The Primal Call of the Golden Arches

I might be a CIA grad. I might work in one of my home state's best restaurants. I might limit my meat intake and drive a hybrid.
...I might also be human.
Every so often, the craving for fast food hits me. Not a quaint little tap on the shoulder, but a full throttle wallop. As my mind fills gleefully with images of gooey nacho cheese, the crisp snap of a McNugget, and the cool sensation of a chocolate Frostee, I take a step back. Sure, how easy it would be to stop at the Mickey-D's drive through on my way home, but is an Extra Value Meal really worth it?
On an emotional level, the idea of fast food is on the same plane as comfort food for many. There's something soul satisfying about fried food: salty, greasy, fat-loaded fried food. Virtually every culture has some sort of fried item, from pot stickers, to knishes, to crullers, fried food is universal. Thanks to this, many of us find some familiarity in the fried aspect of fast food.
Fast food is also easy. The drive through experience has increased in quality over the past few years, making pulling off the highway and driving away with your guilty pleasure even simpler. Bark your order into a menu with a microphone and part with a few bucks. Yes, some Americans have even mastered the art of car cuisine. No thanks - I don't feel like cleaning sweet and sour sauce off of my seats any time soon.
What truly stops me from feeding into these spastic cravings is the connotation that comes with being a fast food consumer.
I'm not fast, cheap, and easy.

Wow...it's been a while

So who else is excited that Bravo's hit Top Chef is back on? After watching the first few episodes of this season, I'm really starting to question the integrity of the TC producers.
First off, how unfair is it to have an elimination as soon as the chef-testants get in front of the cameras? Yes, I understand that someone needs to be the first to leave, but seriously, can't we show some hospitality? Lauren and Patrick should have known, though, that salads are usually not good choices. In season 3, Sam Talbot opted to serve cold dishes for a challenge. The only sound bite from Head Judge Chef Tom regarding Sam's food was,"But he didn't cook anything!" and Sam was asked to pack his knives. Maybe it's best to actually cook something in a cooking competition...
As much issue as I have with CIA student Patrick being eliminated after the first main challenge, my true problem with the situation is how he was even cast above chefs with years more experience. As a CIA grad, I understand the passion, determination, and sense of false bravado that culinary school students possess. But for producers to even think that a young student could hack it in an arena like the Top Chef Kitchen is disturbing. For all the hemming and hawing that went on at Judges' Table about Patrick, it became obvious that he was out of his league. Not only has Patrick been publicly humiliated, but now he's going to be known as a young cook who tried to get too big too fast. Best of luck, Pat! Make sure you finish your degree before you start your career.

Food Network Star or Has Been that Never Was?

Congrats to my fellow Jersey culinarian Aaron McCargo Jr, winner of this season of Next Food Network Star!
After a tough few weeks of culinary competitions, Aaron is ready to start work on his new show "Big Daddy's Kitchen" premiering this weekend at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.

NFNS started this season off with a lackluster bang. Even after the first few episodes aired, none of the contestants emerged as a front runner. I could say with complete honesty that none of them had the charisma needed and the food knowledge needed to pull a decent viewership.
After some tough love training, Aaron became a more polished presenter with the food chops to match. Once he gained some camera confidience, it was easy to cheer him on. As a raw food talent coming from the poorest area in the nation, Aaron's win was certainly a deserved one.

Looking back on the first few seasons of NFNS, the odds are stacked against him, though. Regardless of his win, Aaron still stands a 2 in 3 shot of seeing "Big Daddy's Kitchen" get the big axe from the network. Consider the following: I can't even remember the names of the couple who won the first season. Amy Finley is MIA less than 1 year later. Guy Frieri is the only one out of all the winners to still have a presence on Food Network. "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" is going strong after a few seasons. Guy is also the new spokesperson for TGI Friday's, an assuredly lucrative position.

The only question at this point is,"why?" Why have a majority of these "new stars" failed so quickly? After all, they were handpicked by the top executives of the network and given the chance to learn from some already established food personalities. They even get voted on by Food Network viewers! You picked this person, audience, why aren't you watching? What went wrong?

It comes down to a matter of timing, prime timing that is! NFNS is shown on Sunday nights, not exactly the strongest time slot for family television, but certainly better than weekday early afternoons in terms of viewership potential. But instead of giving the winner of NFNS the chance to wow a prime time audience, their new show is put into a weekend afternoon slot. The potential viewers the new star had built up over the course of the competition now need to associate a new time with a familiar personality. Can you teach an old viewer new tricks?

I am starting to think that the only fair way to work with a winner is to give him or her a solid month of prime time show exposure, 8PM one night a week. Check the numbers. If people are actually tuning in for the new show, consider keeping the show in that slot. If not, consider a move to make room for a more popular program and take it from there. You need to give your new stars a fighting chance, Food Network!

Could the new star be fighting a losing battle even before the show begins? As people watch NFNS, they develop a liking or an aversion for certain contestants. When their favorite gets the grand prize, they might tune in to the new show. If their least favorite wins, the likelihood of them watching the new star's show is minimal at best. Considering that the show starts with 10 contestants, there is a 9 in 10 chance (on a strict statistics basis!) that the passionate NFNS viewer will not tune in for the resulting program. I can assure you that from episode 1, if Lisa or Kelsey had won, I knew I would not watch the new show.

Aaron's show is another story. "Big Daddy's Kitchen" seems to embody the energy and fun that Aaron brought to NFNS. Tune in and hopefully save this new star from a premature burn-out!

Leaner, Greener, Cheaper

I'm the coupon clipper in my house, the one who gets up on Sunday mornings and gleefully pours over the newspaper inserts, scissors in one hand, coffee in the other. Some weeks are luckier than others, but the thrill of saving at least 5% off of the grocery bill was a great game.
As our economic conditions worsen, fuel and food prices rise, coupon clipping for many of us is no longer a game, but a necessary means of saving. Browsing through many homepages like MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL also yields a list of articles on getting the most out of the ever shrinking dollar. It becomes apparent that our social mindset is quickly changing from "Too much is never enough" to "Scraping by is the new norm". Yes, the times are a'changing, but some of these changes can actually be good for both your wallet and the environment. Here's my 2 cents, or approximately $1.34 at the current inflation on things you can do right now to make your situation better:

1. Get by with less. Eat less food, drive fewer miles, buy less "stuff" that you probably don't need. By decreasing your general consumption of all resources in general, you'll quickly become a healthier individual. This also has a side benefit: fewer doctor visits, less illness, and a smaller, leaner you. 1 cup of coffee instead of 2. Smaller portions of heavy foods.

2. Try to cut back on your driving and trade in that disgusting (yes, I said it) SUV. I don't care if you bought it when gas was $1.47 a gallon; back then, you were consuming more than your fair share of natural resources, and the same holds true today. 75% of folks who drive those mammoth must-be-compensating-for-something vehicles do not need this type of transportation on a daily basis. Stop pretending to conquer the jungles of suburbia and learn to live within current gas prices.

3. Minimize meat consumption. Look at your current grocery spending. How much is going towards these expensive proteins? Try going vegetarian one night a week. Eggplant parm instead of veal. Tofu in that stirfry instead of beef. Peanut butter instead of deli turkey for sandwiches. Meat production is one of the most environmentally harmful processes used for getting food from farm to plate. Consider this: every hamburger stops a beating heart. Take responsibility for what you eat and what, and whom, was sacrificed in the process.

4. Use your local library for entertainment before you go to a bookstore, a music shop, or a movie rental company. That expensive bestseller that you're only going to read once is a hefty investment. Also, consider the amount of paper wasted if everyone else also bought the same book and only read it once, too. The exception to this rule is, of course, books you plan on using for references for many years to come and favorite movies you will watch over and over again. Donate books, DVDs, etc that you no longer enjoy to a favorite charity and get a record of your donation for tax deduction purposes.

5. Clip coupons, but only for products you already use. I try to avoid processed food, so redeeming a coupon for a product like Lunchables is still a waste of my money. Also, by not clipping every coupon, more paper gets reused when I recycle the Sunday paper. Think of sharing the rest of the paper with a neighbor or friend who is also interested in saving.

6. Recycle. Save trees by using both sides of paper. Use canvas totes for grocery shopping. Many stores will give a discount for bringing your own bag. Get a travel coffee mug and fill it with your own hot beverage instead of buying that $3.50 latte. Please stop buying plastic one use spring water bottles and get your own reuseable bottle. FYI: Municiple water is constantly tested for cleanliness. Bottled spring water is not a regulated product. Think about it. Why should water have to travel thousands of miles over water just so you can drink a product you could have gotten almost free from a local source?

