The Clever Pup's Guide to Making Christmas Work - Meaningful Gifts - Guy Stuff

Canadian Museums Association

A repost, but why not. I live with smart fellas, more comfortable with Don Giovanni than Don Cherry. Here's a selection of kind and gentle Christmas gift ideas for the kind and gentle men in your life.

The image on the blanket above is of the train that passed my house daily when I was growing up. My brother would really like this.

I bought a varnished hand like the one above, when I was in Paris. It's never used for its intended purpose as a sketching aid, but we have lots of fun with it. At the moment it's holding a selection of paint samples. The little articulated mannequins are found in most art supply stores. They are endlessly amusing.

Maps and city plans like this can be found in places similar to Beach Antique Maps and Prints.

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read. Thanks,Groucho. Also dogs don't need bookends to keep them nice and straight on the shelf. Here's to killing two birds with one stone. The top set are no longer available from Restoration Hardware but they have others to choose from.  Brass or bronze bookends can usually be found if you poke about in antique markets and...

yank.ca

...if you're lucky enough to have a well-curated antique or flea market in your neighbourhood, maybe you can find interesting gifts for the time-traveler in your life. A Toronto favourite is Yank Azman who sets up at the Sunday Antique Market at the St. Lawrence Market Building North.

yank.ca

yank.ca

Moleskine has turned into an industry, selling reading glasses, pencils, pouches, manbags as well as the nice-to-get notebooks. I especially like the one with the accordion file in the back. It's useful for travel. These seem to be in a number of higher end book and stationery shops.

Useful globes like this can be found at Replogle. No, I didn't just choke on my cereal. Replogle.com

Oh so very cool Steampunk accessories can be found on etsy. These goggles are at Attic Raiders.

If only I could find a robe as nice as this one.

Great for relieving stress.

 I think these tattoo sleeves are pretty cool. Accessorize with  biceps and you're set.

Here are more suggestions. I'd like them too.

This bust of Napoleon is definitely out of my price range. But I love it. It's a definite for a Sherlock Holmes aficionado.

Old post cards bring out the snoop in me. A wonderful stocking stuffer.

Can you imagine this in an oval frame? Due to my Art History classes I've got Napoleon fever.. Allposters.com

http://www.worldwidenature.com/

We have two candelabra like this and our candle consumption is breaking the bank. I hope these are inspiring.

Swiss Christmas

The wide variety of Christmas customs throughout Swiss villages reflects centuries of winter isolation that townsfolk endured when the heavy snow eliminated travel between mountain valleys. Their celebrations seem anything but neutral.

In the canton of Vaud, a Christmas lady named Tante Arie is a bearer of gifts. Represented as an old woman, half fairy, half witch, she comes down from a mountain on Christmas Eve riding a donkey. She brings gifts for good children but birch rods or dunce caps for the naughty ones.

Usually on December 6, the feast of St. Nicholas, Swiss school children parade through their villages, ringing bells of all sizes. The bells alert the villagers that a gift is expected from each household along the way. The gifts are usually some good things to eat or drink.

swisscommunity.org

 

The children's parade in the town of Weinfelden happens the last Thursday before Christmas. The children in the town parade through the streets with decorated beets. These beets have been hollowed out and lit from within with a candle. After singing carols in the town square, the children go to their schools where they dine on sausage and bread. At the same time, adults go the local tavern or coffeehouse, and the town council holds its annual budget meeting! Oh those crazy Weinfeldians!

myswitzerland.com

 

In the village of Ziefen, several dozen young bachelors walk a traditional route through the streets every Christmas Eve. The tallest bachelor dons a white beard and leads the procession while carrying a sooty rag attached to the end of a long pole. All the young bachelors wear oversized, long, dark coats and each wears a tall, black, top hat made of cardboard. Many of these hats are more then six feet high. Quiet a few onlookers get a face full of soot.

Celebrations are relatively quiet in the village of Hallwil where seven girls, 13 or 14-years-old, act out an ancient custom. A veiled Weihnachtchild (Christmas child), dressed in white, and six companions in rose-colored gowns visit village families in the evening. The Weihnachtchild greets the families with a silent handshake and distributes cake or cookies to the children while the other girls sing a carol. The departure of this group is also silent.

There is a crazy, yet ancient New Years Eve tradition in the town of Laupen. After dark on December 31, participating schoolboys, in three boisterous groups, meet on the hill at the local castle and proceed down to the village. In the first group are the "bell ringers", who swing large bells heard for miles around.

