I'm Cooked

So for this week's activity I looked at the video recipe sharing site, im cooked (yes, that's really how it's spelled). Seemed kind of interesting. I liked the ability to keyword search the recipes. I really liked the "Channels" tab at the top which broke down the videos into categories like Breads and Appetizers. Being a vegetarian and always curious for new and interesting recipes, I clicked on Veggies & Vegetarian. Unfortunately, there were quite a few there which featured seafood or other meat including *gasp* one for a burger made with actual ground burger! OK. So maybe some of you omnivores out there are groaning and saying, "Oh great, another hippie complaining about meat contamination." But for those of you with dietary restrictions, either self-imposed or not, you know that you really don't want to sift through a bunch of hits that don't apply. I think the site should separate the Veggies & Vegetarian channel into two different ones. Maybe it would only satisfy a few celery-munching vegetarians out there, but I think other users may appreciate it too.

As for the social aspects of the site, how much more personal can you get than filming yourself working away in your kitchen as you narrate? Well, other people could comment on and discuss it. im cooked has a few tabs for this, "Most Viewed", "Most Discussed" and "Top Favorites". Users can also tag recipes. I have to admit, the "Most Discussed" tab did have some gems like "Watch actor Christopher Walken roast a chicken". I never would have found that on my own!

This site was kind of entertaining to browse around in and I found some good recipes I'd like to try out, but as for library applications (hey, I had to fit it in there somewhere ;)) I can't really see it. There's the sound issue. This site is all about making you, the average cook in most cases, the star of your own cooking show. You want to be heard! Most of the videos were narrated or had music going on in the background or both so unless the patron had earphones or watched without the sound on it could be pretty disruptive to other patrons. It might be a fun link to add onto the library homepage or subject guide though.