The envelope (and the check), please. It's time for our annual Desert Companion Restaurant Awards.

Ask your kids where carrots come from, and we bet you ten bucks they say a carrot factory. Consider it a symptom of an era when agribusiness and grocery megachains have turned sustenance into a global cash machine - one that contributes to childhood obesity.

Jet Tila is the chef at Wazuzu, the buzzworthy pan-Asian restaurant at Encore Las Vegas. He is from L.

The Healthy Baby Bundle by LaVanila Laboratories, $42For: Your adorable new niece/nephew/cousin/godchild/foundling (and the accompanying parents who will appreciate the gesture) Why: They'll be so delighted you remembered to get a gift for their little darling that you may be spared babysitting duty for the next few months. Where: Sephora in the Meadows Mall, 870-9182; Miracle Mile in Planet Hollywood, 737-0550; Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian, 735-3896; Town Square, 361-3727Skull cardholder wallet, $35For: Your husband, whose wallet bulge you can spot even from where you're sitting, even though he's in the kitchen making himself a BLT.

A new program brings affordable health care to the uninsured of Las Vegas. It started in Nevada - but it's creating a stir across the nationIn 2007, Reno security guard Ron Watson lost his job - and his health insurance.

When you're eating out, the dining experience begins long before that first forkful hits the flavor zone (i.e.

To most of us, November means a big turkey, loud relatives and deathlike, tryptophan-induced slumbers in the easy chair. However, it's also Native American Heritage Month.

If you find yourself hungry for more after you've digested our Restaurant Awards (page 42), dig into our panel of critics' other picks for Sin City foodies to swallow. A new book by John Curtas, Max Jacobson and Al Mancini, Eating Las Vegas: The 50 Essential Restaurants (Huntington Press, $12.

Many of Southern Nevada's cultural institutions have roots in the historic Mesquite Club, the women's organization that does much more than afternoon teaNearly 100 years ago, a group of Las Vegas women gathered for tea. The city hasn't been the same since.

Whether it's cooked goose or crafted cocktails, you'll shine in style this holiday season.Blue AlertThe tuxedo originated as a deviation in formal wear, a deviation that at the time was considered scandalous, gauche and daring.