It is getting to that time of year again. We are but three days away from Christmas Day. (Or two from Christmas Eve if you celebrate Christmas like me) The heat is on to find some gifts and find them fast. Figuring out what to get a person is somewhat hard, especially when you want to avoid significant malls due to covid fears, and when you want to shop local but do not know where. I can help with that. I have been known to be a walking, talking gift guide. I mainly over research what to get people up to 6 months in advance of Christmas, so I have some ideas. These are some of my favourite picks for the holiday season, it any season basically and I hope you might find them useful.
For the Food Lover- I am a very food motivated person, so when I find a good cookbook I stick to it. There is one cookbook that I have that works out perfectly every time I use one of its recipes. That is Dirty Food by Julie Van Rosendaal. It is imperfect, delightfully messy food that fills your stomach and makes you smile in the process. Each of her recipes is delicious and have addicted my family to the food that comes out of it. Most recently we made her trash cookies in honour of 2020. Needless to say, I recommend this cookbook for any foodie in your life. It is one of the best purchases I have made and I am sure your loved one will appreciate it. Audreys Books on Jasper has a couple copies for sale that you can buy online for pickup right now.
To go along with this book I have linked to the Violet Chocolate Company’s hot chocolate. My mother buys these each year without fail and they are always such a hit. As they are made with chocolate pieces, the hot chocolate made with this mix is rich and velvety. It is hard not to drink down all the hot chocolate in one go. I highly recommend either giving this as a gift to someone or yourself. You deserve it. (Also I recommend the pumpkin spice.
Violet Hot Chocolate: Hot Cocoa – The Violet Chocolate Company (myshopify.com)
A gift for the stressed reader-
Daisy Chain Book Company is a wonderful place for you to get your Kindred Spirit one of the Anne of Green Gables books. They have a fantastic collection of novels and books based on them and their author. I have linked to their website here but they are open for browsing and for pick up. They also have an option for Jolabokaflod, or the book flood, which would have your book and some chocolate delivered to your loved one’s doorstep for Christmas Eve. I feel like you can read these books in any order so I have linked to their copy of Anne of the Island, as it is obviously my favourite. The Anne of Green Gables series is a perfect read in any season. While it is for all ages, I think this gift would be perfect for someone just going into University or needing a break from stress. The Anne series is nice to read as a child but there is a comfort in it as an adult, and a lot of truths about growing into adulthood that just hit differently when you are hitting your university years. Anne of the Island is my favourite as it really gets down to the essence of university life in a way that feels refreshing, even if this book is over a hundred years old. It is a very soothing and cathartic series to read, and every time I step into its pages I feel at home. If you know a person who is stressed and wants to step into a world where the highest stakes are marriage proposals and hijinks, this is just perfect.
I also recommend checking out the tea girl’s raspberry cordial tea, as it makes reference to the scene in the first book where Anne unintentionally gets her friend tipsy with red currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. Also...a caffeine-free raspberry tea sounds like heaven to me after a long online semester. I think you could do this with many books, find a tea that goes along with the plot of the novel, however with time constraints this is a really good option.
Anne of the Island: (1) Anne of the Island – Daisy Chain Book Co.
Raspberry Cordial Tea: Raspberry Cordial – The Tea Girl
The History Nerd- As a history podcast it would be hard not to include at least one thing history related on our list. I always think a nice mug is a perfect gift for any person. I have a huge collection of them and they always make me happy. Especially when they have a literary or historical twist.
Plum Home in the Oliver Exchange building has a marvellous collection of Spode items, along with home decor, children’s items and antiques. I have linked to one of their Spode Heritage mugs as I think they’re just stunning. The craftsmanship is beautiful and I think it would be a great gift to receive.
To pair with this mug, I thought a tea would work perfectly. I am a tea drinker and I do not know much about coffee so I am sharing my favourite choices. The tea blend I chose comes from the vintage fork tea store. It is a green and black tea blend with subtle Earl grey and jasmine flavours. It is a perfect tea to enjoy with a nonfiction book or while you write a paper. The Vintage Fork used to be a restaurant out of Rutherford House here in Edmonton, and while they no longer are there, I think their online tea shop is just as spectacular. They deliver their teas to you for free and sometimes within the same day! Perfect for last minute shopping. Their scone recipe is also yummy so I have included that as well.
I know these are not really what people think of when it comes to history lovers, however I think that history inspired objects are just as nice as a nonfiction book.
Spode Heritage Mug- Rome Print: https://shop.plumhomeanddesign.com/products/spode-heritage-mug-rome
Vintage Fork Tea Blend: https://vintagefork.ca/product/vintage-fork-blend/
Vintage Fork Scone Recipe:
These are just a few ideas. I love giving gifts, but I love thinking about them even more. These are just a few ideas. My rule of thumb is that you do not need to buy one expensive item, as you can buy a couple of stocking stuffers and a few mid-priced items to create a nice gift. You can also make a few gifts as well. It might seem a bit late to do so but I disagree. I think a small bag of homemade granola or hot chocolate mix can be just as meaningful as a gift you bought months in advance.
I think it is also important to remember that Christmas is not about the presents. It us about spending time with the ones you love and taking the time to appreciate the people around you. It is very different from most years, but I think the sentiment remains the same.
Thank you for reading this blog post! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s piece! (hint. It involves pudding)