Next, the "broom men", carry long poles with bunches of juniper branches tied to the top. The third, and most bizarre group, the "bladder men" carry pig's bladders filled with air. The procession stops at various locations along the route as the leader recites a poem to the old year and wishes the crowd a happy new one. During the poem, the broom men wave their juniper brooms over the heads of the crowd. At the end of journey, the broom men and the bladder men, all armed with inflated pig's bladders, proceed to "beat" the onlookers, especially young ladies, until their weapons are in shreds.

The Clever Pup's Christmas Gift Ideas - Humanitarian Gifts

Doing your part to make the world a better place is just a click away. Here are some charitable Christmas present suggestions.

We sponsor a little boy called Norbert in Kenya through Plan Canada. Plan Canada promotes their "Gifts of Hope" at this time of year. One goat for a village costs $75. This gift provides the possibility of a livelihood and income. Imagine what a flock of 12 could do. Ten mango trees would set you back only $100. They are planted in school gardens and their juicy and nutritious fruit provide an incentive to come to school. I especially like the idea of the Motorcycle Ambulance. For people living in remote communities without healthcare services, this $150 gift is a lifeline: it brings healthcare workers to isolated villages and it carries people from those villages to community health centres.

We also give monthly to Médecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders). They were established in 1971 by a small group of French doctors who had worked in Biafra. Upon their return, they were determined to find a way to respond rapidly and effectively to public health emergencies, with complete independence from political, economic and religious influences. MSF is one of the world's leading independent international medical relief organizations, working in nearly 60 countries worldwide and with operational centres in 19 countries.

If something doesn't happen soon at the Toronto Zoo, our illustrious mayor Rob Ford will probably let the animals out to graze in the backyards of Eastern Scarborough. I used to sponsor a Matchies Tree Kangaroo. I bet you didn't even know they existed. Bob Barker's rescuing our elephants. Why not "come on down" and  sponsor your favourite zoo animal.

Moosoneepuppyrescue.com

For those ready to have a dog in their life there is the Moosonee Puppy Rescue. My Toronto neighbourhood is teaming with kind-hearted people who have adopted these dogs. Here's a bit about the Rescue. The Moosonee Puppy Rescue began in 2003. In the isolated First Nations communities of Moosonee, Moose Factory, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany and Kashechewan, dogs are left to face a life of neglect. Overbreeding occurs and as there are no veterinarian services in these communities, dogs may be trapped or shot. These puppies have amazing temperaments (I know 2 personally), but puppies take a lot of attention and devotion. If you're ready to take the leap, contact Sharron at Moosonee Puppy Rescue. If you can't take a dog, there are other ways to help out by purchasing crafts and photographs created in support of the dogs. Or you can donate by visiting this page.

The Memory Project will provide every living Canadian veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War with the opportunity to share their memories through oral interviews and digitized artefacts and memorabilia.  This nationwide bilingual project will create a record of Canada’s participation these wars as seen through the eyes of thousands of veterans. I think this is a great idea. As I cry more at each passing Remembrance Day, I thought I'd better donate.

thestop.com

Another Toronto foundation that I think is just great is The Stop. The Stop strives to increase access to healthy food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds community and challenges inequality. Better than a food bank, The Stop provides frontline services to the community including community kitchens, bake-ovens and markets, a sustainable food production and educational centre with a state-of-the art greenhouse. They have after school programs and summer camps focusing on teaching kids positive attitudes towards healthy eating. The Drop In is a safe place where anyone can enjoy delicious food. And speaking of dropping in - Jamie Oliver dropped in for a half-hour whistle-stop but ending up touring The Stop's Green Barns and After School programs for two hours. "Amazing", he said. There are many ways to give. Become a member for $50.

The Clever Pup's Christmas Gift Ideas - Kitcheny Things.

You've really got to plan. In this day and age where you can find something as esoteric as pool cue chalk by clicking on Google Maps, there's little excuse for not finding the right gift. But I'm the first to admit that there are certain in-laws that leave me stymied, year after year.

Those who run to the mall and buy heartless loot for those on their lists are responsible for Christmas turning into the debt-spiralling potlatch that it has. As I absolutely loathe spending over $100 on any one thing,  Christmas is pretty modest at my house. But there's lots of stuff to open and most of it's meaningful. I remember hours poring over a collection of old postcards I was given, or a map of the Holy Roman Empire. My husband enjoys the books I get him and as a family we've spent evenings playing the reproduction vintage board games I once found included in one. My son created a really cool battle game with  a collection of plastic dinosaurs we bought him when he was in that stage.