7. Minimize make-up. Ladies, here's the honest truth: you're even more beautiful than you can imagine and even more stunning when your natural beauty shines through. Besides, all of the make-up that gets used to clog your pores every year generates millions of non-recycleable plastic containers. Producing those colored chemicals also generates thousands of pounds of waste. Yes, I know, I too love glamming it up for an evening out. However, investing in some environmentally sound skin care products is an even better use of your cosmetics cash. You'll need less make-up to feel done up, your skin won't be abused as much, and Mother Nature will also look prettier.

8.Use your bank's online bill pay option. You'll save time, paper, and not using stamps will certainly add up to about a $25 savings per year. Invest that in a travel water bottle and you'll save even more.

9. Invest in a clothesline. Dry clothes, sheets, etc for free. Not only will you save on electricity, but also extend the life of your dryer and get rewarded with fresher fabrics. Hang used bath towels to dry and use them again. Think about it: you just used that towel to dry your clean self. It's minimally dirty. By using a towel twice, you'll reduce your laundry loads, thus saving on water, electricity, soap, and time.

10. Relax. Turn off the tv, the radio, the computer, the cell phone, all media stimuli. Take a nap, take a walk, stretch, just breathe.

Wrapped and Warped

When you're a foodie, going grocery shopping is hardly ever a chore, but a quest. There's something stimulating about walking up and down each aisle, looking for new products and getting inspired to do new things with old favorites. I've found it's one of the best ways to stay connected to the mainstream food world. Anyone can page through glossy magazines, watch endless hours of cooking programs, and buy over-priced one trick pony tools, but in order to be in touch with what's going on in the food world outside of the gourmet, one must get to the source.
Recent trips to my local grocery stores have yielded some disturbing findings. Yes, I shudder at neon colored kids' drinks, pudding that can stay at room temperature, and the fact that butchers' twine is shelved in the pet aisle, but these are trivial. The new supermarket culprits prove that bad things come in multiple-package products.
Take for example, the wave of 100 calorie snack packs flooding the market. On the surface, these products are a convenient way to stick to dietary goals. Dive a little deeper and these snacks no longer seem helpful.
Is it true that we as a society are unable to make healthful decisions that we require corporate America to preportion our meals? Have we gotten so lazy where we are unwilling to create our own packages of cracker, cookie, and trail mix portions? Above all else, the question I would love to see answered is what happens to all of this needless packaging?
Foil-like packaging is not biodegradable. Cellophane will be with us for the next few thousand years if pitched carelessly into a landfill. So I have to wonder, with the popularity of these uber-expensive doll-sized snacks, how much harm is convenience doing?
Here's my solution: stop buying these snacks and start recycling. Learn what a portion of your favorite snack is and stick to it. Reusable containers will save the earth and your wallet when used instead of baggies.
By limiting the amount of packaging you waste, you truly can make a difference.

Get Lost

Before gas prices got too bad, one of my favorite things to do was get lost. Not in a literal sense, but simply answering the question,"what if?". "What if I go straight instead of turn here?" "What happens if I try to find a new way home?" The rules were simple: no map, no crazy turns, and turning around was only allowed as a last resort. Once I got lucky and managed to shave over three miles off of my commute. Other times, I enjoy the ride, make a few discoveries, but know the route is impractical.
Food is the same way. Think of a dish as a starting point. This is the familiar, perhaps a classic dish, something you've created and consumed plenty of times. Now, make a different turn. Add red wine instead of white. Use salmon instead of tuna, rice instead of pasta. Omit ingredients. Take what you've seen before and make it your own. After all, isn't that where making food becomes truly cooking?
So grab that basic milk chocolate mousse recipe and try something different. Dark chocolate standing in for milk. Up the number of egg whites. Scrap the vanilla extract in favor of creme de menthe. Above all else, enjoy:

Mint Chocolate Mousse

4 egg yolks

7 egg whites

6 oz bittersweet chocolate.

*note: Start with decent chocolate, not Tollhouse morsels.
4Tbsp sugar

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2Tbsp Creme de menthe or mint extract
1/2 C heavy cream

Using a mixer, whip the whites and half of the sugar to soft peaks.
Meanwhile, heat a large pan of water until it simmers. Add the yolks, mint, and rest of the sugar to a metal mixing bowl. Beat the mixture constantly until sugar is dissolved and the yolks are cooked. You can tell the mixture is ready when the bowl is clean when a whisk is used to scrape the bottom of it.
Remove the bowl from the heat and add the chocolate and butter. Slowly stir the egg chocolate mix until all the chocolate is melted. Put the bowl back over the simmering water if needed.
Carefully fold in the whites 1/3rd at a time. Whip the cream to almost firm peaks and fold it in. Chill the mousse for at least 2 hours. Serve with additional whipped cream and mint sprigs as desired.

