The photo was everywhere: Lenny Kravitz walking down the street talking on the phone…with a traditional telephone handset wired to his iPhone.

Voila! The perfect gift for my son and TBG, both iPhone addicts who like to pace while they talk, and both notorious butt-dialers. The POP Phone is a retro-style wired handset that connects to mobile phones, iPads, lap tops and other devices.

I found my POP Phone at Urban Outfitters, in an assortment of colors from black to red to purple to yellow…and everything in between. I chose 2 red POP phones: tres cool! Check online: POP Phones are popping up all over: Best Buy, West Elm, CB2, as well as online vendors like Amazon. And prices vary $17-35, so shop around!

Moi tip: POP phones aren’t just for phones: they can also be used for iPads and computers: if you use Skype or VOIP calling, I’ve found that if your connection is static-y or breaking up you can get much clearer reception with the POP phone. Adaptors may be necessary.

And I did test wireless retro handsets for mobile phones: I didn’t find them to be as clear at the wired POP Phone.

Who knew retro handsets would be sooo cool: Lenny knew! I’ll be gifting a few more POP Phones in 2012.

I was Christmas shopping with niece Rachel and we found the perfect gift for her dad…and for TBG! Rachel’s dad has long been making dehydrated fruits and vegetables, which she says takes 3 days so they never do it. Shopping at Genevieve Lethu in Chicago we discovered TopChips for making chips in the microwave!

$25 for a set of 2 stackable trays. Machine washable, finished in 3 minutes: Done!

So this weekend I pulled out an idaho potato, sweet potato, and a couple Fuji apples. I peeled the potatoes, and sliced all 3 on 1/8inch on the mandolin.

First, the idaho potatoes:

I spread a single layer on each of the 2 trays, stacked the trays, and set the microwave for 3 minutes at full power. After cooking I let them set 2 minutes, but they were still soft and flexible, not at all crispy, so I put 1 tray in for 1 minute. Much better: thin and crispy and crunchy. I immediately sprinkled them with sea salt and put them in a little dish for the ultimate taste-test: TBG.

TBG’s vote: Make some more!

Next, I finished the remaining idaho potato slices, then went on to the sweet potato. I found they need to be cooked even longer than the idaho potatoes. I recommend closely monitoring so the chips don’t burn: after 3 minutes just continue cooking in 30 second intervals, remembering the slices continue “cooking and crisping” once they’re removed from the micro.

Finally, the apple slices. I left the peel on, did NOT core them, and just sliced them thin and microwaved for 3 1/2 minutes. I liked them plain, but they would be good with cinnamon or nutmeg too. They’re a little more chewy than crunchy but a easy healthy snack.

Moi tip: Mignette likes the chips too: without salt or any other seasonings, the perfect puppy treat! (btw…she likes potatoes and apples raw too.)

You can buy TopChips at specialty kitchen shops, amazon or online. $20-25, depending on the accessory package.

I’m highly competitive, and love word games so I’ve been a Scrabble addict since I was a kid. When we lived in Paris I bought the Scrabble version Francaise to help expand my French vocabulary, but never mastered French spelling so stopped playing that game. Moi husband and kids have refused to play Scrabble with me for years. Now with Moi iPhone and iPad I’m a Words With Friends addict: I have simultaneous games going with a young mother in England, a Marine in California, a Canadian in France, and countless sisters, nieces and nephews, and friends across the US: even my daughter will play WWF with me. I play in bed, in the car, on buses and train, in planes with WiFi, in line at Target (and to the annoyance of TBG at the dinner table, while watching TV, and anytime or place I can sneak a peak at my iPhone.)So while searching for the perfect birthday gift for a young friend turning 10 this month I bought him Bananagrams: sort of a free-form Scrabble/cross-word game. For 2-8 players aged 7-97. I’m ensuring I’ll be playing WWF for years to come! Completely portable and with its own case it’s perfect for home or on the road. $14.95  Fruits games also available: Appletters and Pairs in Pears.

