Starting at 10 am each Saturday in March, KLRU Create offers viewers themed programming to get you started on various projects. KLRU Create is on channel 18.2 over the air.

March 5                Let the Good Times Roll
In honor of the biggest party on the bayou, “Laissez Les Bons Temps Roule” – Let the Good Times Roll!  We’re celebrating Mardi Gras, with chefs Steve Raichlen, John Folse, Paul Prudhomme and John Shields.  They will be preparing the finest seafood and Cajun dishes just in time for Fat Tuesday!

March 12                Top O’ the Morning
Today everyone is Irish and we are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.  Rick Steves, Rudy Maxa and Burt Wolf are your Emerald Isle tour guides.  Even Irish folksinger, Tommy Makem, gets in on the exploration; visiting churches, pubs and castles in Ireland.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 19               Spring is in the Air
The weather is getting warmer and everything is emerging from winter’s deep freeze.  Whether you celebrate Passover or Easter, Burt Wolf will be in the mix of the festivities.  P. Allen Smith has flowers, flowers and more flowers to usher in spring.  Join Katie Brown as she prepares an unforgettable spring brunch.  Spring has sprung!

March 26               California Dreamin’
This trip to the West Coast, is a dream come true!  Hop a trolley in San Francisco and sip wine in Napa with Burt Wolf.  Joseph Rosendo takes us far from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, to other parts of Los Angeles for an unexpected good time.  Venture off to the beautiful island of Catalina with Doug McConnell.  Eureka, it’s California!

Saturday Marathons are as follows:
December 4: The Gift of Giving
The old adage states,”it is better to give, than to receive”. With the holiday season approaching quickly take notes from our gift specialist Katie Brown. Do a little shopping with world travelers Burt Wolf and Rudy Maxa, they will take you to the finest holiday markets and the shopping Mecca of the world. Next, we will be celebrating the Festival of Lights. Chris Fennimore and Todd English will give you the full flavor of the holiday.

December 11 Tourist for a Day
Grab your passport and be a Tourist for a Day! Travel to some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations in Africa, Europe and North America. Join world trekkers Rick Steves, Burt Wolf and Rudy Maxa as they visit superstructures, wondrous destinations and ancient works of art.

December 18 Joy to the World
Join us as we celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa with help from some of our favorite Create friends. With traditions of the holidays provided by travel expert and cultural historian Burt Wolf, and holiday recipes from Lidia Bastianich, Katie Brown and Chris Fennimore, you’ll be celebrating the season with warmth and good cheer. Even some Christmas snow will be provided by painter Bob Ross, for holiday “atmosphere.”

December 25 Countdown to the New Year
Throw your own New Year’s Eve bash and invite everyone you know! You’ll get tips on hosting a terrific party with great entertaining menus from the kitchens of Daisy Martinez, Christina Pierello and Hubert Keller There will be decorating ideas from Katie Brown and Rudy Maxa will be supplying champagne from France to ring in the New Year with style! Raise your glass of bubbly and toast to 2011!

November 6: Branching Out
Spend your day creating a masterpiece for your home, from a tree. Get your table saw and join the “Woodsmiths” at their shop as they chop it up. The end result may be a cabinet, a beautiful table or an elegant wet bar for the kitchen.

November 13: A Brief History of Food (with Burt Wolf)
There is little about our favorite subject that is unknown to food and cultural historian Burt Wolf. Today on Create, as he travels through the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the U.S., Wolf tells us the stories of chocolate, wine, sugar, chili peppers, livestock, cheese, coffee, corn, the potato, the tomato….and beyond. So tune in to Create, and get “the 411″ on food from the past to the present and around the world!

November 20: Turkey Time
It’s that time of year again … Turkey time! The family is coming over
for a feast, and you’ll be ready with the help of master chefs, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Style experts Katie Brown and Christy Rost will be here offering tips to bring a festive look to your dinner table. This Thanksgiving dinner, with all the bells and whistles, will be talked about for years to come!

November 27: Around the World in a Day
The fearless Globe Trekker team is at it again! Ian Wright, Justine Shapiro, and Megan McCormick will keep the pages in your passport filled as we go continent hopping – from Africa to Asia and then Central America. Ancient cultures and the human spirit are all yours to experience and treasure when you go globe trekking!

Saturdays (starting October 10th):
9:00 am Fons & Porter Love of Quilting
9:30 am Quilting Arts

Tuesdays (starting October 13th):
8:30 am Knitting Daily
9:00 am Fons & Porter Love of Quilting

Thursdays (starting October 15th):
8:30 am Beads, Baubles & Jewels
9:00 am America Sews

Sewing with Nancy is already part of the KLRU Create schedule and is featured Mondays & Fridays at 11 a.m.; 5 p.m.; and 11 p.m.

In other crafting news, Scrapbook Memories is now being featured on KLRU-Q (18-3) at 8 a.m. on Saturdays.