A Soup for All Seasons

It's finally starting to feel like spring in northern New Jersey, cold in the mornings, but warm enough for me to have my windows open on my way home from work. It's a slightly fickle time for foodies. Here we are, ready to fully embrace the bounty of spring, but not quite comfortable giving up our coats. Lately, I've been craving an almost oxymoronic dish: hearty, healthy, and warming, yet with just a tease of spring. The answer is nothing short of sublime and simple: soup au pistou.
Soup au pistou hails from the south of France, the regions closest to Italy. It will come as no surprise that many of the ingredients, from the pasta to the pesto-like garnish, give the soup an Italian feel. What follows is a basic recipe, but don't hesitate to add your favorite vegetables or leave out others. I've used chicken stock as a base, but omitted any additional meat. If you prefer, use vegetable stock to keep the soup vegetarian. For a main course soup, add diced chicken with the onions in the first step. Serve with breadsticks and round the meal out with a seasonal fruit crisp for a hearty, yet healthy way to wait for spring.

Soup Au Pistou - Serves 4
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, cleaned but whole
2 ribs celery, peeled and sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 Idaho potato, peeled and diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small zucchini, seeded and diced
3 quarts chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup French green beans, cut into soup spoon pieces
15 strands dried linguine pasta, broken into matchstick size pieces

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic clove, celery, potato, and carrots. Cook another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the zucchini. Mix the vegetables before adding the stock and the bay leaf. Season to taste. Add the beans and bring the soup to a boil. In order for the pasta to cook properly, the soup must be boiling. Stir the soup every so often until the pasta is fully cooked. Serve garnished with pistou.

Pistou
1 bunch basil, stems removed
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: 1 tbsp each parmesan cheese and sun dried tomatoes

In a food processor, grind the garlic and nuts until minced. Add salt and pepper to help break down the garlic. Add the basil and grind until minced. Drizzle in the oil to form a paste. Finish with cheese and tomatoes if using. Extra pistou will keep one week if keep chilled.

Notes: for a heartier soup, add 1 cup of tomato juice with the stock. For a lighter soup, omit the potato and use vegetable stock.

Having a moment

Some of the best advice I have ever been given in the food service industry came from an unlikely source: the happy-go-lucky class clown of my cooking school group. Nothing against this person; he and I just never really saw eye to eye on many issues, but we did enjoy each other's company. His words before I was about to complete a major part of my formal culinary education remain with me over three years later.

Part of the CIA program is a series of practical cooking exams, one prior to externship, the other prior to AOS graduation. Students are required to complete all components of a set menu and answer 10 oral questions. Menus are provided a month before ever stepping into the practical kitchen, but are chosen out of a hat the day of the exam. Questions are selected from a list of almost 500 ranging from regional Asian cooking to product identification and food safety. I think it's pretty obvious why I was nervous before taking my first practical! Despite proving myself as a top notch student, I was still uncertain as to what to expect during this exam.

A few hours before I was to take this exam, my friend tried to calm me down with the following words, "Migton, why are you freaking out? Go in there and cook like you know how to cook."

It was so simple really. Trust your instincts. Take a deep breath and enjoy the process. Nerves only get in the way.

2 practical passes, an AOS graduation, and a BPS degree with honors later, I still remember those words when I feel myself getting anxious in the kitchen. Cook like you know how to cook. Once I remember those words, I put myself back in the moment of what I am doing. The nerves never really go away, but the instincts come back even stronger.

Cook like you are cooking for yourself. If the food you just put on the plate is something you would want to be served, congratulations, you are successful. A competent cook knows when he or she has done a good job and trust me on this one, the next plates will also be wonderful. Cook with love, cook with passion, and above all else, cook like you know how to cook.

While I choose not to discuss any aspect of my professional life on this blog, I welcome comments and questions at Chris_migton@yahoo.com.

See you at the stove,
Chris

Restaurant Week: Craftbar

One of my favorite events happens twice a year: NYC Restaurant Week. For 2 sets of weekdays in the winter and summer, many of New York's finest eateries feature a $24.07 prix fixe lunch and $35 dinner. Considering how easy it is for an entree alone to cost $35, this certainly is a great way to try some famed restaurants without taking out a second mortgage. Recently, I tried Craftbar, an off-shoot of create-a-meal Craft.

I tried making a reservation for Craftbar for 1:30 PM on Monday January 28th. Opentable.com informed me that 2 PM was the only available time for that day and I grabbed it, thinking that Craftbar must really be booked.

My dining companion and I arrived 15 minutes early to a mostly empty restaurant. I began to wonder why I was unable to get the time I wanted. We were escorted to a corner table, my favorite table configuration. They don't believe in table cloths at Craftbar; instead, the tables are covered with brown paper. I suppose this makes turning tables easier and can be fun for impromptu games of tic tack toe as you wait for your server to take your order.

We were handed menus, perhaps the longest menus I'd seen for any Restaurant Week menu. Our server was laid back and casual, no stuffy service here! Our order was taken promptly and drinks appeared within a reasonable amount of time. My ginger martini was poured right in front of me from a small cocktail shaker. When our server realized that there was not enough liquid in the shaker, he quickly left the table and returned a split second later with more martini mix in another shaker. I began to wonder if the signature cocktails are premixed and left to chill.

I started to glance around the dining room while we waited for our starters. All of the servers wear the depressing uniform of a muted gray long sleeve t-shirt and their own jeans. No aprons, nothing identifying them as staff other than their proximity to the POS system.


My chickpea fries with black olive aioli were more of a discovery of texture rather than of flavor. The smooth chickpea puree was encased in some sort of batter; my dining companion described it like eating flan. Her coppa fritters were more fritter than coppa; crunchy balls of firm polenta with the barest mince of coppa. The golden raisins served with them added a nice touch.

As soon as our appetizers were cleared, new silverware hit the table, and our entrees arrived. My buccatini with clams, merguez and mustard greens was well cooked, if not light on the lamb sausage, greens, and overtly enthusiastic on the chives. It also could have used a touch more salt, which was not provided on the table. Sorry, Craftbar, but your food is not perfect enough for there to be no chance for a diner to alter it to her preference.
My companion enjoyed her braised short ribs with beets and onions. The short rib was fork tender and the beets were nicely cooked in cranberry juice. This dish, like mine, was also heavy on the chives.

Dessert and coffee followed. Surprisingly, the milk for my coffee was served piping hot, a nice change from ice cold milk that cools coffee on contact.
My almond parfait with citrus soup was creamy and loaded with almond flavor. The "soup" was bitter, reminiscent of pith, and served with inedible kumquat and lemon slices. My companion's chocolate cake was served with lovely malted milk ice cream. The cake itself was dense, almost to the point of being dry, and rich.
Craftbar is worth the $24.07 Restaurant Week price of admission, but I’m not sure I would run back for a full price sit down dinner. I would, however, enjoy stopping in for a snack of those chickpea fries and another ginger martini.

Rib Stickin' Vegan

Like many foodies, I often find myself going through "phases," times when I'll favor certain ingredients or eschew others depending on my mood, time of year, and food supply conditions. Trust me, the e coli spinach outbreak was painful!
In keeping with my New Year's outlook, I'm in the process of rethinking some of my eating habits, hopefully making some changes that will be more than phases. I know I'm not the only one trying to do this. Around this time of year, many people vow to get healthier, make lifestyle changes, and, in the most simple terms, atone for holiday sins.
Healthy food need not be a punishment! If you're tired of stale rice cakes and frozen diet meals that make you feel hungrier than you did before the microwave dinged, stay with me.
The following recipe will get you at least 2 of the recommended servings of vegetables in one meal. It's vegetarian, but leave out the optional ingredients to make it vegan. Hot, hearty, and perfect for a cold winter weeknight, this dish can be made in less than 45 minutes.

Savory Bean Stew over Roasted Cauliflower
For stew:
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 15oz can kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed well
1 bag baby spinach
1 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Your favorite cheese

For roasted cauliflower:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small head cauliflower, cleaned and sliced into 1/2" sheets
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In an oven proof saute pan, heat the oil over high heat for the cauliflower until it shimmers. Add the cauliflower and sear until golden on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Place the pan in the oven. While the cauliflower roasts, prepare the stew.

For the stew: In another saute pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the minced onion and saute until transparent, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and lower the heat to low. Keep the garlic moving to prevent it from burning. Add the beans to the pan and toss to coat. Season the mixture with salt, pepper, and the chili powder.

When cauliflower is tender after about 10 minutes of cooking and the bean mixture is hot, add the spinach to the beans. Cook for another 2 minutes, adding additional salt and pepper. When spinach is wilted, turn off the heat.

To plate: Place a good size "sheet" of cauliflower on the bottom of the plate. Top with 1/3 of the stew. Garnish the stew with some of the crispier cauliflower bits and a sprinkling of cheese if desired. Grab a fork and get ready to rethink vegetarian cuisine!

Remaining roasted cauliflower can be used as an omelet filling, mixed in with pasta, mashed and used as a spread or dip, or even cooled and mixed into your favorite meatloaf recipe instead of eggs.

Extra stew can be used over rice or even heated and served over tortilla chips!

Enjoy!
Chris

Saturday Survival

Turn up the heat
No second guesses
Will it all over
To the instinctive alter ego
The primitive banshee
Who swears and slams pans
Claws and gets it done

Do not question her.

Simply let her go

My inner warrior who wails her battle cry
As I am the one who
Gets the pat on the back and signs the paycheck

Virtual Foodie

So after graduating from culinary school and diving headfirst into an exciting full time job, I'm returning from my literary hiatus.

One of the easiest ways in which we can tell food culture has gone mainstream is to look at all the different medias in which food has infiltrated. Gourmandese has certainly infused itself into many forms of expression. Other than the obvious: television, magazines, and stacks of cookbooks, the form of media I thought would be the final frontier has finally succumbed to the army of the edible. I speak, of course, of video games.

Hold up...before you click to the next blog or heaven forbid read a book, hear me out. The internet is a truly powerful creation and simulation games are an easy way to avoid reality. Just think of the possibilities! Without ever leaving my desk chair, I can manage a restaurant, sail the world in search of chocolate ingredients, and sling burgers that would make both a king and a clown proud. There are plenty of food related games out there, but which ones are truly worth the waste of time?

Diner Dash - Ah, the classic. Seat guests in an ever expanding restaurant. This game was the first break out food game hit. Not only is the original now available on cell phones, but the game has launched, at time of writing, four sequels, almost putting it in the same league as many MA shooter games. While I will admit to staying up until 3am playing this game after realizing that the MSN Games 1 hour free trial was much longer than 1 hour, the game itself takes a while to get exciting. Like many games, the first few tutorial levels are overtly easy, building up false confidences. As the game progresses, it gets frustratingly addictive, as one of my roommates found out, and repeditive. Not a good combination when you have a paper to write, yet are unable to tear yourself away from the line of virtual customers. Out of the 3 of the 4 versions I have tried, the 3rd was the most enjoyable. From a professional standpoint, this game is minimally realistic.

Cake Mania -Help Jill run a bakery by completing cake orders for your line of guests. Get ready to release your inner baker! Unlike Diner Dash, this game somehow struck a cord. Just like in a real bakery, you need time management and a strong sense of sequence. There is some room for creativity in this game, as a cake stand allows you to showcase a cake in hopes of selling it. Just like Diner Dash, the first few levels are basic, but it does get harder. Cake Mania 2 is practically identical to the original.

Burger Rush - For fans of both food and matching games comes Burger Rush. Fill customer orders by matching adjacent shapes. Feel free to try it, but I beat this one easily. For a better challenge, try BeJeweled or Chainz.

Sushi Chef - As a raw fish fan, I really wanted to like this game, it just never happened. According to what your customer orders, click the food as it spins around a sushi bar. There was no excitement; the game kind of made me dizzy. Save your time.

Chocolatier - This game is more of a stategy game than an arcade game. Start as a lowly chocolate maker and work your way up to a global confectionarian. I like games with stories, and this one certainly has an interesting story. Buy low, sell high, and keep your factories stocked with exotic ingredients. Fans of the Tradewinds series will eat this one up!

Stand o'Food - I admit it: I tried it because the name made me laugh. This game is a combination of matching games and fast paced arcade action. The pace picks up quickly and although it is repeditive, I didn't get bored.

Cathy's Caribbean Club - Pretend to run an upscale smoothie bar. This game was frustrating; there was no way to be efficient! Club upgrades only made things worse, rather than better like in other games. From a professional standpoint, this game is even more unrealistic than Diner Dash. I am grateful that my experiences as a server were never this bad!

So take the time to enjoy some of these distractions. Just remember to get up once in a while and play with some real food!

Until next time,
Chris