Friend me on WWF!

I was invited last week to brunch at a friend’s who just bought a condo in SoFlo. So of course the hunt for the perfect hostess gift begins. Brilliant: specialty breakfast treats from Florida!

Everyone likes food gifts, and what’s better than introducing a friend to some of my favorite local foods: a gift of Florida sunshine!

Palmalito Jams and Preserves: Moi faves are the Guava Jelly and the Orange Marmalade, but love the Jalapeño Pepper and Key Lime jellies too. I buy mine at the local Publix, but you can also buy it online and ship it as a gift (or to yourself!) About $3.50/jar.

McCoy’s Honey: I looooove McCoy’s Florida Orange Blossom on my yogurt and TBG squirts it on his toast. Perfect for a little tea sweetner! And we still love our bear squeeze bottle. I buy mine at the local farmer’s market, but you can buy it online. About $4.50/jar. Also sold in larger jars (which we buy to refill the bear.)

Kermit’s Keylime Pie: I buy and send several Kermit’s Key Lime Pies a year to friends up north in the dead of winter: just a taste of Florida Sunshine in all the snow! Ships frozen overnight. About $75. Try the Key Lime Pops on a Stick too!

Honeybell Oranges and Tangellos: These special Florida oranges are only available for a few weeks every year: typically late December thru early February, depending on the weather gods. I once gifted brother Tom 40 honeybells to celebrate his big 4-0! Prices vary, but usually around $25 for 5 lbs, plus shipping. The perfect post-holiday healthy gift! I buy mine at Woolbright Farmers Market, but when shipping I use Cushman’s.

Moi Tip: Check out the recipes from the local producers: Palmalito suggests adding a jar of Guava Jelly to your Thanksgiving yams: sounds yummy!

For sister Lisa’s 40th I needed to celebrate both the big 4-0 and her recent move to the burbs.

With two little girls she’ll soon hit soccer mom status, and cold windy Chicago Fall days ensure some long Saturdays with a folding chair and a venti extra-hot Starbucks while the teams learn the rules of the game.

How to heat-up the day? Try a mini-flask studded with pink Swarovski crystals, and personalized with her name.

39 years 51 weeks...and counting

I bought it at McAdams Ltdfor $35.00, plus engraving. Lisa can provide the liquid heat.

Tres chic! Bon Anniversaire Lisa!

Moi tip: if anyone is reading, Christmas isn’t far off and Moi would love her own personalized crystal flask!

I’m not really an early adopter. But I am a big reader. So back in the 90s, with my first Palm Pilot (I hated cell phones, but with a job requiring travel and 2 kids and a husband: necessary!) I discovered eReader: I could download books to my Palm Pilot, and read them wherever, whenever. Back then the selection of e-books was pretty limited, so I pretty much read classics and trashy novels, which kept me entertained for hours on planes, trains and automobiles…and subways, buses, doctors’ offices and cafés. I adjusted to the small screen easily, the only inconvenience was I had to download the books to my computer, and sync my Palm Pilot to load the books, so I had to plan ahead. A small inconvenience with a huge payoff.

screenshot of my iPhone: outdoors

Fast forward 15 years, I was gifted the brand-new cutting-edge Kindle  e-reader (OK, I bought it myself, wrapped it, and handed it to TBG with instructions to gift it. But still…). And I was happy to spend all my spare change on ebooks at Amazon.   Then, I graduated to the iPhone. And the Kindle App. Could life get any better? Yes, in fact it could. This Christmas TBG gifted me the iPad, and he thought of it all by himself.

Kindle: outdoors

The first app I downloaded? The Kindle App, bien sur! So I could be reading a book on my iPhone, Kindle and iPad: wherever was convenient. And some magical mystical amazon internet god saved my place and let me open my book to the correct page, whichever technology I was using. And I can download a book from anywhere, nowadays even planes are offering WiFi…for a price.

