Happy Thanksgiving!

As anyone who has struggled with a cookbook in front of them to try to recreate the gorgeous photos of food next to the recipes will testify, you really need to be shown how to cook properly rather than just reading about it. So now the humble webcam is being used as an essential tool in the kitchen.

To celebrate Thanksgiving this year, Skype and US cable TV channel Food Network are auctioning on eBay the chance for a one-on-one Skype video conversation with celebrity chefs and Turkey-basting impresarios Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay.

The recipe is simple: first, take two world-renowned chefs. Sprinkle them liberally onto eBay and remove the reserve price.

Then add the bidders, and ramp up the bidding between November 23 and December 3 until the price reaches boiling point.

Ensure that all proceeds go to worthwhile charity Share our Strength (who are working to eradicate child hunger in America), add a dash of cranberry sauce and serve the video conference up to the winning bidder on December 7th.

It'll be interesting to see how much money this raises, but the potential for Skype to offer an interesting medium for instruction and learning is clear. All that's needed is a decent webcam and you have a global classroom of eager students.

Also please do be aware (and impressed) that I have not used the "talking turkey" pun once in this post. If you're really going for the whole Thanksgiving nine yards, you can download your very own Turkey desktop theme for your PC here. Knock yourself out...