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Food and Drink

More presents of mind Keep your holly-day cool and spread some good cheer

 

Time, time, time, is still on your side this Christmas season. Even if you haven't yet bought one single gift and have a list as long as a ski pole, fret not.

Thanks to a bunch of creative souls, last week I received an inbox full of original gift ideas that weren't made in China, wouldn't end up at the thrift store by Valentine's Day, and would deliver a little love to something or somebody besides the recipient. This week we have even more.

Check them out. Translate them into your own world of giving, and don't let Christmas stop you. These excellent little ideas have the power to go year-round.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holly-days, Have a Cool Yule....

 

GIFT IDEAS GALORE

For Sarah Macmillan at Rootdown Organics in Pemberton, the gift equation has one simple solution: The Preserved Harvest (note the caps).

Of course, you need to have either grown this produce yourself from a wee seed and babied it along, or have had access to local sources to make it a really authentic hit, so start planning now for next year. In the meantime, maybe you can beg, borrow or steal some from a neighbour.

Choices are endless. How about a jar of pickles made lovingly from an old family recipe; fruit jams for the sweet tooth; rich, spiced tomato sauce; dilly beans? They're all cost-effective, creative, delicious, good-looking, local, low-impact and loaded with your very personal touch. Sounds like a first-class love affair to me.

Another homemade-food gift champion: Pauline Wiebe is a Whistler mom in her own right who also makes a lot of ESL students in the community feel right at home. For her, the absolute best Christmas gift is always some kind of food.

She has a few ideas for incredible edibles. First, her own jams made from B.C. fruits might inspire you to do some up next year - blackberry, blueberry, peach, raspberry, strawberry jam and sometimes grape and crabapple jelly, too, all roll out of Pauline's kitchen in the summer to wait for Christmas giving and more.

Maple syrup from Quebec, especially the stuff local school kids sell at fundraisers, and honey pots that look like little beehives and are filled with local honey make great gifts for under $25. You can find the pots at Home Hardware.

If you can still get it, Pauline's now worst-kept secret is this: Lillooet Bakery in Lillooet, run by Axel and Eva from the former East Germany, has the best stollen (a traditional German bread-like fruitcake). Order one with marzipan, it's yummy!

Got a pet lover on your list? Or someone you want to convert? Paula Del Bosco, who runs WAG, the local animal shelter, has a cool idea: a WAG membership ($25) for a stocking stuffer or otherwise.

You'll enjoy some great local business discounts and updates on events as well, plus you'll be helping homeless and unwanted animals from your own community. You can also pick up the 2011 WAG calendar ($15), which will put a smile on your face and help feed and care for some needy animals.

If you've got a popcorn addict or wing nut on your list, Eric Pateman tells me that Sea to Sky Salts make a fabulous Christmas gift - but he does admit to a pinch of bias. Eric, who lives in Squamish and started Edible British Columbia, came up with these finishing salts with 13 West Coast-inspired flavours when his supplier stopped supplying them.

Last time I checked in, they were considering more flavours, including one riffing on spring skiing - something about white salt flecked with bits of black pepper. For now, you'll find flavours like Commercial Drive (Italian influences) and Wreck Beach (JJ Bean coffee, ancho chili, and more). But the biggest hit so far is the Bacon Salt featuring Oyama double-smoked bacon. Find them at Nesters Market and Kitchen Corner in Squamish ( http://www.kitchencorner.ca/ ) and Starfire Studio in Horseshoe Bay.

Or try In the Raw Organics in Squamish to bag some healthy gifts - everything from dried soup to nuts, and they're all organic. If you think it doesn't make a difference, do your own taste test. The organic garbanzo beans cooked up into the best I've ever had. Maria Mattei runs the place, which is inside Gelato Carina on Cleveland Avenue, and she can make up a nice gift basket for you.

Now here are a few ideas from moi. Bob can't say this, but I can: If you call Whistler home, wouldn't a subscription to Pique make a great gift for someone who loves you, especially if they live on the other side of the world?

Or how about a membership to Whistler Arts Council for a year? A bundle of Whistler Pocket Chocolate bars, one for every day of the week, would hit the right spot. Likewise a pound or three of Whistler Roasting Company's coffee - fair trade and roasted right near Alta Lake - and/or a couple of bottles of Nonna Pia's delicious Balsamic Reductions, or some of Isabelle Ranger's Namasthé Teas.

Great products all that will stand up to any taste test, and support your neighbours.

Finally, the last word goes to Lisa Richardson up in Pemberton who had one more great gift idea I couldn't quite fit in last week. Lisa writes:

Re-gifting gets a bad reputation. But I think the Community Foundation of Whistler has made "re-gifting" a good option. Contributions to their endowment fund are held permanently, but the interest gets re-gifted back into the community over and over.

I've been involved in planning a celebratory lunch for March 4 that will be a fundraiser for the Kathy Barnett Memorial Fund. What I like about supporting this fund, apart from it being a way to honour Kathy's work and the fact that I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today if she and Bob hadn't started the Pique , is that I feel like I'm investing in my entire peer group.

Smart boys out there, who are smart enough to realize how much their quality of life is enhanced by the smart women in their lives, would do well to buy a ticket to this lunch for their beloveds. It's a nice way to show how much you support her, and it's way better than getting underwear that's the wrong size.

Give a leg up or a hand up to stand up for community at the Kathy Barnett Memorial Fund Lunch at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. http://www.whistlerfoundation.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=KATHY_BARNETT_LEADER

 

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who suggests going all out and buying a ticket to the Kathy lunch then donating it back to the organizers to give to someone worthy.