The Best Geek Gift for a Foodie EVER!

This may be the best novelty chocolate item ever made.  By rights, this should have gone into the Foodie section of the gift guide but it is so cool it needs a post all to itself. You can buy a chocolate replica of Han Solo in the carbonite slab. You can buy it from Think Geek.  It costs $11.99 for one 4.5 ounce bar. 

Kattomic Energy 2012 Gift Guide--Part 2

One of the labels I assign myself is that of "feminist" and I'm not ashamed to identify with my sisters. But my feminist credo is, "Feminism is the radical  notion that women are people," and as I've gotten older, I don't feel that the term "feminist" is particularly inclusive, even when men proudly claim it. (My father was a feminist by trade, an Army lawyer who fought for civil rights and women's rights before it was actually fashionable.)  So I prefer to think of myself as a "humanist" and define that term as someone who cares about his/her fellow human beings. This part of the gift guide will focus on gifts for people who want gifts that matter. With the occasional feminist t-shirt thrown in.

Gifts for people who have everything they want or need to give on behalf of people who live in want and need:

Heifer International

Heifer International. Their mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.  Who doesn't think that's a good idea?  You've probably seen their gift catalogue; filled with suggested donations in every price range, from a flock of chickens or ducks for $20 to a gift ark ($5000) that provides mating pairs of many different animals. This year the catalogue includes items like "a gift of women's empowerment" (helping women become self-sufficient and more efficient at producing food) for $1000 (or $100 a share); a gift of a healthy home for $50 (construction materials to make shelter safer); a gift of clean water ($300 for water purification equipment) and "the gift of transformation" which provides herds of heifers, llamas and goats, flocks of sheep and chickens, a pen of pigs, a school of fish, a gaggle of geese and the training to take care of the animls. (Price tag is $25,000.)

Kattomic Energy's Holiday Gift Guide--Part Une

Joyeux Noel everyone. In the first part of the2012 Kattomic Energy Gift Guide, the focus is on Francophiles.

Books:  French cooking began, at least for most American cooks, with Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Snag the 50th anniversary edition for $24 at your favorite bookstore. Find it at Amazon here. David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris (subtitled "Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious and Perplexing City") is a great introduction to the food culture of the French capital. (There is a right and a wrong way to work your way around a cheese plate.) You can buy it new for $23 or used for as little as $5. (I often use the "buy used" option from Amazon's sellers and most of the books I've purchased arrive looking brand new.)

All of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks are wonderful and her Barefoot in Paris is one of those cookbooks that's as fun to look at as it is to read. It's just a beautiful book and the recipe for pear clafoutie is to die for. Available for under $20 in both print and ebook.

If you're frustrated that you can't order anything from Amazon France unless you're actually in France, check out French Books Online, a source for French language books in many genres as well as audiobooks, some of them bilingual. Authors in their policiers (crime thriller) section include Pierre Simenon (fils de Georges), Jean Amilia, Brigitte Auber, and Tonino Benacquista.

Chocolat is everybody's favorite French movie starring Johnny Depp. Buy the novel by Joanne Harris it's based on. 

Movies: The French invented the term "film noir" so as you might expect, they also perfected the art. The 1943 film Le Corbeau (the Raven) is arguably the best example of the genre. There's a fabulous Criterion Collection edition available, but it's pricey ($70) and according to Amazon, they only have four left in stock.

Paris Je T'Aime is a cinematic love letter to the city, and stocking stuffer priced at under $8.

Paul Bishop Photograph--November Rain in Paris

Photo by Paul Bishop

Isn't this image by Paul Bishop (originally posted on Facebook) gorgeous. I am a sucker for Eiffel Tower images.

Time to weed out that TBR pile?

If you're in Los Angeles, you can donate books to Books For People, who will sell them and use the proceeds to fund charities serving homeless children. And they PICK UP your books. (They also accept DVDs, CDs, and records. Any books they can't sell, they donate to local libraries. Check them out.

Because not everyone is going to be home for the holidays

There are men and women serving on behalf of me and every other American in places that are inhospitable and downright hostile. Some of these soldiers are stationed far from a PX (post exchange) and some of them can't afford even little luxuries. Military Connections is a non-profit organization that sends care packages (more than 600 a month) to soldiers stationed overseas. They're now putting together Christmas stockings. They have a wish-list of items from unopened, unexpired OTC meds like Tums and Tylenol to packages of athletic socks and AT&T calling cards to extra Christmas cards they can send. You can also sponsor a soldier or marine's stocking for a $10 donation and include a note or a picture. Giving a little could mean a lot.
For more information, check out the Military Connections website here.

Cityscape: Richmond, Virginia

I lived in Richmond my last two years in high school and during the summers I went to college. It's a very scenic city and there are things about it I miss, like the James River. This is a view of downtown from the James. All those rocks were really enticing. I've sunbathed on them. And every year, some kid gets stranded and has to be rescued.  My parents' house was only two blocks from the river, we could always hear the helicopters flying back and forth. Some summers it was like the Fall of Saigon out there.