Kindle and iPad side by side: outdoors

And so you ask, why do I continue to use both the iPad and Kindle to read? (The iPhone is easy: it’s always with me!) Blame the sun gods.

iPad outdoors: see the palm trees... behind me!

You’ve probably read alot about the e-reader glare factor. If, like moi, you read outdoors…or in the car…, sun glaring on your e-reader screen converts that screen from a reader to a mirror. I’ve purchased the adhesive glare screens for my iPad, and while they reduce the glare, its virtually impossible to be outside in the sun reading for more than a few minutes. So my Kindle remains close-by for dedicated reading, and my iPad is ready for multi-tasking.

Kindle and iPad side by side: indoors

The reminder email just landed in my inbox: Fathers Day Brunch hosted at my sister’s, pool-side. No time to procrastinate: I needed a Fathers Day gift for my 81 year old father; who tends to toss all gifts on the end of the couch, and ignore them, denying he received any gifts. A quick exchange of emails with the Queen Mum, and Dad’s gift is ordered and in the mail. Check below what Dad’s getting!

Are you looking for gift ideas for the Dad’s in your life? Here are a 5 tested, sure-thing Dad-pleasers:

1. Zaggmate: In our house I’m the iPad-aholic. TBG gifted me for Christmas, and it’s pretty much been glued to my left hand ever since. (I have iPad-thumbitis: am I the only one? So far its not listed on webmd.com)  TBG also gifted me a gorgeous blue Burberry iPad cover, which j’adore, but for Mothers Day our kids gifted me a Zaggmate. This protective carrying case/ keyboard is made of aircraft-grade aluminum, weighs practically nothing, and features a bluetooth connection keyboard that allows your iPad to function like a computer. If your writing long emails, business documents, journals, scripts, business accounts: the Zaggmate will make using your iPad so much easier, while protecting it: with style! On the beach, on a plane, or in the car: Zaggmate and iPad are the perfect combo!

Zaggmate for iPad  $99.99

I love the aluminum case that matches the iPad, but you can style Dad up by adding a standard or custom skin to personalize Dad’s iPad. How about his favorite sports team or mythological character? From $19.99 up.

Tips: Be sure to order the correct Zaggmate: there’s a different version for iPad and iPad 2.

2. Car Cup Charger: I talked about this great car accessory on my last year’s Father’s Day gift post, but it’s still a no-brainer for the wired Dad. This great cup-shaped charger for the car is one of my favorites. Cameras don’t work well when the battery is dead. Same for mobile phones. Or iPads. Traveling by car requires multiple adapters and accessories to charge the iPhone, Blackberry, camera, and baby bottle heater. What’s a guy to do? This clever latte-cup shaped adapter plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter and rests in the cup holder. Brilliant: it charges both 120 volt and USB ports.

PowerLine On-the-Go Power Supply Cup $29.99

Last month we used the PowerLine on a 22 hour roadtrip, with 4 adults, 1 dog, 2 iPads, 1 laptop, and 4 mobile phones: all fully juiced and ready to go!

3. George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbeque Grill: We’ve recently transitioned from a 300 square meter NYC rooftop terrace to a small SoFlo condo balcony: where gas and charcoal grills are forbidden. There are 5 gas grills on the property to share, but too often TBG has gone down to find the closest is all out of gas, or a neighbor is already grilling, or its just too dark to grill. So for his last birthday, the kids gifted him the George Foreman electric grill. He was skeptical at first. But after I assembled it (in less than 10 minutes, no tools required!) then grilled shrimp, TBG wandered out to the balcony and pronounced it really hot. And easy to clean. And definitely convenient: I plug it in, heat for 10 minutes, and its ready to go!So far we’ve grilled shrimp, burgers, steaks, swordfish, vegetables and salmon: love it!

George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Barbeque Grill $109.99

Tip: I have the George Foreman Next Grilleration G5 countertop grill, and it simply didn’t get hot enough. So I am really happy with the patio grill, which could be used indoors: but why?

