The Jew & The Carrot presents a sustainable Chanukah gift guide, which features earth-friendly, meaningful present ideas for (just about) everyone in your life.

• A vegan cookbook for your sister?
• A sturdy bike basket for your cycling buddy?
• A kosher, organic tea set for your boss?

Find these great gift ideas (and many more) at The Jew & The Carrot’s Sustainable Chanukah Gift Guide

Walking down the streets of Brooklyn, you will inevitably run into some cobwebs – not the kind actually made by spiders (that’s asking a little much for our concrete jungle).  Instead, you’ll find manufactured, cotton candy-like cobwebs that people drape on their bushes and pile on their stoops (along with winking pumpkins and smirking cardboard witches) for Halloween.  Before too long, those pumpkins will be replaced by plastic Santas and reindeer dotted with little, white lights.

Check out these great excerpts from a photo essay entitled, What the World Eats, from the book, Hungry Planet, by photographer (and fellow tribesman?) Peter Menzel.

And if you’re ever confused about what blessing to say when encountering a new food, you can use this new handy gadget, from The Jewish Learning Group!

Looking for the perfect gift for an eco-friendly, garden-obsessed (perhaps even going to Adamah?) graduate? Look no further! Food, gardening and dirt are *very* hot topics in the craft world these days.  Many beautiful options, like the one below, await you at www.etsy.com (search keywords: “garden” “farm” and “food” for great gift options)

1. Beautiful Tomato Print (great for decorating dorm rooms!)

* A ramp is a wild onion (Allium triccocum), found in eastern North America. It has flat leaves, and rounded clusters of white flowers. It can be eaten raw, or used in cooking. It is in season right now in the Northeast. Ramps are also referred to as wild leek.

Following the holiday of Purim, I can be pretty sure that many people have a large volume of the following items in their house: candy, chocolate, and a variety of baked treats. I think that the mitzvah (Torah commandment) of sending Mishloach Manot (sending of portions” which often include wine and pastries; alternately, sweets, snacks, or any foodstuff qualifies) is a beautiful one which emphasizes building community and spreading sweet, warm feelings to one’s friends and family.