Merry Christmas 2012

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas! I hope it is filled with lots of laughs, family and hella food.
- xo, Mary the  Food Librarian and Cidney the Girl Dog


Dear Friends of the Food Librarian, I know Mary writes about me all the time and takes endless instagram photos on the beach, but can you believe this year's costume? It was a few sizes too small and had to be stretched over my head (luckily I have small ears). Then they put antlers on me too. Oh, the things I do for a daily walk and occasional run to the beach. :) I wish you and your furry friends a great holiday season!
- xo, Cidney the Girl Dog

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Opening Hours Holidays

The holidays are almost here, and if you want to get some gifts or just sit down for a while, see when below.

Please note that the hours are not the same at all places.
Here are the opening hours:

TORVEHALLERNE

20/12    7-21
21/12    7-21
22/12    8-21
23/12    8-19
24/12 CLOSED
25/12 CLOSED
26/12 CLOSED
27/12    8-20
28/12    8-20
29/12    8-20
30/12    8-19
31/12    8-15
1/1       CLOSED
2/1       7-20

JÆGERSBORGGADE

20/12    8-18
21/12    8-18
22/12    8-18
23/12    8-19
24/12 CLOSED
25/12 CLOSED
26/12 CLOSED
27/12   10-18
28/12   10-18
29/12   10-18
30/12   10-18
31/12   10-15
1/1       CLOSED
2/1       7-19

GODTHÅBSVEJ

20/12     7.30-21
21/12     7.30-21
22/12     9-21
23/12    10-21
24/12 CLOSED
25/12 CLOSED
26/12 CLOSED
27/12    10-18
28/12    10-18
29/12    10-18
30/12    10-18
31/12    10-14
1/1     CLOSED
2/1        8-18

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Yukro visit late 2012

Ethiopia. Ancient Abyssinia. Birthplace of Arabica coffee. (I really wish I could do an intro to this blog post narrated by David Attenborough.) What a magnificent place.

The harvest in Ethiopia this year looks to be small - about 30% less than last year from what we heard. Many places experience bi-annual cycles, where one year will have a large crop and next year a small crop, so nothing unusual about it. At least a lower yield quite often mean higher taste quality, but it's hard to predict until you're done processing and drying.

Casper and I spend a little over a week in Ethiopia with the primary goal to visit Yukro and spend a good amount of time with the people there. Last year we bought one lot from them, which was our first purchase from Ethiopia since the famed Idido (Aricha micro lots). It's a coffee that has impressed us immensely once we got the roast right, and it's holding up extremely well over time too. So we are very eager to cup the coffees from Yukro again this year and have every intention of buying again (and in the future) provided that the quality maintains. After visiting we have no doubt that it will actually improve. The energy there and the knowledge that is being implemented will surely make the coffee from Yukro stand out in the future too.

Just as we arrived at Yukro village, the members were gathered for a meeting. We were asked to share our thoughts on their coffee and give them sort of a pep talk. We don't think they needed a pep talk at all, and it was awesome to feel the spirit and energy there.

Vis Farms på et større kort


Vis Farms på et større kort


One disclaimer though: We were there too early. See, these kind of trips we have to plan a long time in advance, as both of us have a pretty full work week as it is. Casper is in charge of our roastery and deliveries and I run our wholesale, marketing and training. So we had been told that the week we went would most likely be the top of the harvest (and still early) and planned accordingly. Unfortunately the harvest became delayed and we were there just about a week before the actual harvest began. Bummer.  The upside, though, was that the people at Yukro actually had time to talk with us and show us around. During harvest that can be a problem, as everybody is really busy.

Yukro is actually a small village as well as being the name of the wet mill. The members of the cooperative wet mill (also called a washing station) lives in the area around the village. Last year Yukro had around 250 members. This year it has increased to 367 members. It cost 400 birr (the Ethipian currency) to become a shareholder of the coop. The members elect a cooperative committee or board of 13 people, including a chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and secretary. The chairman os Yukro is Mr.
Taddase Gudina (on the left on the picture below). A very friendly and welcoming man, who invited us into his home and shared many meals with us. In general the hospitality and openness of the Ethiopians is amazing.



Much like in Kenya the members (shareholders) pick their own coffee trees and deliver cherry to the wet mill. Here they get a receipt (in triple copies) for the amount of cherry they've delivered and are paid cash straight away. The cherry price is set by the board of the coop before the harvest begins, so the members know what to expect. When the coop has sold all their coffee and know how much is left after paying off loans, salaries etc. the dividend is paid out. This actually happened while we were there, meaning more than half a year after we bought the coffee. The reason for it being so late is that all the accounting needs to be finished first, and some of the last of the coffee hadn't been paid until quite late.



The Yukro coop is only two years into operation. The farmers around have been growing coffee for many years selling the cherries to private millers or exporters. By having their own wet mill they get much more value directly to themselves. The wet mill was set up initially by an American NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called Technoserve. Funded by the Bill Gates foundation the organization works to transform lives by providing poor people access to productivity-enhancing tools. Building washing stations in Ethiopia is part of that. Technoserve does an amazing job in helping the farmers - with out having any agenda to make profit (as you might know, an NGO can't make money). They provide knowledge about growing and processing as well as helping the coops manage their finances and get better deals. It's really the kind of work we believe can help places like Ethiopia: Private businesses that thrive and bring money to the local community. Rather than one-off feel-good charity projects, we wish to be part of a longer lasting business relationship where all parts are profitable and equal. If you haven't already clicked the link above to Technoserve's website, I'd recommend you click now and read through it.

Mr Moata Raya, who's an agronomist at Technoserve in Jimma, took time to go with us to Yukro and show us around. He's a fun guy, always really cheerful with a great sense of humour, and at the same time very knowledgeable about coffee and the difficulties facing farmers. He also helped translate for us on a number of occasions, as we don't speak any Oromic or Amharic (they have around 85 different languages in Ethiopia).



At the Nordic Roaster Forum professor Giorgio Graziosi, from the University in Trieste, Italy, gave a very interesting lecture, that I'd recommend you see here and download the slides. Especially slide 20 is pretty mind blowing. Him and his colleagues are working on mapping the DNA of coffee, which is a rather extensive work taking several years. By now they can map out different varieties according to their genes. So for example they can determine based on DNA if a certain variety really is a geisha, caturra or whatever. In their work they have mapped coffees from several places, but what really surprised them was the coffee from just two places in Ethiopia. The variation in the gene pool there was astounding. If you look at Slide 20 you can see that the diversity in varieties from just those two places is great than all the other varieties grown commercially around the entire world.

This great diversity stems from the fact that Ethiopia is still pretty much the only place in the world where coffee is growing wild. There's thousand of different varieties growing in forests and farms there that no one knows what is.

Walking around the wild forests surrounding Yukro it's clear to anyone that this is not a plantation, as you know if from other coffee producing countries. Literally every tree we'd walk past looked like a new variety. And it was easy to pick out. One had huge, broad, round leaves and the next had narrow, thin, pointy ones. One had oblong, huge cherries and the next completely round little bombs. There were dwarf varieties next to tall, thing ones. And so on and on. You don't need to be an expert to see the differences here.



The other thing that strikes you is how wild the forest grows. From a distance you would not be able to tell that the main crop there was coffee. It just looked like a rain forest to us. Walking into the woods it actually took me a little while before I realized that some of the tall trees were coffee. There were several 10 meter tall coffee trees there!



To pick it the farmers have to drag the top down with a long stick to reach the cherries. Fortunately the stem is pretty flexible and the tree doesn't suffer. I hope the picture catches how tall this tree is, but it'll never do the actual sight justice. It was impressive.

Walking around the farms you couldn't help notice very strong smells from different herbs, especially wild mint growing like weed in the forest bottom. They don't spray the trees for anything here (pesticides or herbicides) and doesn't use any artificial fertilizers either. Everything is organic. They do weed out the bottom of the forest and let nature handle the rest.





We think the great bio-diversity and multiple varieties help that deceases and pests don't spread as easily as when you have just one variety of coffee growing across a big area. It's common sense within other agricultural products, so why would coffee be any different? This raises some interesting thoughts as specialty coffee these days is often sold and marketed as single varieties and we in general (us included) want to taste a specific variety on its own. But the mixture of varieties might have a much better impact at origin, and the wildness you also get in the cup is to us equally interesting as a single variety. In any case,

At the Yukro wet mill the cherry is received and then processed. Using an eco-friendly depulper and demucilator called Penagos 1500, both the pulp and the mucilage is removed.

After pulping and demucilating the coffee goes into soaking tank overnight. Early in the morning they take it to skin drying tables, which are always totally shaded. If it's taken direct to sun the parchment will crack and the coffee dry too quickly. On skin drying tables they are also sorting out any visible defects. Here the coffee is 3-4 hours, then moved to regular drying tables, where they keep sorting.

Waste water from processing (which is very little compared to for example processing in Kenya) is cleaned with Magic Grass, which absorbs the honey water in its root system. Water flows naturally through the magic grass which absorbs most of it and the rest goes into a sediment pool, where the water vaporize.

Optimal drying time for the coffee at Yukro is 8-10 days on raised tables that are shaded when there's sun, but not when cloudy. 10,5-11% drying green is ideal and the dry mill will only accept between 9-11,5%.

After drying its taken to storage. Here they weigh and label it with lot number and which table it's been dried on. They keep it in open bags for conditioning to let excess heat escape for about a day. When it's a whole lot (150 bags) it's taken to a warehouse with Oromia union next to the Dry Mill.


Check list for Coffee Processing

The Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union is based in Addis Ababa, with their HQ right next to their new Dry Mill. It was taken into operation two years ago and is the cleanest dry mill I've ever seen. Brand new destoners, hullers and density and size separators and sorting machines. Finished with a very efficient hand sorting space. That final hand sorting is a big part of the final clean cup and definitely worth paying the extra money for.



In a few weeks we can expect to cup the first samples of the lots from Yukro. From there it's still a little while before the fresh crop has been through the dry mill and are ready for export. Hopefully everything will ship on time and we'll again be one of the first roasteries to offer fresh Ethiopian coffees. But Ethiopia is a tricky country and time and time again roasters have seen their containers full of fresh coffee sitting in a warehouse of being stuck at a port for weeks, due to different circumstances beyond their control (for example there were a general strike last year just after our container shipped). So you never really know. In any case we're already looking forward to cup this years lots and continue our relationship with Yukro.



If you haven't already viewed our slideshow of pictures from the trip click this link.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Gingerbread Pancakes - Mark Bittman

Gingerbread Pancakes

I woke up craving pancakes the other day. And gingerbread. Thus, gingerbread pancakes!

This recipe is from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. It's a great book that I need to use more often. Are you a food blogger? I've finally started taking a photo of the recipe I'm using so I can keep track of things!

These pancakes are fluffy and have a hint of molasses and spices. Fresh minced ginger is added to the batter. When I make these again, I might also add some ground ginger to the mix to amp up the spices.

The liquid includes milk (I used almond milk), molasses and egg yolks. The egg whites are beaten until stiff and folded into the batter.

When you wake up with a craving for pancakes and gingerbread...make these!

Recipe:
Adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Base: Light and Fluffy Pancakes (page 202) + Gingerbread ingredients


1 cup milk
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger, or 2 teaspoons ground ginger, or 2-3 Tablespoons minced crystallized ginger (I used fresh ginger)
4 eggs, separated
1 cup all-purpose flour
Dash salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves

1. Preheat griddle or pan. Cook these pancakes more slowly than others as they can burn.
2. Beat together the milk, egg yolks, ginger and molasses in a measuring cup or bowl.
3. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a whisk or electric mixer until stiff but not dry.
5. Combine the dry ingredients and milk/yolk mixture. Fold in the egg whites but don't overmix...you can leave streaks of the egg whites.
6. Butter or oil the pan and add batter. Flip when the pancake shows some bubbles, and cook through.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Manhattan Beach Yuletide 5K Run 2012

Manhattan Beach Yuletide 5K

Yesterday, my friend Melissa and I ran the Manhattan Beach Yuletide 5K on the beach. This was my first time running this race in the glow of the moon, holiday lights on the pier and glow necklaces.

