Celebrity Chefs to Give Live Cooking Demonstrations at Los Angeles County Fair

    LOS ANGELES, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrity chefs Sandra Lee and George
 Geary will prepare some of their signature dishes during live cooking
 demonstrations at one of Southern California's most popular culinary
 classrooms: a kitchen sponsored by Southern California Gas Company (The Gas
 Company) at the Los Angeles County Fair.  The 80th annual fair, the largest
 county fair in North America, will be held Sept. 13-29 at Fairplex in Pomona.
     Sandra Lee, a Lifestylist(R) and author with an international following,
 is the founder of the Semi-Homemade(C) approach to home cooking, decorating,
 gardening, entertaining, beauty and fashion.  Her cooking demonstration at The
 Gas Company Kitchen, "Cooking the Short-Cut Way," will feature recipes from
 her upcoming book, "Semi-Homemade Cooking -- Quick Marvelous Meals and Nothing
 is Made From Scratch," to be published by Miramax Books in October 2002.
 Praised by super chef Wolfgang Puck for "astonishing" results from everyday
 ingredients, "Semi-Homemade Cooking" offers 101 recipes for quick, gourmet-
 tasting dishes.
     George Geary CCP, Corporate Chef for Driscolls Berries and former pastry
 chef for the Walt Disney Co., has authored "The Best 125 Cheesecake Recipes"
 and appears on local and national television shows.  He will perform a variety
 of demonstrations at The Gas Company Kitchen.  Many of these demonstrations,
 dubbed "Cooking with a Winner," bring the cooking contest winners of last
 year's fair back on stage to create their winning recipes.
     The kitchen will host several other demonstrations, including Asian
 cooking, Italian cooking, jams and jellies, cooking with herbs and "killer
 caramel apples."
     "We are excited at the expertise and diversity of the cooking
 demonstrations, which offer fresh culinary ideas that people can use at home,"
 said Anne Smith, vice president of customer service, mass markets, for Sempra
 Energy Utilities -- The Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric.  "For years,
 the chefs at The Gas Company Kitchen have thrilled cooking enthusiasts by
 preparing fabulous food before their eyes."
     The Gas Company Kitchen is also the venue for some of the most memorable
 competitions at the L.A. County Fair -- such as Driscoll's Berry Dessert
 contest, the Nestle contest, and other contests for tamales, salsa, cake
 decorating, cheesecake, and jams and jellies.  The traditional favorite is the
 SPAM(R) contest, which always brings out creative casseroles and stews using
 SPAM(R).
     The complete schedule of events is posted on The Gas Company's Web site at
 www.socalgas.com .
     The Gas Company is sponsoring the Tapestry of Tradition, which showcases
 The Gas Company Kitchen, as well as many other exhibits that feature crafts,
 clothes, stained glass, ceramics, dolls and quilts.  At the kitchen, The Gas
 Company will provide information on how customers can save money through
 energy efficiency, and also through bill-payment assistance for low-income
 customers.
     Weekday admission to the fair is $10 for adults and $5 for children
 (ages 6-12); weekend admission is $12 and $6.  Children under age 6 are free.
 The hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight
 on Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
     For more information on the fair, visit www.lacountyfair.com on the Web.
 
     The Gas Company is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility,
 serving 18 million consumers through 5.1 million meters.  The company's
 service territory encompasses 23,000 square miles in most of Central and
 Southern California.  The Gas Company is part of Sempra Energy Utilities, the
 umbrella for Sempra Energy's regulated business units.  Sempra Energy
 (NYSE:   SRE) is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in
 San Diego.
 
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SOURCE  Southern California Gas Company