Ratatouille
Ages: Everyone

The game, in case you haven't seen the movie, is about a rat with both a fine sense of smell and a discriminating palette who dreams of becoming a cook. He does so with the encouragement of the ghost of the original restaurant owner, who committed suicide after losing the restaurant's four star rating, and with the helpful partnership of busboy Linguini.

All versions of the game are basically platformers, which means lots of running, sliding, and jumping to fetch things with too much action taking place in the dark underground and sewers. For a full review, check out http://www.Games4Girls.com/reviews/Ratatouille-consoles.html.

The cooking is the most fun and so I am including a recipe for ratatouille, sent to me by Paula Adams of THQ.

Ratatouille
Preparation time: 2 hours Serves 8

• 1 large eggplant, diced into 1-inch chunks
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
• 4 zucchini sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 5 tomatoes, cut in 1-inch chunks
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried thyme or 1 tbsp. fresh, chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped or 1 tsp. dried
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper