Actor Taye Diggs talks about his new children’s book, ‘Chocolate Me’

By Rod Hagwood, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Taye Diggs is all about the chocolate love.

And by that we mean his new children’s book “Chocolate Me” (Feiwel & Friends, 2011), a book that the star of “Private Practice” hopes will help kids feel good about being unique.

We caught up with the star of movies such as “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “The Best Man” at his West Coast home which he shares with son Walker and wife Idina Menzel (“Glee,” ‘’Wicked”) for a quick Q & A:

Question: The book, “Chocolate Me,” is based on a poem you wrote back in college, right?

Answer: Yeah, you know when you’re in college, that’s the time when you tend to have periods where you are more...

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Black Friday Q&A

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK — Ready. Set. Shop.

The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, kicks off the holiday shopping season. Each year, retailers open their doors early and offer shoppers deals of up to 70 percent off on everything from electronics to clothes. And shoppers typically turn out in droves.

Before you head out to the stores this year, there a few things you should know about Black Friday:

Q: How did the day get its name?

A: Accounts differ on the origin of the term. One theory is that it had roots in the 1960s in Philadelphia where it was used to describe the heavy pedestrian and car traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. The most common theory, though, is that the day got its name because...

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Community must band together to prevent gang violence from growing out of control

By Fabiola Santiago, McClatchy Newspapers

It’s impossible to forget the image of the little boy shot at West Little River Park in Miami who lifted his shirt with a mix of tender innocence and aplomb to show the media the wound made by the bullet that grazed his tummy.

The 3-year-old was one of four children shot while playing at the park last July when masked gunmen opened fire with AK-47s.

No child should get his tetanus shot for a bullet wound instead of a scraped knee. No child should have to fear that his life might end at any moment while playing with friends at a neighborhood park. No mother, no father should remain silent while their children grow up amid such violence.

But again, for the second time in three months in this North Miami...

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Food pantries seeking healthier donations

By DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — The season of giving has started, with schools, churches and businesses kicking off food drives that have become annual holiday traditions. But many food banks are asking donors to think twice before dropping ramen noodles and frosted cereals in donation barrels.

Many commonly donated foods are high in salt, sugar or calories, making them poor choices for people with high blood pressure, diabetes and other diet-related health problems. With more people turning to food banks and for longer periods of time, agency officials say they need donations but they’d like to see people give the kind of healthy and nutritious items they’d serve to their own families.

Sherrie Tussler, the executive director of...

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Hold the salt this Thanksgiving

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON — No need for a salt shaker on the Thanksgiving table: Unless you really cooked from scratch, there’s lots of sodium already hidden in the menu.

Stealth sodium can do a number on your blood pressure. Americans eat way too much salt, and most of it comes inside common processed foods and restaurant meals.

The traditional Thanksgiving fixings show how easy sodium can sneak into the foods you’d least expect. Yes, raw turkey is naturally low in sodium. But sometimes a turkey or turkey breast is injected with salt water to plump it, adding a hefty dose of sodium before it even reaches the store — something you’d have to read the fine print to discover.

From the stuffing mix to the...

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Cool gadgets for pie makers

By KIM COOK, For The Associated Press

Making your own pie for the holidays is one of the best gifts you can give your table, your family and friends.

Retailers are offering lots of cool implements to help you create your own stellar versions of this seasonal favorite, so let the baking begin.

A flaky, not-overworked dough is key to a delicious pie. Oxo’s Good Grips stainless-steel-bladed dough blender is easy to hold and maneuver. (www.oxo.com, $9.99)

Place the dough in one of Kitchen Krafts’ round plastic pouches that are the exact diameter of a pie plate — you just roll until the dough slab moves to the perimeter of the bag. No messy board flouring or guessing at crust sizes. ( Read more

Dr. Jim Sears tells you how to protect your family during the cold and flu season

By Jenny Schafer, Celebritybabyscoop.com

Dr. Jim Sears is an Emmy-nominated co-host of the award-winning talk show “The Doctors.” Dr. Sears has co-authored several books, including “The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood,” ‘’Father’s First Steps — 25 Things Every New Father Should Know,“ ‘’The Premature Baby Book,” ‘’The Baby Sleep Book“ and best seller, ”The Baby Book.”

The father-of-two opens up to Celebrity Baby Scoop about some of the most common myths of how you can catch a cold or flu, healthy food choices to help boost your immunity, and how to safeguard you and your family during the cold and flu season.

Celebrity Baby Scoop: What are some of the most common myths about how you catch a cold or...

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Shoppers looking forward to holiday hustle and bustle

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK — The crowds, congestion, heavy bags and “Jingle Bells” for the umpteenth time are all unavoidable parts of the holiday experience if you do your shopping in the old-school, brick-and-mortar way.

And they’re part of the fun, too. I really don’t know how I’d get into the season’s full spirit otherwise.

I like my holiday season, and especially my shopping, to be hustling and bustling. I like finding unexpected treasures that will make the perfect gifts, swapping sale info with strangers, waiting in a long line for (worth-it) peppermint hot cocoa and generally juggling more things I can handle.

If I emerge from a store in seemingly sudden darkness after entering in broad...

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Teaching teens to be charitable

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK — As the daughter of a minister, Jennifer James traveled frequently while her family served the less fortunate, from the rural heartland to the inner city. A lot of the time, she went without as a kid.

“My earliest memories are of working among the homeless in downtown Los Angeles, dipping ice cream for drunks,” she said. “I learned a lot and I was a better person for it, but there was a lot of pain along the way.”

In her zeal to spare her own three kids, the 44-year-old mom in Oklahoma City, Okla., has given them a world she didn’t know — braces on their teeth and cushy furniture for their rooms, fancy computers and private schooling. But now, at 14, 6 and 4, she realizes something is...

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Fresh spins on Hanukkah gifts for young people

By LEANNE ITALIE, Associated Press

NEW YORK — Dreidels. More dreidels. And dreidels.

Not that there’s anything wrong with those, of course, but fresh spins on playing with the holiday tops, along with Jewish takes on classic games and toys, are everywhere as unique Hanukkah gifts for young people.

For some Jewish families, gathering to play games as the holiday candles burn is part of the eight-day Festival of Lights commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians.

But let’s face it, spinning a dreidel for money, chocolate or otherwise, can be mind-numbingly dull, for older kids and grown-ups, at least.

That’s why the “heebsters” over at Moderntribe.com carry the...

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