So, what’s on moi Father’s Day shopping list? Shhhhh, don’t tell: it’s a secret:

for Dad:

For years I’ve been gifting Dad the tiny white traditional anis candies from Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, a picturesque little town in the Burgundy region of France. We first discovered Flavigny after reading that the charming yet-to-be-released film Chocolat was filmed in Flavigny. Just a few hour’s drive from our Paris home, we drove down one Sunday, and along with the charming little village, we discovered Les Anis de Flavigny: tiny little anise-flavored mints, presented in charming oval retro tins and made in the village’s abbey. We adore the original anis flavor, but there are other flavors including violet, rose, lemon and mint.

I carried them home on the plane to Dad for years, but now we’re able to easily find them in the US at specialty groceries or online, including Williams-Sonoma or amazon.com. But what I haven’t found yet in the US is the large refill bag that I still carry home from Paris. Good news: this week I contacted the manufacturer in France, and the large quantity bags will soon be available in the US. This year, Dad’s getting a gift box of 8, for about $25.00.

for TBG:

Forty Beads: The Simple, Sexy Secret for Transforming Your Marriage book and The Forty Beads Gift. I saw it on The Today Show last week and it looked fun: after all, he’s not moi father! I bought the book for $10, and the gift set for $40. (I tried everything I could think of but I had to purchase them separately online: no vendor sold the book and bead set, not even the author’s website: annoying!)

Bonne Fête de Pères!

]]> http://shesshoppingnow.com/fathers-day-gift-dilemna-no-worries/feed/ 4 http://shesshoppingnow.com/the-hundred-foot-journey/ http://shesshoppingnow.com/the-hundred-foot-journey/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 09:00:22 +0000 Moi http://shesshoppingnow.com/?p=3966

I like travel. And food. And books. And best of all, combining all 3! Having lived in Paris for 7 years and last year traveled and tasted my way thru India, my friend Suzanne – another adventurous traveler and food sampler – gifted me the book The Hundred-Foot Journey – A Novel by Richard C. Morais. I had too much going on to do more than read the accolades on the back cover for the 1st few weeks, but then I had time to open the book and drift into other worlds and flavors.

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a culinary travelogue from India (with a quick stop in England) to France. J’adore the contrasting colors, smells, sounds and tastes of both these fascinating yet so extremely opposite countries. The writing is exceptionally good: the words evoked tastes and smells I’ve missed these past months, yet simply and clearly and charmingly written.

the food markets of Udaipur

In fact, for the first chapters I didn’t realize the author wasn’t in fact Indian: he’s a well-traveled white American! I hadn’t read the author bio.

The plot is simple: a young Indian boy and his extended family of restaurateurs in Mumbai experience tragedy and travel first to England, then settle in the fictional Alpine village of Lumière in southeastern France, where his taste buds and cooking skills have a gastronomic collision, then fusion as his gift for cooking propels him from country kitchens to Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris. My love of both French and Indian foods had my appetite in over-drive as each page introduced Hassan to new insights about his ancestral cooking and discoveries about his adopted country’s cuisine.

Tea at the Ritz Paris!

The only thing missing: recipes! I’ve been spoiled by the autobiographical stories Under The Tuscan Sun, Lunch in Paris, The Sweet Life in Paris, and so many others that not only share the authors story, but also share their favorite recipes! This sent me off in search of Indian cookbooks (I have many French cookbooks, see some favorites below). I finally settled on Julie Sahni’s Classic Indian Cooking… and a reservation at a nearby Indian restaurant.

Moi tip: The Hundred-Foot Journey is perfect for book clubs! And why not bring an Indian or French dish to share while talking. The author’s website, while not providing a reader’s guide, provides commentary and life stories about his inspiration for the book that will be sure to keep the conversation going. And a surprise: the book may soon be made into a movie!

