Cooking heals the body...sortive.

Did you know that The Nintendo gaming system Wii has cooking games now? Apparently these games, like Cooking Mama allow gamers the oppurtunity to practice cooking or at least the act of cooking without turning on a real stove or going to the grocery store to buy the ingredients. Players can learn how to make World cuisines of all types, from curry and naan to ratatouille or sushi. Using the stylus or the controller, players learn the proper movements and techniques that real world chefs use in there kitchens in preparing food.One can dice,chop,grill,saute,mix,sprinkle and even roll. The Food Network game Cook Or Be Cooked actually gives tips and instruction to the players as they cook. These games can be played by one person or you can have a cook off with friends. The medical world has discovered the benefits of using the Wii cooking games in physical therapy and rehabilitation in burn and stroke patients. Apparently the games challenge these specific group of patients by allowing them to work the joints and muscles of the body parts that have been affected by their illness or injury and preventing a worsening of their condition. The games are beginning to take the place of traditional physical therapy treatments and are extremely entertaining, therefore patients are distracted from the pains of their burns and injuries and getting a good work out as well. Im proud to be working at the hospital that is doing just that. Who knew cooking could heal the body?Sortive. Cooking Mama is a little cheesy in their animation but entertaining and cute and The Food Network's game has a crisper picture and animation with a little more virtual reality involved.

Free peeks..oooh!!!

OMG!!!I just discovered this great website called Zinio.com that lets you check out back issues of most of your favorite magazines for free. Its kind of what you do when you're in the grocery line waiting to pay.You grab a magazine and try to read the whole content  before its your turn to pay up or leave it on the wrong shelf. Zinio has various publications on there website that you can purchase or browse through for free. You can go back to the April 2009 issue of Saveur and find that recipe for puerco in mole negro recipe that you remembered seeing. You can zoom on the actual digital copy, print it and start cooking! The website only allows you a couple zooms per publication so that if you really want the back issue or book you can buy it right on their site. Prices for back issues depend on the publication date and or genre.

My fave food scenes in movies...enjoy!!!

Momofuku... more than just pork buns and noodles!

Remember when you were a little kid and you finished your bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal or your Coco Puffs and had only sweetened cereal flavored milk leftover? Remember how slurping that colorful milk often was the best part of the meal? Now as adults we toss the bowl in the sink once were done and spill out the good stuff right down the drain. Why? Well the genuis people at Momofuku take us back to those days when drinking milk out of a bowl was delicious! Amazingly the Chefs at Momofuku wanted to prove that they are not just gods of the pork bun but they can do magic with deserts. I just might be the only one in New York City that didnt know that Momofuku Milk Bar existed. One night after a yummy dinner with new friends Erika and Justin at Ippudo, the lovely couple mentioned cookies for desert at Momofuku! I was sure that they were mistaken.Cookies at Momofuku? Well they not only make amazing cookies, like there trademark Compost cookie which contain pretezel,potato chips, coffee,oats,butterscotch and chocolate but they also make interesting flavored soft serves. One of which is there cereal milk flavored soft serve and cereal milk flavored milk. Momofuku soaks the cereal in milk for us and then creates yumminess with the leftovers!They dont soak Coco Puffs in milk but they do soak cornflakes and thats where the flavor comes from. Not only do they make great cookies and interesting flavored soft serves but they make cakes,pies and breads!!I saw an interesting flavor bread that they only serve on Wednesday that is called banana green curry bread. I am soooo headed there the next Wednesday im off to purchase a loaf and see how anyone can pair those two ingredients together and come out with goodness!! Offcourse while you are there, since Momofuku IS known for the pork buns, you can buy some them there instead of waiting an hour or two to be seated at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I think im going to trademark Coco Puffs milk soft serve, i would totally eat it!!

New food discovery!!!

Food makes me happy when im feeling shitty. I guess it does for most people, hence the obesity epidemic in America. Found a new yummy treat in L.A. that helped me get over some recent sadness when my dad was ill. Can't find the dam product anywhere in New York City. If anybody stumbles upon it let me know. They are called GladCorn A-maizing corn snacks. They are the yummiest thing ever!!Very closely related to the famous Corn nuts we ate in grammar school but way better and easier on the teeth!!

COOK.EAT.DRINK.LIVE

This past weekend was The COOK.EAT.DRINK. LIVE  2009 food/charity event at The Tunnel/La.Venue in Chelsea. For the entire weekend ACTION AGAINST HUNGER worked together with COOK.EAT.DRINK.LIVE to bring a gourmet food and wine event where Zagat-rated restuarants,New York City's finest chefs and high end gourmet spirits and food sampling come together in one place. Foodies, food industry folk and people who just love to do something for a good cause attended the event which offered over 100 samples of wines(many of which where local),spirits and beers. Great restaurants like En Brassiere, Bice, Mortons Steakhouse and Triomphe each had long lines of attendees trying to get bite size nibbles of yummy things like Bice's pumpkin ravioli and Triomphe's chocolate flan. Large crowds huddled anxiously around the various wine and spirit tables waiting for their opportunity to participate in the tastings, with many people,including myself raving about Me Oko natural flavored vodkas like jalapeno and ginger flavors.The FineWaters Pavillion was an interesting place to be at since it gave guests a once in lifetime experience in tasting unique waters from all over the world. Water is water right? Not for Michael Mascha who is considered the worlds leading "water connoisseur". There where delicious baked goods of all sorts,chocolate,special olive oils, exotic spices and cheeses. My favorite part of the event was volunteering in the kitchen at the Viking  Main Stage where cooking demonstrations where held by New Yorks top chefs. Attendees of the event where treated to small cooking demos by Chef's Joey Campanaro from Little Owl,Eric Hana from Oak Room and Chef Claude Godard from Madison Bistro. Fellow volunteers ranged from students in event planning internships,people in culinary school to people like me who just want to dabble in the food world in whatever way i can !! I enjoyed watching the chefs in action, passing out samples of there fare to the hungry audience and offcourse getting to eat the leftovers!!Yummy!! I also cant forget the fun of meeting other foodies like me,of meeting interesting folk that work in the food world and of making $70 in tips working the coat room for a few hours on opening day!Hilarious!!To see more pics of the event check them out at Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hungrylittlebitch/