Tallking About Christmas Presents and Happy Birthday to Rand

Happy Birthday wishes today go to my wonderful brother Rand. Since I moved away from my parents' house at age eighteen, when Rand was only four years old, who ever imagined that we would grow up to be the best of friends? Of course I can't tell you how old he is today, since then you guys could do the math and figure out my age (which I have vowed never to reveal). Let's just say that a lot of years have gone by. During that time we've shared a love of exotic food, travel, and movies. We spent time together in Hong Kong and Beijing when Rand was consulting on a television commercial there. I've visited him at his houses in Chicago and Venice Beach, and he has stayed at my house in Salt Lake City. We've had fun sharing the 80 ways we love our 80 year old dad on the family blog (Rand's idea) and eaten a lot of good Thai food together. It's great having a good friend for a brother.

My sister Pam left a comment mentioning that I'm always saying what a great brother I have, and it made me realize I need to be sure you know I have a lot of wonderful brothers and sisters. I'm very, very lucky that way. If I mention my younger brother Rand here more often than Sandee, Pam, Mark, Janet, David, Vida, Laurel, and Valerie, it's only because he is so connected with my blog. Rand and his partner Bradley have their own wireless technology blog and online store, and they were the ones who encouraged me to start Kalyn's Kitchen. This year for Christmas Rand gave me professionally designed (by him!) business cards. I tried to show you one, but have you ever tried to photograph a business card? Just for the record, the garlic in the background is out of focus on purpose! The other side has my logo, Who Knew Low Carb Could Taste So Good? and my e-mail address. The cards are perfect. Thank you Rand, and have a wonderful birthday. I love you very much.

For Christmas I asked people in my extended family (84 of us counting baby Brayden who was born on Christmas Day) to give me some kind of interesting hand-me-down plate, bowl, or dish that I could use for food photographs. Let's Dish will be a new feature on Kalyn's Kitchen where I mention who provided the dish used in a food photo. I thought this would be a fun way to share some of the people in my life. Tomorrow I will be cooking for some of those great people, as members of the family who live nearby are coming to Aunt Kalyn's house for a soup party. I probably won't try to photograph people attending the party, but maybe I can share some photos of the soup.

Before I finish, another reminder about Kalyn's Kitchen holiday message. This three minute podcast is your chance to hear my voice if you're reading from somewhere far across the world! As soon as the New Year comes I promise to stop bragging about this, but for now, I am quite proud.