. The green curry had to be eaten quickly to maintain the modern molecular composition, so it would still be frozen solid when eating. The result was very interesting yet again. When I closed my eyes, I tasted all the normal components of a Thai green curry, yet there was a slight crunch from the frozenness, and the creamy cold sensation was more similar to a creamsicle than a plate of green curry and rice. It sort of reminded me of eating an Indian kulfi, an ice cream that’s made with thick cream and flavored with cardamom, but instead of cream it was coconut milk and instead of cardamom it was the range of spices in the green curry paste that created the attractive flavor.

Finally for dessert we ended things with mango sticky rice, which is one of Thailand’s most well known and loved sweets. But while a normal mango sticky rice is a pile of sweet coconut sticky rice paired with a slab of perfectly ripened mango, this was a foamy dessert that looked like a pile of soap suds. In this example of Thai molecular gastronomy, the chef completely changed the physical structure and appearance while maintaining a surprisingly similar flavor. Each bite of the light bubbles produced a mango and powerful rice flavor in my mouth.

While I wouldn’t want to eat Thai food that’s been altered molecularly too often, it was a really fun treat. I was amazed at both the creativity, the precise cooking, and the thought behind the display of all the dishes. Also, it was incredible how the dishes looked absolutely nothing like they normally do, yet after tasting them, I could undoubtedly detect the dish it represented or was inspired by.

A New Recipe Is Always Exciting

When I began Culinary School and started the cooking classes I was nervous and excited about trying new things. In our Intro To Foods class when we were in the kitchen we would be given beef, chicken, fish or another cut of meat and had to build a meal around it without recipes. Needless to say you had to really think about what you knew about food and the flavors that would compliment each other. How you would present your dish on the plate (presentation and flavor was key). It was always exciting to create a new recipe and then to be able to play around with it to make it better. I still play around with recipes in my kitchen so, today I will share one with you.

Follow The Recipe

If you’re extremely comfortable in your kitchen with mixing flavors and techniques you don’t have to follow the recipe exactly except the order in which ingredients are added. If you are still learning then the first time you are trying something new follow the recipe and then play with it the next time if you would like a different flavor profile. I like to add a Bourbon Glaze to my steaks and I’ve changed it up each time I have made it until I found the flavor profile that my palette enjoys the most.

A Recipe For You To Try

To make the following recipe you will need to have an acquired taste for curry. This is an Indian Chicken Curry dish that my son and I can eat morning, noon and night.

Curry Chicken with Golden Raisins Recipe

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of butter

8 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts (you can substitute thighs if you prefer dark meat), cut into bite size pieces

1 yellow onion diced

3 teaspoons turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons curry powder (you can add more if you like a strong curry flavor)

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups plain greek yogurt

3/4 cup golden raisins

1 cup chicken stock (I make mine from chicken base)

1 tomato chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons toasted coconut

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare rice as directed and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a heavy-based pan and saute chicken and diced onions, until onions are translucent.

3.Stir in turmeric, cinnamon, curry, add rice and season with salt and pepper, saute for 3-4 minutes.

4. Add yogurt, golden raisins and chicken stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Stir in diced tomatoes and parsley. Place in serving dish and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

FYI: To make toasted coconut place shredded coconut on a cookie sheet and place under broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minutes. Just until lightly browned.

One More Recipe:

Pineapple Bourbon Glaze

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water

8 ounces fresh pineapple juice (can use canned, fresh is better)

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

3 tablespoons Jack Daniels whiskey (can use a different brand)

1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper

Directions:

1. In a heavy-based sauce pan add water, pineapple juice, soy sauce and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

2. Add remaining ingredients to pan and stir. Let simmer for 45-50 minutes or until glaze has reduced by 1/3 to 1/2. Simmer glazed uncovered on medium-low heat until thickened.

Spoon glaze over your favorite steak. This glaze will work on many of your favorite meats. This glaze with can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Try these new recipes out and enjoy.

One of my favorite recipe is “Curry Chicken.” This dish is full of flavors, with minimal time spent in the kitchen.

I first tried this recipe while on the island of Jamaica, over 25 years ago and I’ve continued to enjoy it since then. Most Jamaicans are quite fond of spicy foods, so they tend to use the curry that has a little pepper already mixed into it, and they add a few pieces of hot chili peppers, or scotch bonnet peppers, to the chicken to increase the spicy taste. But the recipe I’ll share with you will be on the mild side, allowing you to enjoy as is, or you may wish to add hot peppers to it.

It is important to note that the curry will leave a stain on some surfaces such as plastic and cloth. To remove the stain add a little bleach at the time of washing and allow to soak for 10-15 minutes before washing and rinsing.

With that being said, let’s get going with this great meal!

Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 chicken thighs

1 1/2 tsp McCormick curry powder

1 small onion chopped into small pieces

1 scallion cut into small pieces

2 cloves garlic cut into small pieces

2 -3 pieces of fresh thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp buttery spread

salt and black pepper

1/4 cup lemon juice

Preparation:

• Remove skin and bone from thighs, then cut into three pieces, lengthwise, and rinse.
• Add just enough water to cover chicken, add lemon juice, and let stand for 5-8 minutes, then drain.
• Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and McCormick curry powder. Use a spoon to mix the seasoning and chicken together, then cover and place in refrigerator.
• Place saucepan over medium heat, and add oil and buttery spread.
• Add garlic, onion, and scallion, to the saucepan, and let this cook for 2 minutes.
• Add chicken, 1/2 cup water, fresh thyme, and bring to a boil.
• Cover, and cook over low to medium heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the liquid isn’t too low, and the content isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Adjust the heat setting to low when most of the liquid is gone, and keep the saucepan uncovered, as you frequently, but gently stir the chicken.
• The chicken is ready when a thin, buttery gravy is formed.
• Spoon over warm rice and enjoy with a side of veggies.

