Exotic imported foods, oysters, pate, French champagne and goose were once considered the height of style for a festive Thanksgiving menu. Today’s freshest holiday menu trend boasts organic, green and locally sourced ingredients purchased as close to home as possible.

Cooking as a locavore is now simpler than ever with the accessibility of farmers markets (there are more than 6,100 across the country), community supported agriculture (CSA) groups and the proliferation of artisan food purveyors. Forget mixes and boxes: A locally sourced holiday dinner is not only delicious and healthy, but also planet-friendly. (No fossil fuel is spent transporting these goods across state lines.)

An Authentic Thanksgiving
In many ways, a locavore Thanksgiving is a return to the holiday’s inspiration: the historic 1621 meal shared between the Mayflower’s Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe. That feast was a celebration of the native bounty and included a pumpkin and Indian corn harvest, and just-caught seafood (cod, clams and eel), with roasted venison and wild fowl (turkey, duck, goose) as the centerpiece.

There is no standard definition of “locavore.” It can be as close as one’s backyard or as far as 250 miles -- famed food writer Michael Pollan’s estimate of the distance an average-sized farm truck can run on one tank of gas. Some people follow what’s known as the “100-Mile Diet,” and 100MileDiet.org suggests that an entire Thanksgiving meal can be created with close-to-home ingredients or a single special dish.

Preparing a locavore holiday does involve some advance planning. Deborah Eden Tull, author of The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution, suggests visiting a farmers market a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving to see what’s in season. Involve your dinner guests too and ask what they’re growing in their gardens that could be part of the holiday menu.  “Taste and deliciousness will show just how good a local meal can be,” says Tull.

The No-stress Thanksgiving Table
“The spirit of Thanksgiving is a meal based on indigenous ingredients,” says Leda Meredith, author of The Locavore’s Handbook: The Busy Person’s Guide to Eating Local on a Budget. Consider tweaking a perennial favorite, like cranberry sauce, to show off a seasonal fruit that is grown nearby. Pear, apple or even chutney can be used in a relish to accompany the turkey instead.

Executive Chef Joseph Humphrey of Murray Circle, the restaurant at the Cavallo Point Lodge near San Francisco, tries to abide by the 100-mile rule in planning his farm-to-table seasonal menus. “Use what’s available to you, let yourself be inspired by what you see at farmers markets and keep it simple,” he says. Consider substituting overlooked vegetables like rutabagas and parsnips for potatoes, or use fruits like pears or quince as an alternative to the customary apple pie. (You can stick to the familiar technique of slicing the fruit thin and layering it with brown sugar.)

Find Your Local Sources Online
Take advantage of a resource the Pilgrims didn’t have to plan your homegrown Thanksgiving: the Internet. EatWellGuide.org lets users enter their zip code to find local family farms, food co-ops, farmers markets and butcher stores that can provide a free-range turkey. LocalHarvest.org is also invaluable for locating key ingredients. The site has links to CSAs in every state that allow individuals to pledge their support to a farm for a monthly fee in exchange for a share of its output during growing season.

“It comes down to working with the best product you can because it tastes better,” says Humphrey. And nothing tastes as good as something that came out of the ground that morning and appeared on your Thanksgiving table in the afternoon.

Photo Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Lorado

Are you starting to stress about holiday shopping? Skip the mall and consider do-it-yourself gifts from the garden instead. No, not bouquets of flowers, but infused vinegars, oils, salts and beauty potions handcrafted from easy-to-find garden herbs.

Whether you grow mint and oregano on your kitchen windowsill or in your backyard, pick up basil and cilantro at the farmers market or pass fragrant rosemary bushes when you walk the dog, the herbs you need for these inexpensive and eco-friendly gifts are easily within reach.

Here’s step-by-step advice from master gardener Lora Hall. She cultivates an urban garden in downtown Los Angeles for the farm-to-table menu at Cube Cafe in West Hollywood, Calif., and she also runs Full Circle Gardening, which provides services to the home gardeners of Los Angeles.