The 5K goes from the Manhattan Beach Pier to 45th Street and back. After, they had a kid's run with adorable and fast little tots. Many people dress up with outstanding costumes and hats. Some were wearing full-on battery-powered Christmas lights wrapped around themselves and sometimes their strollers...very cute!

Everyone received a glow necklace that reminds you of a carnival or Disneyland. It was also FREEZING. Um, I know the use of the word "freezing" by a native Los Angeles girl may be laughed at by others...but it was really cold outside. The low was 48 degrees on Saturday and it felt it.

The Manhattan Beach Pier is decorated with simple lights and the "tree" at the end of the pier was a beacon of "you are almost done." I've never run on the beach as I usually have Ms. Cidney the Dog with me (only a few Los Angeles area beaches allow dogs on the beach). It was harder than asphalt but oh so beautiful. Running under the moonlight with the waves rolling besides you...if it weren't so dark, it would totally be a postcard of beautiful Los Angeles living.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Christmas Offers

If you still haven't bought Christmas presents, we have some great offers in stores for you:

Aeropress + 1 bag of coffee (your choice)
SAVE 50,-

God Kaffe + 1 bag Finca Vista Hermosa + 1 bag of coffee (your choice)
SAVE 80,-

God Kaffe + Wilfa coffee grinder MALT
Kr 750,-  SAVE 148,-

Taster Package:
4 x 250 g coffee; Kieni, Finca Vista Hermosa, El Diamante and Yukro
Kr 299,-  SAVE 72,-

Offers are only available in our stores, except for the Taste Package, which is also available in our webshop.

Merry Christmas everybody!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Slideshow from our visit to Yukro, Ethiopia

Here's a small slideshow of our pictures from our visit to Yukro in Ethiopia.

Click Full Screen and Show Info if you really want to dig into it. We hope you enjoy it!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Giveaway winner and more holiday ideas

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a lovely birthday with friends, family and the dog. Mellow and fun. I bought myself this Nike+ GPS watch for running. Only wish that it also ran for me...but I'm sure they are working on that. ;)

The randomly selected winner of my birthday giveaway ($20 Amazon gift card and $20 donated to the Red Cross) is:  Tina of Food for Tina. Congrats!

Last week, I listed a few holiday gift ideas (see Part One here). Of course, as soon as I hit "publish," I thought of some more ideas...and I got some birthday gifts that would be perfect holiday gifts! :)

Beurre & Sel Cookies

My dear friend sent me these Dorie Greenspan cookies for my birthday!!! Most delicious gift ever! Dorie's store is open in New York...and it's my dream to visit. However, we now have delivery. I received a sleeve of Classic Jammers, World Peace Cookies and Sables. OMG...they are so delicious - I love them all. The Classic Jammers are my favs (but picking a favorite is like picking your favorite child). Order yours today!

Humble Bean Japanese Recipe Booklet
My friend Azusa has developed another recipe booklet! You can find simple, delicious recipes for clear mushroom soup, sesame dressing, oyako donburi, ramen cabbage salad and more. On Etsy for $15 plus shipping.

Moleskin 2013 12 Month Daily Planner in Pretty Colors
I got this for my birthday! I love all things Moleskin and can't wait for the new year to start to use it! Each month is a different color and you can keep them all in this book for years to come. In all the police procedural movies and books I've read, it is important to hang onto your calendar to prove your alibi. Just saying. $40 retail.

Emergency Radio, Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger
I live in earthquake land and we never know when the big one is going to hit. This is a little radio/flashlight/cell phone charger hand crank thingy that I keep by my bed and in the car. For about $40, I feel a little better having it at the ready. It may not be the most glamorous gift, but the recipient will love you when they need to charge that cell phone after an earthquake, storm or power outage.