Michael Chiarello’s Napa was first featured by KLRU in 2001.  So many of you might remember seeing young Chiarello before he went over to the Food Network.

If you are interested in seeing Hubert Keller cook, you can watch his series, HUBERT KELLER:  SECRETS OF A CHEF on KLRU Create, Digital Channel 18-2 on Sundays at 1 pm and 7 pm.  Chef Keller presents the current culinary rage in France called verrine, or serving foods in different shaped glasses. It’s both practical and beautiful, allowing guests to easily carry their food at a gathering. He’s making everything from salad to dessert and serving them up in some pretty spectacular presentations.

I thought Hubert had a great chance of winning the Top Chef Masters especially after watching him win the first challenge making all of his great food in a college dorm room.  And each week, he did a masterful job of staying in the competition.

And what can I say about the winner, Rick Bayless.  It was great seeing him win the challenge.  In fact, my sister and I were jumping for joy when he was announced the winner of this competition on Top Chef Masters.  And the other great thing that I can tell you is that Rick Bayless will be back with new programs on KLRU at 3 pm starting on September 12th.  MEXICO – ONE PLATE AT A TIME WITH RICK BAYLESS brings to life the foods, flavors, stories, diversity, depth and fun of Mexico. In each episode, beloved chef, restaurateur, author, teacher and culinary adventurer Rick Bayless effortlessly tosses together cooking demonstrations, cultural musings, visits to exotic locations, ideas for home entertaining and a generous helping of off-the-wall surprises.

This season, Rick embarks on his greatest food adventure to date: an insider’s tour of Mexico City, a food metropolis bursting with traditional foods and flavors and cutting-edge eateries. All season long, Rick takes a fresh look at 13 iconic Mexican dishes – from tacos and enchiladas to chiles rellenos and carnitas- by diving into Mexico City’s mouthwatering market stalls, hidden-treasure taco stands and restaurant dining rooms ranging from rustic-elegant to urban hip. Back in his home kitchen, Rick re-creates those classic dishes in everything from easy, casual dinners to full-blown parties. Rick also takes viewers behind the scenes at his world-renowned restaurants in Chicago, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, to show how he and his chefs reinvent classic Mexican dishes in fresh new ways.  Again, this new series will begin on Saturday, September 12th at 3 pm on KLRU.

And there are more Master Chefs coming to KLRU starting this September.  Eric Ripert and Lidia Bastianich bring their style of cooking to your home.

AVEC ERIC provides an insider’s view of the professional life and lifestyle of master chef Eric Ripert. The Michelin three-star chef and co-author of On the Line teaches viewers how to achieve elegant simplicity at home and elevate their food experiences. The 10-part series goes behind-the-scenes at Ripert’s famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin, one of the most heralded kitchens in the United States, to showcase the inner workings of a high-end seafood restaurant. Learn what it takes to deliver fresh fish to a restaurant located in a 60-story Manhattan skyscraper, fillet 15 black bass in a minute, pair olive oils with different kinds of fish and create the perfect sauce. Each episode is a journey from the restaurant to the source of Ripert’s inspiration. Ripert explores the people, places, cultures and ingredients that influence his signature dishes. He visits Hog Island Sustainable Oyster Farm in Sonoma, Calif., Stone Barns along the Hudson in upstate New York, olive groves in Chianti, Italy, and much more.

Join super chef Eric Ripert as he takes us inside his world of big flavors. First, we get an inside look at, and introduction to, the legendary saucier at Le Bernardin, as he goes about developing the subtle flavors necessary for the myriad sauces used in the restaurant every day. Eric then travels to the beautiful Villa Bordoni in the Chianti region of Tuscany. But this is no luxury visit for our chef, as we join him on a wild boar [cinghiale] hunt during a torrential thunder storm. All ends up deliciously safe and sated in the Villa’s kitchen, then dining room, as we savor the delights of pappardelle with cinghiale ragu. Back home in his own kitchen, Eric teaches us how to prepare perfect roasted pork loin with wild mushrooms and garlic and sage pan jus.  AVEC ERIC will air on KLRU on Saturdays at 2 pm starting September 12th.

LIDIA’S ITALY celebrates the land Lidia Bastianich calls home. In her new series, Lidia journeys throughout Italy to sample and prepare local specialties from Rome, Naples, Padua, Sicily, Trieste and Istria. Back in her kitchen in the United States, the warm and engaging host demonstrates two or three recipes she encountered during her travels. Throughout the series, friends and family often join Lidia in the kitchen. Her daughter Tanya introduces some of Lidia’s favorite hidden cultural treasures, while her son Joseph frequently stops by to discuss regional wines. Her new series starts on KLRU on Saturday, September 5th at 2:30 pm.

So look to KLRU and KLRU Create to watch the Master Chefs — Rick Bayless, Eric Ripert, Lidia Bastianich and Hubert Keller.

— Maria Rodriguez, KLRU’s Senior Vice President of Programming