Herb-infused Vinegar
Start with a clean quart-size jar, which can be a recycled bottle from pasta sauce or other pantry staples. Rinse two handfuls of a food-friendly herb like tarragon, thyme, rosemary or oregano. Stuff the herbs, stems and all into the bottom of the jar. “You want roughly an amount that would fill a cup,” says Hall. Fill the rest of the jar with an inexpensive white wine or apple-cider vinegar, making sure all the leaves are submerged.

Cover the bottle with a lid and let it sit on your countertop or windowsill for at least two weeks to let the full flavors of the herbs infuse the vinegar. When you’re ready to bottle the vinegar, slowly strain out the now discolored herbs through a funnel lined with cheesecloth or a piece of an old but clean T-shirt, into a smaller jar, like one used for bottled salad dressing. If the jar isn’t full, top it off with uninfused vinegar.

Tie a piece of twine or ribbon around the bottle and through a make-it-yourself label. “The vinegar is a great way to bring out flavors in salads, stews, soup or chili without adding extra salt,” says Hall. With a shelf life of six months or more, this is a gift your friends will enjoy long after other trinkets have been forgotten.

Herb-flavored Salt
Put sprigs of a savory herb like rosemary, oregano, thyme or sage and a cup of sea salt into a food processor. Pulse a few times until the herbs are finely chopped and blended evenly throughout the salt. Pour into a small jar. “I especially love sage salt,” says Hall. “It goes beautifully with anything you’re cooking in butter, such as eggs or a brown-butter pasta sauce.”

Herb-infused Oil
Rinse and dry a handful of your choice herb. You want about 1/2 cup in all. Place the herbs in the bottom of a small jar and cover them with a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Let the mixture stand in a dry cool place for a week or two. Strain out the herbs and pour the oil into a clean jar.

Herbal Hand and Body Cream
Follow the directions for herb-infused oil, choosing a fragrant herb like lavender or chamomile (you can use dried chamomile that’s sold as a loose tea). Place an ounce of solid beeswax (look for this at a farmers market stand that sells honey or in a natural-products store) in the top of a double boiler. Slowly melt the beeswax over a low flame, whisking in the olive oil in a very slow stream. Transfer it to a blender; add a cup of water about an ounce at a time, pulsing to blend. “Go very slowly,” says Hall. “It will take about five minutes to get the nice creamy emulsion you want.” Pour it into a jelly jar. The consistency will be slightly liquid. By the next day or two, it will harden to a creamy texture that makes a wonderfully rich moisturizer.

Elizabeth Gilbert first seduced us in her best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, then, we watched with envy as Julia Roberts recreated the author’s life-changing journey on the big screen. Now you can revive your own spirit at home -- no passport required -- by incorporating some of Gilbert’s happiness-inducing discoveries into your everyday life.

Eat
Want to impress friends and family with an Italian feast that would dazzle even a true Italian? Begin your meal with this easy-to-make fig and ricotta salad from chef Victor Casanova of Culina, the modern Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.

Ingredients
1 pound sheep’s milk (or cow’s milk) ricotta 

1 cup heavy cream

Sea salt to taste

2 pounds (approximately two dozen) black mission figs, cut into quarters

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 ounces arugula

Directions
1. In a food processor, blend ricotta and heavy cream until satiny smooth. Season with sea salt. 

2. On a large plate, make a circular pool of the ricotta and top with the figs. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, followed by the balsamic vinegar. 

3. Garnish with arugula and serve.

Pray
While traveling to India to find enlightenment is an enviable goal, you can bring balance to your life at home by adding an easy yoga ritual into your daily routine. Jill Crowley, a yoga expert at the Golden Door Spa at the Boulders Resort in Arizona, suggests trying Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing), a centering technique that can be practiced anywhere.

Start by sitting upright in a comfortable position, letting your hands rest in your lap. Take a deep clarifying breath in, then exhale it completely. Using either hand, let your index and middle finger rest toward the palm as you bring your thumb and ring finger to gently alternate pressing into the sides of your nostrils.  Begin with an inhalation through the right nostril, while using your fingers to block the flow of air through your left nostril. Then, alternately press your fingers down on your right nostril and release the exhalation through your left nostril. Next, inhale through the left and exhale through the right.

