I have a sister and nephew living in Japan this year and even though books are heavy, I wanted to send them some good reads while they were over there. So, I sent them a big box of books for Christmas this year.

They were thrilled when they received the package! I picked out books I thought they would both enjoy so they could share the books. My sister Toni has already started Kevin Emerson's Oliver Nocturne Series--which I gave to my nephew Kenny Lee. On the other hand, Kenny Lee has started planning his first Japanese bento lunch box design, getting the idea from Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes--a book I gave to Toni.

Kenny Lee wanted his mom to help him, but she held up Ani's Raw Food Kitchen--which I also gave her--and annouced that she no longer cooks food as she now has a no-cook cook book--she doesn't like to cook. It was the perfect gift for her.

I found Ani's Raw Food Kitchen when I was looking for a desert recipe to make for Thanksgiving that I could feed to my many allergy family; no wheat, rice, soy, dairy, peanuts or bananas.  I ran into Ani's web site that had a fantastic raw blueberry/blackberry cobbler recipe that everyone could eat. It was so EASY and such a big hit at Thanksgiving that people were fighting over it.

My other sister, Marilene, loves to cook and uses nothing but organic ingredients, much of which she grows herself. My niece Mayumi--who also loves to cook--has a job that doesn't give her a chance to cook for herself at home much since she works in the galley of a freightliner that travels up and down the west coast and across to Hawaii for about 3 months at a time. She's home for a couple weeks and then gone for 3 months. So, I bought Ani's Raw Food Kitchen for all the gals in my family!