One Line a Day: Five Year Memory Book

This is a fun book I got a couple years ago. Each page has one day (such as December 7th) with five sections. You fill out one section per year. Then, you can look back to what happened one, two, four years ago. You only have room for a couple sentences so you can basically tweet your day. :) I'm almost done with my second year, and it is enlightening to see what happened a year ago...sometimes it'll make you cringe at how fast a year goes by! $12 on Amazon.

Finally, after all this holiday shopping and cheer, it's always nice to have someone else cook for you. The folks at Souplantation told me about this special: bring in a canned food donation and get 20% off at Souplantation during December. Your donated food will be given to local food banks!

Have fun! - mary the food librarian

FCC Disclosure: I'm part of the Amazon affiliate program so I get a few cents if you click on my links and buy something on Amazon (don't worry, I never know who buys what so if you want to buy ten copies of 50 Shades of Grey, no biggie). 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Happy Birthday to Me Giveaway!

Good morning! It's my 42nd birthday today! What?! Not sure how that happened (time certainly accelerates when you get older), but I've been blessed with great family and friends throughout my life.

Today is about walking to the beach with Cidney the Girl Dog, lunch with my folks and dinner and rom-com with friends. Sweet. And, of course, calories don't count today. It's the law.

To celebrate, I'm having a little giveaway! One reader gets a $20 Amazon gift card and $20 donated in their name to the Red Cross. A little something for you, and a little something for others. Sounds like a plan.

Just leave a comment below before Sunday night, December 9, 2013 at midnight PST. I'll randomly pick one winner. Leave your email or twitter handle if you comment anonymously. FCC Disclosure: I'm paying for this.

Thanks for sharing my birthday with me! Hope you have a great day too!

- mary the food librarian

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins

I got my first Christmas card yesterday. What?! I'm in denial about the holiday season. But I do love photo cards...always amazed how fast kids are growing. My mom and dad made my brother and I sit for holiday cards until I was 21 years old. Do you make photo cards for the holidays?

Here are some simple pumpkin muffins...and they are dairy-free! (contains eggs so they aren't vegan). They come together in a jiffy. Next time, I think I'll add some crystallized ginger. Everything is better with ginger.

It's my dear friend Helen's Birthday today! Woo hoo! Happy Birthday Helen!

Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from the American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I used Trader Joe's pumpkin pie spice)
1 1/4 cups sugar

Topping:
1 Tablespoon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
and/or shakes from the Trader Joe's Cinnamon Sugar Grinder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in 12 muffin cups (I used brown parchment cups - love these. I get mine from Surfas in Los Angeles...they are opening a store in Costa Mesa soon.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar.

Quickly mix the wet mixture with the flour mixture. Don't overmix!

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl.

Scoop batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar topping. (I topped mine with a few grinds of the Trader Joe's Cinnamon Sugar grinder). Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for a few minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The Food Librarian's Gift Ideas 2012

Season's Greetings! Seriously can't believe it is December 1st already. Haven't started my holiday shopping yet...have you? Anyway, here are some things that I own and can't live without, or can't wait to explore that someone in your life may want. I can't guarantee that this will be the most awesome gift for your friends and family...but it may give you an idea for things to buy For Yourself. :) Remember to treat yourself this holiday season too!

It's a pretty random list... here goes (click on links for Amazon pages - full disclosure: I'm part of the Amazon affiliate program and get pennies if you happen to purchase items from this link...and I end up buying more cookbooks! Ah, the circle of life :)

\

Cookbooks - For the Baker of all levels:
Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
If you've followed my blog, you know this book is a huge part! I was part of the Tuesdays with Dorie group and we baked our way through this book. I consider it a classic, and perfect for both the beginning baker and expert. Dorie Greenspan is amazing...she has very good instructions and wonderful flavor combos. This collage is just a few of the things I made from the book!