That said, it's nine days to go to Christmas and I still have a list containing  brothers-in-law, nephews and their girlfriends, great nieces and the son's of friends. If I have time over the next few days I'll post some ideas. Todays topic: Things for the kitchen. These are gifts I've received over the years, things I've given and things I'd like to receive. My Christmas list will languish in conditions of relative obscurity as my husband never reads my blog.

Anthropologie has really bright, cheery bowls that I'm covetous of.

 I could do with a cake stand.

 This wine rack is kind of funky and useful, especially if full.This was a great gift given by my sister-in-law.

 I must use my enamel colander 10 times a week. Attractive and useful. The elements of good design.

 I said I have a problem spending more than $100 on anything. Luckily, my husband doesn't. These larchwood chopping blocks are made in Canada. They're fantastic and unique. We got ours from the Thin Blue Line Cheesemongers on Roncesvalles.

 On the lower end, these Cafe Au Lait bowls from Anthropologie are only $6 each.

 But goodness, look what I just found on Anthropologie's website for $78. This anthropomorphic lovely is called the Beast's Feast Bowl. I received a similar tureen last year from my husband. No sense duplicating. You buy it.

Cool egg cups can't break the bank.

For those who like to name drop, these are $20.00 from Alessi

Le Creuset does have some items under $100. I really like their colour range. Their batter bowl and their jug are almost affordable.

I love my much-heralded tagine.

I have a collection of Portuguese terracotta. My jug and my teapot unfortunately add an "I've just eaten a flower pot" flavour to my juice and tea. This laaarge casserole is great. You have to soak it prior to initial use. It looks super.

"Get Back to the Presents"

 "Get back to the Presents."

"There were the Useful Presents: engulfing mufflers of the old coach days, and mittens made for giant sloths; zebra scarfs of a substance like silky gum that could be tug-o'-warred down to the galoshes; blinding tam-o'-shanters like patchwork tea cozies and bunny-suited busbies and balaclavas for victims of head-shrinking tribes; from aunts who always wore wool next to the skin there were mustached and rasping vests that made you wonder why the aunts had any skin left at all; and once I had a little crocheted nose bag from an aunt now, alas, no longer whinnying with us. And pictureless books in which small boys, though warned with quotations not to, would skate on Farmer Giles' pond and did and drowned; and books that told me everything about the wasp, except why."

Go on - the Useless Presents."

"Bags of moist and many-colored jelly babies and a folded flag and a false nose and a tram-conductor's cap and a machine that punched tickets and rang a bell; never a catapult; once, by mistake that no one could explain, a little hatchet; and a celluloid duck that made, when you pressed it, a most unducklike sound, a mewing moo that an ambitious cat might make who wished to be a cow; and a painting book in which I could make the grass, the trees, the sea and the animals any colour I pleased, and still the dazzling sky-blue sheep are grazing in the red field under the rainbow-billed and pea-green birds. Hardboileds, toffee, fudge and allsorts, crunches, cracknels, humbugs, glaciers, marzipan, and butterwelsh for the Welsh. And troops of bright tin soldiers who, if they could not fight, could always run. And Snakes-and-Families and Happy Ladders. And Easy Hobbi-Games for Little Engineers, complete with instructions. Oh, easy for Leonardo! And a whistle to make the dogs bark to wake up the old man next door to make him beat on the wall with his stick to shake our picture off the wall. And a packet of cigarettes: you put one in your mouth and you stood at the corner of the street and you waited for hours, in vain, for an old lady to scold you for smoking a cigarette, and then with a smirk you ate it. And then it was breakfast under the balloons."

That's what Christmas is all about,  Dylan Thomas. Thanks

Sugar and Spice Cookies

I make these Sugar and Spice cookies every year. They are so simple, they can be made in one bowl, but I prefer to mix the moist ingredients first.

¾ cup softened shortening

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour

1 egg

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

¼ molasses

Extra granulated sugar

Preheat your oven to 350◦ F

Cream the shortening and the sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the egg and the molasses.

In another bowl stir together the flour, baking soda and spices. Gradually add to the moist ingredients. You can use a fork or an electric mixer.

Form the dough into small balls – around 1 actual teaspoonful. Roll the balls of dough into granulated sugar. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or Silpat.

Bake for 11 minutes for chewy cookies, 13 minutes for crispy. Makes about 40 cookies if you don’t sample the dough!!

above picture: Lesleycooks.com

Part 3 - The Auberge Ravoux

Coming back down the hill from the Auvers-sur-Oise cemetery took a little longer than I had anticipated and I felt that I was walking not in the footsteps of Van Gogh, but of Mr. Bean.

