It runs in the family

The cooking gene runs in the family. It helps that we all enjoy eating, are pretty unpicky, are cheap, and have a tendency towards experimentation. Even my dad has started cooking roasts now that he has my convention oven.
My brother is a bigger food geek than I, believe it or not. His particular specialties are local inexpensive restaurants and perfecting certain of his trademark dishes, including smoked turkeys and red beans + rice. Someday I am going to invite him to share his secrets here, but don't get your hopes up. Either he's being secretive or he never really follows a recipe (sort of like my mom), so he only ever gives me general guidelines.
Despite these fairly inexpensive leanings, he occasionally gets sucked into extreme foodie territory. For instance, when terduckens were all the rage he ordered one from New Orleans and cooked it. Now he's interested in molecular gastronomy. Yes, I'm a PhD chemist and a food geek, so you'd think I'd be ahead of him on this one (especially since I could borrow some equipment and supplies from lab), but no. Nonetheless, it probably does provide evidence that we are actually related. He bought a sous vide (aka a temperature controlled water bath). I'm not sure how he will deal with the need for increased attention to detail, but when he starts making frozen three layer terducken terrines I am going to be really worried.

Kefir

I'm a big fan of just about every dairy product out there. I'm also a big fan of edible kitchen science experiments. Knowing that, my friends J and K offered me some kefir grains so that I could make my own kefir.
I was mostly ignorant of kefir at that point. It's a cultured milk product similar in taste to yogurt or buttermilk. It differs in that the bacteria and yeast that help culture the milk live in a matrix of protein, lipids, and sugars. These are known as kefir grains. The grains, which look like little pieces of cauliflower, grow over time and sometimes split off new colonies. J and K's colony had grown and produced a new bud. They brought it over on a cup of milk, and also brought me a cup of the final product.
To make kefir, you put the buds in some fresh milk and let it sit on the counter for a day or two. I usually put it in a small bowl and cover it lightly with plastic wrap. The bacteria and yeast need some oxygen so it's a good idea not to cover it too tightly. When I remember, I also swirl it around once or twice to help the colony get fresh nutrients. The milk thickens and turns into kefir. Once it's done you can store it in the fridge. When you want to make more, fish out the buds and put them in fresh milk. My bud was about the size of a grape when I got it two months ago. Since then it's doubled in size and split off two grape-sized buds.
The kefir tastes a lot like buttermilk and can be used in recipes calling for buttermilk or yogurt. I eat it on cereal or in smoothies. I like it because not only is it cheap, it's also a good way to finish those gallon containers of milk before they go bad.
Nutritionally, it's similar to milk but has a lot of helpful probiotics. Since the bacteria digest the lactose, it's supposedly more easily digested by people who are lactose intolerant.
Here's the wikipedia link if you're interested in learning more about kefir
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir