Gamer Mommy & Geek Boy

Cooking 101: Personal Trainer Cooking for the DS

More than I love writing about videogames (and button-mashing too), I love to cook.  Imagine my delight when I got my hands on Personal Trainer Cooking for the DS.

It's fantastic for the beginner or the experienced foodie with close to 300 recipes representing world cuisines, ridiculously easy voice commands, shopping features, equipment and ingredient glossaries, and technique video.

All this is jammed in a system that fits in the palm of your hand and can easily pop into your bag for a quick run to the grocery store.

i assumed there would be no competition from Geek Boy on this one.  Surely a cooking game couldn't beat out sessions on the Wii with Animal Crossing?

Sadly I was mistaken.  Geek Boy grabbed it and began exploring Vietnamese spring rolls, Australian meat pies and Mexican salsa and tortillas.  Will calamari be next?

There is an upside.  He'll learn to cook and I can get kitchen duty off.

Rated E for Everyone ought to know how to cook fabulous food. What a great holiday gift!

Nintendo Pre-Release Party

Nintendo World, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, is having a little pre-release party for Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, Saturday, September 6, from noon to 2 p.m. at their Rockefeller Center Store.

And, yes, it falls in the category of my favorite word: FREE.

We'll skip the Top of the Rock next weekend and mash buttons instead.

Participants of all ages and gaming skill levels are invited to help crack the mystery of missing millionaire Phil T. Rich during a live interactive performance with characters from the game.

Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir turns gamers into "professional sleuths." Using intuitive touch screen controls, players gather clues to crack the case of missing millionaire Phil T. Rich by finding their way through series of seek-and-solve scenes. The game's mix of seek-and-solve challenges. The multiplayer action game with memorable characters and brilliant graphics is rated E everyone.

Nintendo knows how to throw a party so expect food, fun, game kiosks and prizes to be won .

We like prizes, among other things, like fun.