Take yourself...Peel off layers of egotism and self-pity. Cut out seeds
of unkind thoughts and unhappy emotions. Remove all prejudices and
worries. To this add one firm belief that life's worth living. Mix well
with one practical idea that you are somebody…season with a sense of
humor and optimism.
Sweeten with love. Then add one strong
determination to live at your highest every hour of the day, come what
may. Let effervesce for 365 days. Garnish with smiles and pleasant
words. Serve with gentleness and courage. Note the effect.
Want to bring a thoughtful gift to food-loving hosts who say "don't bring anything - just yourself"? Instead of - or in addition to - a bottle of wine, consider giving a food-related gift. Bargains are aplenty at Cost Plus and Trader Joe's, however, here are my favorite splurges for gifts:
1) A lovely bottle of extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
2) An herbed sea salt or set of sea salts - a set or one for meat, another for fish (Williams-Sonoma, Dean and Deluca)
3) Locally made dark chocolate (Recchiuti's Feve is a traffic-stopping, stunningly delicious choice)
4) Beautiful locally made soap and hand lotion set (try this fancy olive oil based set by Oliviers & Co.)
5) Last, but certainly not least, homemade goodies that you made yourself*
* This year, we made lavender sea salt giveaways with lavender that we grow in our garden (half lavender, half sea salt blended together). You could do the same with dried herbs or spices. Check out my recipes for a delicious homemade spice mix that's a snap to whip up.
What are YOUR favorite thoughtful food-related gifts to give? What's the story behind it? I'd love to know - please share it in the comments.
As reported in The New York Times, MSG has been blamed for "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome". According to neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of "Excitotoxins", MSG can cause long-lasting dysfunction among many organs throughout the body, even in-utero. A child's brain, for instance, is four times more sensitive to MSG than an adults' (p. 34). Unfortunately, a lot of canned products - even those marketed to children - contain the neurotoxin. Unfortunately, you may not know it from the list of ingredients.
How to know when MSG is in your food? Uncover the many names used to describe MSG on the Truth In Labeling website http://www.truthinlabeling.org. Terms like "natural flavors" and "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" are ingredients that you may not suspect are really MSG in disguise.
Even brands of organic chicken stock contain these ingredients, so this holiday season you may want to make your own. Here's my easy-peasy no-chop recipe for chicken broth that you can make overnight when you sleep. By making your own, you can save half the price of store-bought organic brands. Make it on the weekend before a holiday, freeze the leftovers, and you'll have life-giving broth that you and your family will love.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Our older loved ones can give us a goldmine of insight and perspective. I love asking my dad about his Korean war experience, the '50s heyday of Detroit Motor City, and favorite meals his mother made that I never had the chance to sample.
With the holidays approaching, if you are spending time with family members of earlier generations, it may be fun for you to capture their stories and essence on camera, audiotape or paper.
Here's a cute book by Live Inspired for under $10 that can help you capture some important stories about your dad, titled, My Dad. His Stories. His Words. (Of course they have other books for other family members and situations, so you should check it out.) The book is designed like a journal with a question listed on every other page. You can give it and your loved ones can simply fill in the blanks, or, use it as a basic list of questions to ask while videotaping your loved one giving the answers.
This book, or it's idea, may inspire you to find out more about your family - both for yourself and the benefit of future generations. I'd love it if you would share some of your questions for family members and encourage others to do the same. Here are some samples from the book:
1) What music did you grow up listening to?
2) What kind of house did you grow up in and what was your old neighborhood like?
3) How did you spend your free time before you had kids?
4) What was it like to become a father?
5) What rules did your parents have, and which ones drove you crazy?
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Although a new cashmere sweater is always nice to receive, how fun would it be to receive a gift that allows you to be generous instead?
This year, you can give a gift that allows the recipient to feel generous - a sort of instant "pick me up" in this depressed economy.
Check out Kevin Bacon's www.SixDegrees.org. When you buy your friend or loved one a "Good Card", he/she can donate the value of it to the charity of his/her choice.
N.B.: Check out more about this charity and others on www.Vivanista.com.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
Sometimes a sore throat can really drag you down. What to do? This amazing, simple kitchen remedy is here to the rescue. It's "el cheapo" - one of my mom's favorite sayings - since you most likely already have the ingredients on hand. The recipe is so simple that it practically makes itself:
"El-Cheapo" Homemade Cough Syrup
1) Slice layers of an onion or turnip into a water glass or mug
2) Pour about 1/4 - 1/2 C of honey*, cover, and let sit overnight
3) Sip liquid as needed throughout the day as a cough syrup
Try it? Let me know how it goes!
* Raw honey is preferred since it has antimicrobial enzymes intact that would otherwise get killed off in heat processing that normally happens with common honey.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
I had to share this with you - there's a new restaurant that I came across randomly that I can't wait to try out next week with friends. It's called Frances
- www.Frances-SF.com.
The menu is mostly organic featuring comfort favorites like chestnut soup (with Straus Dairy, thank you) and local pasture-raised meats including slow-roasted short ribs and Slow Food
Farms chicken (mmm!). Vegetarians, don't worry, you're covered with a scrumptious sounding lacinato kale crepe cannelloni. Bellissimo!
Who's putting on the show? Turns out, it's Melissa Perillo, the former chef of Michelin one-star Fifth Floor. And guess what - the prices are reasonable: $23 for the most expensive entree with pasture-raised meat? In San Francisco? Yea!
Staff is organized and professional with a smile (I knocked on their door to peek at a menu while the staff was pouring over it just minutes before opening their second day of business). In general, good staff usually follows a good chef, and at first blush I think it's going to be pretty good experience.
Atmosphere: cozy, understated; a low-candlelit chill vibe that's still fun enough to bring a small group of friends. Date place? O-Yea. Flying solo? There's a bar for hanging out to talk with a stranger or friend about (what I hope to be) fabulous food.
Although it's cold outside, when winter gives us the "Food of the Gods" - aka bright orange, creamy-fleshed, delicately flavored persimmon - we must heed the call.
Take a heart-shaped Hachiya persimmon when it's really really ripe (as if it's about to collapse) and put it in the freezer. About an hour or two later scoop it out with a spoon and savor the creamy goodness, as if you were having a bowl of ice cream.
Although it's cold outside, when winter gives us the "Food of the Gods" - aka bright orange, creamy-fleshed, delicately flavored persimmon - we must heed the call. 
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