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"  Just a little over a month since launching, Google+ may have given rise to its first star chef. Meet Lee Allison, a New York-based technology consultant and avid home cook turned host of the interactive cooking class series, the Google+ Cooking School. Using Google Hangouts, the video and mobile chatting feature on Google&amp;#039;s new social network, Allison created a series of thrice-weekly culinary classes, devoting each session to a different dish, from hand-made pizzas to Thai lettuce wraps. Before each class he posts a list of ingredients so participants can cook along. More from Delish: Comfort Foods from Star Chefs Bits, the New York Times business and technology blog, reports that Allison had the inspiration to start the series after realizing that with the Hangouts function he could take the kind of casual cooking lessons he&amp;#039;d been giving friends in person to a larger audience while still maintaining a personal touch. &amp;quot;The opportunity to do it face-to-face using technology was a light bulb kind of moment,&amp;quot; he told the Times. So Allison outfitted his apartment&amp;#039;s kitchen with a laptop, a microphone, and an additional camera focused on his cutting board, and began broadcasting the live lessons. Unlike other popular internet culinary shows \u2014 such as Great Depression Cooking Show, the Australian Nicko&amp;#039;s Kitchen, and a whole assortment of other YouTube shows that mimic traditional television cooking shows \u2014 Google+ Cooking School is more interactive because it uses video chat technology. It&amp;#039;s like visiting a friend&amp;#039;s kitchen, Allison says. More from Delish: Celebrity Food Commercials - 15 Stars Before They Were Famous &amp;quot;The idea is to foster social interactions while making a meal, so it&amp;#039;s designed to let people cook along or just hang out,&amp;quot; Allison told the Times. Since Allison and his collaborator, Eric McKee, based in Portland, OR, began broadcasting the show in early July, the response has been so promising that the pair is taking the concept one step further. In a few weeks, McKee and Allison plan to launch Social Skillet, a new series of cooking classes, which they&amp;#039;ll broadcast through WebEx, a videoconferencing software, allowing them to increase the number of students and make the classes accessible on iPads and cell phones. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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