Moi tip encore: I have alot of French cookbooks, but there are a few I continuously return to:

French: The Secrets of Classic Cooking Made Easy by Carole Clements and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen

Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten

Je Sais Cuisiner: I Know How to Cook by Ginette Mathiot translated by Clotilde Dusoulier

and my new favorite:

Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan

bon app!

I’ve been lucky to shop the souks of Morocco, Tunisia, India, South Africa, Asia…when I travel, I shop. But there are times when I’m looking for some special item I’ve seen on my travels…but didn’t buy, or want to buy again as a gift.

I’ve been lucky that luxury travel site Indagare has hosted shopping souks I’ve attended in NYC and Chicago…but they are only a few times each year. Now, Indagare is launching Indagare Souk: an online marketplace of global finds. Indagare will continue to host shopping events in cities around the country: Indagare Souk is coming to LA: a live Indagare Souk shopping event will take place on April 12th and 13th at The Peninsula, Beverly Hills.

But if you’re not able to attend a live shopping event, and aren’t traveling to any exotic global shopping locales this year, shop Indagare Souk online: what could be easier!

Some of moi favorites from the site (which just launched):

Panchachuli Kasardevi Green Lambswool Shawl $55  Love the colors!

Single Stone Bracelet: $95 Leather and gemstones: flashy and classy

Positano Dress with Sari-inspired Fabric: $248 The girl at the next table won’t be wearing this

Lalla Clutch: $110 Handmade in Morocco, this is the perfect summer neutral bag

See You at the Souk: I’m Shopping Now!

the details:

Indagare Souk: An Online Global Marketplace: http://indagare.com/info/souk

The perfect do-ahead or last-minute gift: something homemade from your kitchen. Every year I go to Omaha for a holiday bake-a-thon with moi bff J. Every year we add new recipes, reject some previous efforts, and always bake our favorites. I return home with my freezer and pantry stocked up for holiday giving, family dinners, and anytime snacking and nibbling.

For home-baked gift-giving I purchased some monogrammed gift boxes in assorted sizes from Williams-Sonoma. I bought burgundy boxes with a gold monogram in quantity, but also purchased some white boxes with spring seasons in pastel colors for summer giving. The boxes fold flat for easy storage, and with the different sizes I can easily gift 6 cookies or a whole batch of peanut brittle.

Moi tip: when receiving homemade food treats,  I usually can’t remember who gave me the goodies when it’s time to eat them! So when I give a homemade food gift, I apply one of my address labels to the inside of the giftbox. That way, when it’s time to eat the giftee knows who made the goodies: and can ask  for my recipe, or verify any food allergy questions.

homemade salty caramels on their way to a Christmas party

One of these days I’m going to order a beautiful set of gold embossed labels stating From the Kitchen of Moi…but until then the address labels work!

Moi Note:

What did we bake this year? In our 3 day baking marathon we whipped up:

• speculaas cookies
• salty caramel sandwich cookies
• lemon raspberry thumbprints
• nutella pound cake
• peanut brittle
• almond crescent cookies
• snowballs
• peanutbutter balls
• gingersnaps
• cranberry pistachio shortbread
• puppy chow: milk chocolate and caramel
• salty caramels
• Christmas puppy chow: white chocolate with red and green M&Ms
• English toffee

And was that all Moi baking? Mais, non! Since the marathon I’ve also baked

• peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies
• chocolate lollipops with cranberries and pistachios
• more nutella bread, bien sur
  
• chocolate covered cheerios (inspired by Jacques Torres)
• and lastly, a new batch of Almond Crescent cookies. J and I have been searching for the perfect Almond Crescent Cookies recipe (aka: moon cookies, vanillekipferl, nut crescents, or kupferlin)
  

I was complaining to sister S that I had never found an Almond Crescent recipe as good as Grandma Honey’s, which was nowhere to be found. Quelle Surprise: sister S had the recipe. So goddaughter R and Moi spent a cold winter evening whipping up a batch:

Grandma Honey’s Almond Crescent Cookie Recipe