There’s a new new Wii video game on the horizon - Major League Eating: The Game for the Wii. Pretend to be real world competitive eating champs, Sonja Thomas or Kobayashi using the Wii controller to “simulate a variety of eating techniques.” What will that look like? I can hardly wait! A virtual competitive food competition sounds like fun and just think of it, no horrifying waste of food.

If you haven’t heard of the Tap Project, here’s the scoop. UNICEF is launching a nationwide effort in the days before World Water Day (March 22) to help provide safe drinking water for children around the world. All over the country, restaurants are joining in the effort by asking customers to donate $1 for the tap water they normally drink for free during the week of March 16 - March 22, 2008. The end result is that for every dollar donated, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days.

In case you haven’t guessed, Emeril is right in on this project.

This picture is of mushrooms carved from cheddar, by an artist named Sarah Hoffman AKA ‘The Cheese Lady.” Ms. Hoffman’s cheddar sculptures include likenesses of television personalities, sports stars, city scapes, etc - you gotta see ‘em to believe it. Although an interesting display of talent for sure, I can’t help wondering if this is really a good ideal?

Every day I reach into my closet for something to wear and it’s same old, same old - jeans and a t-shirt, jeans and a sweater, cute top, occasional skirt, you get the drift. But what I hunger for is a hamburger dress to add to my wardrobe. Here’s the thing, I’m not a fast-food “single” size, and why oh why do I think there’s a pickle joke somewhere in all this?

I’m a sucker for a cool gadget. While perusing a cooking supply shop, I spied this device and was blown away. Meet the Garlic Genius, a gadget that not only works, it works like a charm. Drop a few peeled garlic cloves into the chamber, twist like a pepper mill and out comes perfect, tiny cubes. The Garlic genius also has a little secret compartment which holds a second blade for making a larger dice. This gadget rocks, cleaning is easy and it’s dishwasher safe!

These frozen “pickle sickles” from Bob’s Pickle Pops are made from real pickles and pickle juice. Schools and moms all over the country are jumping on the pickle pop bandwagon as a healthier alternative to popsicles packed with sugar. Sound scary? Consider these words from the pickle pop site: “If you are a gastrointestinal extremist, then this mouthwatering, temperature lowering, tongue curling treat is for you.” Sign me up.

Louisiana strawberries are in!! These beautiful teardrops of sunshine are bright, juicy sweet and have just the barest hint of tartness. I bought a couple of pints to nosh on or put into smoothies, but unfortunately for my family, only half-a-pint made it home and the floor of my car is littered with lacy green strawberry tops. I’m going to roughly chop the remainder of my small stash of berries and add them to an ice cream I’m making from Abita Strawberry Lager. Creamy cool strawberry malt-flavor with chunks of just-picked berries - I believe I will have redeemed myself for bogarting the fresh berries.

In today’s mail came the Juno-inspired hamburger phone (it’s really a cheeseburger…). The box looked like it had been run over by a truck or two, but the phone was intact and once plugged in, revealed that it possesses all the advanced telephonic technology of holding an actual cheeseburger to your ear. But my son loves the phone anyway and it is, when all is said and done, a delicious cheeseburger, albeit a staticky cheeseburger, just like Juno’s.

Although it may be hard to fathom, the cupcake craze is just making itseldf known to New Orleans. In the last month or so several new bakeries have emerged specializing in cupcakes. The trio pictured above is from Pralines by Jean, a business that’s been around for quite some time and known for pralines (of course) and cupcakes. I went in to see what was new and wound up with Jean’s praline, red velvet and strawberry with strawberry cupcakes. Deliciously sweet, tender crumb and smooth icings.

Last night we attended Tales of the Tiki, a dining and drinks pairing. Tiki cocktail guru Jeff “beachbum” Berry made all the cocktails and provided a short and entertaining history lesson. Today we recouped, momentarily. While I made a piece of toast with a thick swash of the newest Limited Edition Marmite, the one that has a hint of champagne, my husband was shaking up a Mai Tai. Rhum Clement VSOP is outstanding. Produced and bottled in Martinique, the rum is mellow and round, with a fair hint of roasted cocoa, mostly on the nose. I can tell you this, Rhum Clement in a Mai Tai makes for one heck of a drink. Oh, and the toast with Marmite was brilliant too, although I prefer the Marmite with a hint of Guinness.