I put too much faith in my Google map and walked right by the Auberge Ravoux by about a block. I retraced my steps and found the place. The front door was not in use and the entrance to the restaurant was on a side street. I advised two nice ladies at the ticket entrance that I had a reservation and they told me to go ahead.

I found the tearoom ( reserved for groups) no problem, but I couldn't see how a visitor was to enter the Auberge Ravoux dining room. By now it was well after noon. After squeeeeeezing my way backwards through some turnstiles I walked around the block again still unable to figure out how to get in. Back at the beginning, I passed the two nice ladies again and then I entered the tearoom looking for help. A very shy waiter that looked EXACTLY like Neville Longbottom showed me where I was supposed to go. Silly me for not knowing that the unmarked backdoor was where paying customers should have entered this landmark (read unmarked) site.

I sat down by the front window of the restaurant and relished the details of the Ravoux; mindful of the tiled floor with its "tumbling blocks" pattern, the table and window coverings and the zinc bar that I had seen in books and the film A Very Long Engagement and mindful of it's most famous patron. But here I go complaining again. The place was like a tomb. There was one other couple there. But that was it. No music. No hustle. No bustle. The waitstaff was talking in hushed tones as if Van Gogh had died the night before. I felt very much like I had to behave with more decorum than I was used to.  I was getting depressed and Auvers-Sur-Oise was seriously starting to get to me. Where were the throngs of sight-seers? The quietness plus my increasing muddledness was making me wonder if  was if the town was doing something to my brain and I wondered if Vincent felt it too.

Little by little my experience warmed up. I was offered the communal sausage to sample and it was delicious. The waitress opened up a little. Some other gents came in. One looked and behaved as if he was really famous and the head waiter was fawning over him. I think one of them may have been a director. Later they actually asked the waiter to tell one of the patrons not to take photos of their table. Yes, the place had started to fill up. And the once-crypt-like place had turned into a veritable bird cage of twittering tourists. With cameras.

My food was sublime - the best of my trip. I ordered Rabbit Terrine with lentils, 7-hour Lamb Stew, Potatoes Dauphinoise  and almond ice cream. I really enjoyed my meal. I appreciated every bite. Maybe I subconsciously knew it was to be my last meal until the following morning.

After paying, I went up stairs to visit Van Gogh's quarters only to find I'd made yet another mistake (not my last of the day, either). The cost of entry was not included in my meal. Back to the two nice ladies at the wicket to pay admission and then I mounted the stairs to Vincent Van Gogh's bedroom.

The Clever Pup's Paris Notebook - Day One, My First Morning

I started writing this in the sunshine at Crêpes à Gogo, just a few short steps from my hotel. I dropped off my luggage at the Hôtel du Panthéon at 11:00. I can check in for real at 2pm.

I ordered a Cafe Noisette and a Crêpe La Bretonne; a coffee with a dash of cream and a crêpe with real French vanilla ice cream, chantilly cream and salted butter caramel sauce. It was truly delicious, but I found an ant (dead) on the side of my plate. I gave the waiter 1€ for a tip anyway.

From here I started on my walk of Montparnasse. I've long been a fan of Paris in the 20s and Montparnasse is where it's at. (Or was). Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Stein, Foujita, Kiki de Montparnasse, Many Ray - they all hung out here.

On my way I passed the Jardin Luxembourg. I took a picture of this lovely sign, The Puppet Theatre of Luxembourg - Fun small and big - performing arts. "Email" in this case, means enamel.

Then walking down Boulevard Saint-Michel I came upon an elaborate fountain in the Jardin Marco Polo. I could only capture a bit of it. Around the corner was the La Closerie Lilas where the black-jacketed waiters were busy seating patrons. Far too posh for me, this restaurant was once they haunt of Hemingway, Sartre, Rimbaud, Man Ray, Dali to name only a few.

Then onto 29 rue Campagne-Première, and the Hotel Istria where Picabia, Duchamp, Man Ray and Kiki, Satie and Rilke all once had quarters. Next door at number 31 is a fantasic example of Art Nouveau architecture. Once artists studios, this building was designed by architect Alexandre Bigot and ceramist André Arfvidson.

I found the watering-holes of the denizens of Montparnasse, Le Dome, La Rotonde, Le Select.

I found Kiki's house and the apartment where Foujita lived.

On my way to 27 Rue Fleurus, once Gertrude Stein's house, a middle-aged French woman caught up to me on the street thinking I was I friend of hers. I guess I fit in alright if I can be mistaken for an inhabitant.

From there I sat and rested on a bench in the Jardin Luxembourg, the chestnuts and their leaves crinkly and crunchy under foot. I made a full-circle taking almost 2 hours. And I haven't even checked into my room yet!