Some of the recipes from Dorie's book: Baking: From My Home to Yours

For the more advanced baker: 

Bouchon Bakery - This new book by Bouchon Bakery is beautiful. I haven't baked anything from it, but can't wait. Fortunately, Bouchon had a pop-up bakery in Beverly Hills (now they have a permanent bakery) and I went on my 40th birthday for delicious cookies and signature bouchon "cork" brownies. Everything is in weights and they have a chapter about throwing out your measuring cups. Woo hoo...speaking my language.

A few more books that I use a lot:
The Art and Soul of Baking - This is a great book with lots of instruction and easy to make recipe. It's by Sur la Table and pastry chef Cindy Mushet. Some of the items I've made include Orange Chocolate Chip muffins, Nectarine Upside-Down muffins, and Chocolate Chip Toffee scones.

Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe - Oh man, I love this bakery and this book. Joanne Chang has some detailed instructions and very delicious recipes. The yellow cake is worth buying this book alone. And the lemon ginger scones? Please. Just add it to your cart already.

Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours - This book came out in 2010 and I find myself reading it often. Sarabeth Levine has her bakery in New York...and until I get myself there, I'll just have to bake up a lot of yummy desserts from her book. 

Mochi: recipes from savory to sweet! by JustJenn Fujikawa ($12.50). My friend JustJenn has this great recipe book of all mochi related recipes! From Savory to Sweet! Get your mochi on this holiday season. JustJenn is so creative and makes awesome recipes - you'll really enjoy this book!

Salter 3003 Aquatronic Glass Electronic Kitchen Scale (about $40)
Speaking of scales, I've had this one for a few years and love it. It easily switches from grams to ounces, and  has large numbers. Weighing ingredients is much faster and saves washing dishes. Luckily, more cookbooks are published with weights, as well as food sections of newspapers like the Los Angeles Times.

Portable Speaker  ($15-20 Available in Blue, Black, Red and Silver)

When I bake, I love listening to audiobooks. However, I'd rather not have headphones in my ears (have you caught the cords on a drawer and have them yanked from your ears? Totally sucks). This cute little plug-in speaker does the trick. My colleague uses it with her iPad to watch movies in bed, and another friend uses it in her car. It charges via USB on your computer, and the charge lasts awhile.

Roku HD Streaming Player

Do you have Netflix streaming, Amazon Prime or watch Amazon videos or Hulu? This really small Roku box lets you stream videos via WiFi. It's way cool. Most of my friends have an XBox or Blueray player that will stream videos to their TV, but I don't have those fun things. This box works great, and takes very little space. Before I got it, I bought a DVD player with streaming from Costco. It wasn't set up for Amazon Video so I would have to open a browser, use a little remote without a keyboard and it didn't work great. The Roku has it set up to work with the major streaming players so you don't go crazy.

P.S. Thanks to my twitter buddy Erica @epeureka for helping me find the remote too! I tweeted, "If I were my Roku remote, where would I be?" and she said, "Couch cushion crack." Score! (And I found some lose change too).

They have a bunch of different types of Roku... but I really love it for streaming. It's amazing that something so small can deliver my favorite shows! :)

For the runner:
While I'm hardly a big time runner, here are a few things I wear while running so I'm not hit by a car. Because that would suck. Big time.

Road ID Engraved Emergency Contact Wristband ($20) - I run with my phone and dog. But if something happens, my phone has a pattern lock, and my dog doesn't talk. So I have a pink Road ID that can talk for me should that ever happen. This would make a very valuable gift to anyone who exercises or even just walks the dog.

Road ID - Reflective Ankle Bands (Pair) ($10)

Traveler stuff:
This is a great bag. It is called the Patagonia MLC or Maximum Legal Carry-On bag. It has a zillion zippered pouches and can be carried like a brief case or worn like a messenger bag or backpack. My friend Sumi has taken hers all over the world, and well, I've taken mine to San Francisco and the east coast. It's perfect for probably up to 4 days, if you don't have too many shoes. It's $160 but I think it's going to last many years and miles.

Donations:
Of course, the best gift is giving to others. Consider a donation to your friend's favorite charity - service organizations, libraries, museums, zoos, and so many worthy causes!

Updated: See part 2 of my gift list here. 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad