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Food and Drink

Presents of mind: part one

Ever year around this time I beam out the holiday mantra that the best Christmas gifts are the thoughtful ones that disappear - things you gobble up or glug down with gusto; rub all over your tired, grateful body; or otherwise use up, share, enjoy and at the end of the day only a happy giftee and maybe an empty (recyclable) container remains.

Offering your babysitting services to pals with rug-rats also qualifies as good gifting. Anything that supports one of the amazingly creative local businesses and artists in your community, or that's good for something or somebody besides the recipient also qualify big-time in the gift fairy's good books.

To spread the fun, I sent out a dispatch earlier for other people's ideas and they've been rolling in. What a great concept, since it broadens the possibilities beyond my own shrivelled megamind. Plus wouldn't you know it, these people are so creative, they wrote my column for me!

In fact, I received so many great ideas, I'm running another batch of them next week. But for now, without further ado, here, in the order they e-rolled in, in their own voices with just a sprinkling of editing and notes, are great gift ideas from these three kings of reorientation to giving, three magical magi of originality. Okay, so two of them are queens, but it's high time that women got to be kings, too. Plus "queens" doesn't play well on any holiday themes. We'll have to work on that.

 

From Feet Banks

Filmmaker and reviewer, editor, quasi-rancher, creator of Notes from the Back Row (see elsewhere in this newsmagazine) and all-round original soul.

One of the best gifts I ever got was 75 bucks in my name at http://www.kiva.org/ . I'm still loaning it out two years later. (Kiva provides micro-loans in developing areas. It works.)

Locally, there are some nice slippers made in North Van that I am wearing right now (Padraig Cottage's wooly/sheepskin creations) http://www.padraigcottage.com/ . Although the best slippers I ever owned were Glerups. http://www.glerups.com/?page=webshop_item&itemid=9 . They come from Europe and I am seriously considering paying the 100 bucks for them once my Padraigs wear out.

Chili Thom has sweet giclee prints available. www.chilithom.com (This is interesting because I asked Chili for his best gift ideas and he was humble enough not to mention these. In fact, he hasn't suggested anything... so far...)

Granted Clothing (in Vancouver) makes the most kick-ass knit sweaters in the world. This link is to their cool collaborations but check out their regular stuff as well. http://www.grantedclothing.com/collab.php

These things will blow anyone's mind. (Literally - but they are cool: boom boxes built into retro-suitcases and-briefcases.)  www.theboomcase.com

Older father-types might like Return to Antarctica , by a Whistler buddy of mine, Adrian Raeside (whom a lot of readers might know through Adrian's wicked cartoons). Two of his great-uncles were on the Shackleton expedition to the South Pole (the one he died on), so Adrian has all kinds of new insider info. Written very not-dry. Funny. http://returntoantarctica.com/

A donation to Vancouver Children's Hospital never killed anyone either.

This thing is probably made in China but I want one. (Check it out - an all-in toaster/egg poacher - and you'll want one too.) http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-TEM500-Muffin-2-Slice/dp/B000B18P96

 

From Jennie Helmer

Organic farmer, art lover, creative cook, paramedic, sharer of many good secrets about the land, and all-round original soul.

Someone is going to get my worm farm this year - it was a project I did for school. They live quite happily in a large tote in the corner of the living room. I fed them kitchen scraps for a couple of months and then, voilà, we got some beautiful worm compost out of the deal. Very low stress: they don't complain and they work their little butts off. (Personally, I nominate worm farms for the Original Gift Idea of the Year Award. And worms as Role Models of the Year.)

 

From Lisa Richardson

Adventurer in words and (outdoor) life, reformed PR chick, slow food cycle creator, and all-round original soul.

When I manage to get organized, I think the most utterly best way to give something that keeps on giving is to buy something produced locally. So my top gift options this year comprise bottles of Schramm potato vodka from Pemberton http://www.pembertondistillery.ca/, or coffee beans from Mount Currie Coffee Co. http://mountcurriecoffee.blogspot.com/ or Paula Robertson's Pemberton Valley Coffee http://www.pembertonvalleycoffee.com/ or locally grown/made Namasthe Tea http://www.namasthe.ca/ with beautiful pottery mugs from Amy Hazeldine's Sunna Studio http://www.sunnastudio.com/ .

Or contributions to the food bank in lieu, because that really spreads the love http://www.mywcss.org/food-bank .

Frances Dickinson, of Frances Felt fame, says her 100-mile Christmas is a Christmas tree chopped down from under the power lines, decorated with ornaments made by her kids, loaded with presents that she has made. (If you missed Frances and her cool felt creations at Pemberton's Crafty Chicks by Nature Holiday Show, try her web site http://www.francesfelt.com/fall-2006/links.html or Vancouver's Shiny Muddy Fuzzy Show, Dec. 11-12 http://www.shinyfuzzymuddy.com/ .)

Another gift that keeps on giving: one year I gave my mom wrapping paper for Christmas. Well, technically, it was an alternative to wrapping paper called furoshiki. It's a tradition in Japan to wrap things in cloth. So she was mailed a book, wrapped in cloth, with another furoshiki package for her to use. The next year, every gift she sent out was wrapped in her own handmade furoshiki wrapping cloths, with cards attached explaining what it was.

My circle of oldest friends from university have been discussing what we could do as an alternative to sending gifts (or feeling guilty about the gifts we neglected to send each other), by choosing a charity we believe in, pooling funds and making a joint contribution once a year. The e-mails have been flying as we discuss what things we feel strongly about. I'm really inspired by the idea that, even though our lives are a long way apart, we're still aligning together.

We've considered sponsoring a girl to go to school or adopting a foster child together, buying cows through Oxfam, supporting a range of domestic charities, or funding a group that design schools and water supply systems in the developing world, which one of our employers matches.

So I have to say that that Christmas shopping experience with my oldest friends has actually been the best ever.

 

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who uses an old furoshiki cloth as a scarf.