Losing Hair? Generally, baldness was associated with old age, but today, even young people are affected by it due to bad lifestyle choices, improper nutrition intake, lifestyle stress, hormonal imbalance and environmental pollution etc. All age group individuals deal with this embarrassing issue. There are many effective ways to enhance the growth of hair but the best method is by natural or herbal remedies which have no side effects. So follow below remedies for effective hair gain.

Onion Juice- Onion juice contains a high amount of sulfur which helps in circulation of blood to the hair follicles and regenerates the growth of new hair follicles. It has antimicrobial properties that kill germs and parasites, and treat scalp infections that can cause hair loss. Extract the juice of onion by grating it. Massage the scalp by extracted onion juice properly. Leave it for 20-30 minutes. Then wash it with herbal or mild chemical based shampoo.

Hair Oil Massage- Oiling improves the blood circulation and nourishes the roots. Oil can moisturize and stimulates the growth of new hair. Proper hair and scalp massage by oil improve the blood flow to the hair follicles and enhance the strength of hair’s root. You can use any oil for massage such as coconut oil, olive oil, herbs blended oil, take onto your hair and scalp by applying light pressure with your fingertips. Massage your scalp regularly with oil to promote circulation and keep the scalp nourished with nutrients. Do this at least 2-3 times in a week.

Hair Mask- Hair mask is the mixer of various ingredients that support the growth of hair. Hair mask promotes the smoothness of hair, relieve irritation and itchiness. It also provides deep nourishment. Hair mask strengthen hair from root to tip, eliminate dandruff, and prevent hair loss. Take 1 banana, 1 whole egg, 1 teaspoon of Aloe Vera gel and make a smooth paste and into it add the half teaspoon of olive oil, mix it well. Then apply this paste of hair, leave it for 30-45 minutes. Wash off with normal water. For best results, use this pack twice a week.

Neem Leaves- Neem is well known for its medicinal properties, it is an effective herb to treat hair loss problem among the age. Due to its antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties, neem is an amazing herb that treats dandruff issue which is the major cause of hair fall. It helps the hair root to become stronger and also encourages hair growth. Boil the neem leaves and grind it properly. Apply the paste on your scalp and then leave it for 30-45 minutes. Wash it with normal water. Repeat this process twice in a week.

Curry Leaves- Curry leaves contain various essential nutrients such as amino acid and antioxidants which are capable of reducing hair fall and helps in stimulating hair regrowth. It helps in preventing the hair strands which means it provides strengthening to the hair follicles. Curry leaves are also a rich source of beta-carotene and it limits hair loss and prevents hair thinning. You can include in the diet or you can use it as a hair mask. Take 1 handful curry leaves and makes the fine paste. Apply the paste on your scalp and then leave it for 30 minutes. Wash it with normal water. Try to follow this procedure twice a week for the better result.

To solve your hair problem try to follow them, follow some of above explain natural remedies. Also, following a proper diet will keep your hair healthy and strong. So, eat fresh green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits as much as possible for hair as well as for overall health.

Podcasting is the newest craze on the internet and it continues to expand on a daily basis. Former MTV host Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer are credited with developing podcasting. Curry wrote a program called iPodder which allowed him to automatically download internet radio broadcasts to his iPod and Winer was instrumental in promoting RSS. (Really Simple Syndication).

What is RSS? RSS allows people the ability to subscribe to their favorite blog or podcast and the information can be automatically downloaded to their computer. Subsequently, Curry and Winer devised a way to send audio files through RSS feeds.

The term Podcasting comes from "iPod" and "Broadcasting". However, you don't need an iPod in order to record or listen to a podcast. Anyone with a computer or mp3 player can listen to a podcast.

From radio talk show hosts Al Franken to Rush Limbaugh, traditional radio is embracing podcasting. In addition, talk show host Sean Hannity and NPR (National Public Radio) are offering their shows in the form of a podcast.

Television is also welcoming podcasting. ABC News, CBS "60 Minutes", TV Guide and Ebert / Roeper Movie Reviews are all available through podcasts.

What is Podcasting? Podcasting is an audio file that you create on your computer and then upload it to the internet so other people can hear it. All you need is a computer, microphone and voice-editing program.

Anyone can podcast. It is perfect for women, men, students, work-at-home-Moms and seniors. If you have something to say, podcasting is a great way to accomplish this goal.

Do you have a favorite hobby that you would like to share with others? Are you a business owner who would like to increase customers? Have you ever dreamed of being your own talk show host or disc jockey? With podcasting, all of the above things are possible.

You could have your very own podcast up and running today.

What do you need?

1. A Microphone

You will need a microphone for your computer so that you can record your show. You can purchase a decent microphone at any computer store or Radio Shack. ( http://www.radioshack.com ).

2. A Voice-Editing Program

Voice-editing programs allow you to record and edit your show. There are two free programs on the internet that you can use.
(a) Wavepad: ( http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad )

(b) Audacity: ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net )

3. Upload Show to Website or Hosting Company

After your show is recorded, you will need to upload it to the internet. You can either put it on your website or you can use one of the many hosting companies. Podblaze.com ( http://www.podblaze.com ) is one company where you can host your podcast.

As you can see, podcasting is very easy to start. We are at the beginning of this roller coaster ride that will hit astronomical proportions as time goes on.

The only way to decide if podcasting is for you is to start. Take the first step and see how you like it.