“Continue alternating sides, breathing slowly and deeply, allowing the energy channels to clear,” explains Crowley. “As you listen to the rhythm of your breath, you’ll feel the tension melt away.”

Love
Add a bit of romance to your bedroom with a few Balinese design elements, and you just may lure your own Felipe (or -- even better -- Javier Bardem) into the serene space. 

“Balinese design encompasses the feeling of light, nature and open spaces, so the first thing you’ll want to do is get rid of clutter,” says Los Angeles-based set designer Sharon Beeching, who redecorated two rooms in her own home in a Balinese style after a trip to Indonesia. “Once you’ve achieved a clean palette, consider neutral and earth tone bedding, accented with a colorful throw or blanket to remind you of the brightly hued sarongs worn by Balinese men and women.”

Batik throw pillows are an inexpensive way to bring a Balinese feel to your bed, suggests Beeching. A wax-resist dyeing technique that creates intricate patterns, batik often incorporates indigo, dark brown and white, colors that represent the three Hindu gods. “Find a quiet corner in your bedroom to display a Buddha statue,” she says, “and because Bali is so lush, be sure to add a green leafy plant to your look.”

If you’re not planning a trip to Indonesia anytime soon, Pier 1 Imports, Cost Plus World Market and Crate and Barrel are all excellent resources for Balinese decorative items.

You shower, blow-dry, flat iron, moisturize and carefully apply makeup. He runs a comb through his hair and calls it a day.

So, how can you suggest your man step up his get-ready routine without offending him? “This is a big manner minefield that needs to be navigated carefully,” says etiquette expert Thomas P. Farley, editor of Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Social Graces and a contributor to MensLifeToday.com. “It can’t be that you simply don’t like beards; it needs to be presented more gently, with a little humor, like, ‘I love kissing you, but your beard/stubble is chafing my delicate skin.’”

Read on for some grooming tips to share -- ever so sensitively -- with your man.

Shaving Secrets

A few pre-shaving steps are the secret to a great shave, says celebrity men’s grooming expert Diana Schmidtke, who has styled George Clooney, John Travolta and Jon Hamm.

Step one: Open up the skin’s pores. This will take care of itself if your man shaves in the shower; if he doesn’t, he’ll want to apply a warm washcloth to his face for at least 60 seconds.

Step two: Exfoliate gently to remove dead skin cells that may block the blade. He can do this by using a facial scrub or simply cleansing his face with the same washcloth he used in step one.

Step three: Apply a pre-shave oil to moisten skin and soften the hair before lathering up with shaving cream.

Try to observe your man when he’s shaving to see if his technique needs some tweaking. Schmidtke advises men to shave with the grain, taking two short strokes and then rinsing the blade clean to decrease the risk of nicks, razor burn and ingrown hairs.

His Hair: Handle the Hints with Care

Men can be touchy about their hair, as we all know. One common sticky situation: He wants to work out before dinner, but you’ve seen his grungy gym-to-restaurant look. What to do? Schmidtke suggests investing in some dry shampoo. “It will soak up the grease, so his hair doesn’t look stringy,” she says.

An even stickier situation: He’s starting to experience a thinning mane and not at all happy about it. Although you can’t rewire his genetics, you can recommend ways to slow the process down. “Male pattern baldness is amenable to medical treatments,” explains Dr. John Gray, author of The World of Hair Colour. “Rogaine lotion and Propecia tablets both work, and the earlier you start, the better. There are no other scientifically proven treatments.”

He may be tempted to don a cap day and night to hide this thinning hair, but that will only make things worse, causing hair breakage that will make his mane appear even thinner. Vigorously drying hair with a towel can also cause breakage. Instead, he should gently squeeze out excess moisture post-shower and allow hair to air dry.

The right cut is also important. A blunt cut will give the appearance of a fuller head of hair, while texturized cuts will draw attention to thinning patches. If you love the Bruce Willis bald-is-sexy look, you might want to encourage your man to try shaving his head.

Yours Versus His

Sharing is good, but when it comes to your favorite hair-care products, claim your territorial rights. Most men are all about convenience when it comes to grooming, but we hunt down the products that are perfect for our styling needs. In other words, subtly remind him that you’d prefer he didn’t use your favorite shampoo for color-treated curly hair to wash his entire manly body.

“Men and women can theoretically share shampoo products, but women have very different conditioning needs than men,” adds Gray. “They have longer hair that is more likely to be chemically treated, which means it requires higher levels of conditioning.” Finally, there’s the fragrance factor to take into account. Guys don’t want to smell like lavender, and you definitely don’t need to reek of musk. A better solution: his-and-hers hair products.

With the right at-home care, minor skin injuries -- from hungry mosquitoes to a collision with a surfboard -- don’t have to leave noticeable scars. Here, dermatologists and plastic surgeons share their treatment advice to speed healing and reduce scarring from common summer mishaps.

Clean up
Carefully washing with soap and water is the first step in treating minor cuts and scratches, says Dr. Jay Calvert, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and associate professor of plastic surgery at the University of California’s Keck School of Medicine. For sensitive skin, try a diluted solution of one part hydrogen peroxide and one part water. Some doctors also recommend applying a topical antibiotic ointment to prevent infection, but only for the first few days after injury. Among over-the-counter antibiotic blends, pure bacitracin is least likely to trigger an allergic reaction, says Calvert.

Allow Healing Time
Although life in our high-def world makes it more tempting than ever to obsess about the appearance of scrapes and scars, relax and give your skin the opportunity to heal, says Calvert. Frequently rinsing or medicating new cuts, scrapes or incisions can sometimes impede healing.

Avoid Scratching
Pesky mosquito, flea and chigger bites can cause maddening itching that drives some sensitive people to scratch obsessively, potentially causing scars or uneven pigmentation. Dr. Hayes Gladstone, director of the division of dermatologic surgery at Stanford University and associate professor, suggests applying an over-the-counter cream of 1 percent hydrocortisone to tame the itch and keep skin moist. Dry skin is a leading cause of itchiness, he says, “and no one really moisturizes enough.” Still can’t resist the impulse to scratch? Cover the bite with a bandage.

Keep It Simple
Even with their access to prescription cures, doctors sometimes prefer ordinary remedies, such as applying a cool compress to stifle itching from bug bites. Home medics can stir up effective skin soothers with common kitchen ingredients too. For example, soaking in a warm bath mixed with ultrafine oatmeal can provide relief from itching. Simply grind 1 cup unflavored oatmeal into a fine powder. Pour the powdered cupful into running warm water and soak for 15 or 20 minutes.

Stop the Scabs
Many of us remember letting our childhood cuts and scrapes form dry, hard scabs as they healed, a method that often left lasting scars. Now, doctors embrace a moist-healing technique, which can speed healing and minimize scarring. After cleansing the area of a cut or scrape, moisten it moderately with common ointments such as cocoa butter or petroleum jelly; cover with a nonstick bandage to contain the ointment and protect the injury. The wounds will heal in about two weeks. To further minimize scarring, try a nonprescription cream containing a copper-peptide complex; a recent Stanford University study showed the copper complex mobilizes the skin’s own healing response, leading to smoother scars.

Embrace the Shade
Keeping a wound or new scar away from sunlight is critically important, doctors say. “Sun exposure can cause more superficial blood vessel formation and make scars appear redder,” says Gladstone. Diligently guard your injuries from sunlight for several months, using a sunscreen with titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. New formulas with extra-fine particles of the sun-busting minerals don’t leave thick, white streaks.

Think Long-term
Scars don’t completely vanish, but managed properly, they’ll become less conspicuous during the healing process, says Calvert. For aftercare, Gladstone recommends gels with silicone as the active ingredient, available at online drugstores. “Silicone helps with wound healing and minimizes scarring,” says Gladstone. “I have my patients use it on surgical scars, but it’s useful even with everyday scrapes.” Gentle daily massage with the silicone gel should help soften and break down rigid tissue.