Announcing the 2010 Christmas giveaway winners
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Karen Hamilton
December 17, 2010
Thanks to everyone that participated and/or spread the word about our 2010 Christmas giveaway. Who won? Drum roll please…
Congratulations to Jennifer’s husband, who like my own husband, suffers from the plight of having baked goods created and taken away before he gets a chance to partake.
Congratulations to Anita’s best friend, who has supported Anita through rough times in 2010.
Selecting a winner of this last gift was very difficult, as the vegans that were nominated sounded more than deserving (and superhuman in their achievements, at that). But we were particularly moved by Sue’s wish to donate the dinner to the DTES Women’s Centre this year.
Wait, there’s more…
We’d also like to thank Jennifer, Anita, and Sue for their nominations with a few stocking stuffers of their own. I was going to tell you what they are today but realized that it will spoil the surprise, so I’ll fill the rest of you in on what they are as soon as these ladies get to peek at their goodies.
If you liked these gifts and still want to obtain them for a food lover in your life, there is still enough time for you to buy them in time to have them under the tree!
Categories: Culinary Resources, Food, Yummy Products
3 Christmas gift ideas for the food lover in your life
19 Comments Karen HamiltonDecember 13, 2010
Our social circle is comprised of talented home cooks, industry professionals, extreme gourmands, and budding chefs. It’s a challenge every Christmas to get the food lovers in my life something that they’ve never tried before or something they cannot normally get in their home town.
Like last year, I’ve found a few more items to put under the Christmas tree for them. I also procured extras for you to give to someone you love this holiday season. You have till noon on Friday, December 17th to pick an item and tell us who you’d gift it to and why.
PS #1: In the spirit of Christmas, the recipient must be someone other than yourself.
PS #2: Thanks to Claudia Kwan for helping us figure out how this giveaway would work. She runs awesome Merry Mondays that you should also check out.
Vista D’oro “Cookies for Kids” holiday tin
As many of you know, our daughter was born nearly a year ago at BC Children’s Hospital. What you might not have known was that my uncomplicated pregnancy evolved into a scary and drawn out birth, resulting in a 40 hour labour (yikes!) and an unplanned C-section. While we were grateful for the care that we had received from the staff that looked after us, we never did get around to sending a donation to the hospital like we had planned.
Luckily, we were reminded that Lee & Patrick Murphy of Vista D’Oro Farms organizes a massive fundraiser each year for the hospital in memory of their loved ones. 200 holiday tins are put together, each containing a 200ml jar of Vista D’oro preserves and 2 dozen cookies baked by a variety of local purveyors. We donated $100 for 2 tins and hope you will consider getting some too. There’s 150 left to sell before the holiday season wraps up. This year’s tins contain:
- Spiced vanilla bean sugar cookie from Beyond @ The Century Plaza Hotel
- Coconut macaroons from Culinary Capers
- Strawberry cookies from Krause Berry Farm
- Triple chocolate cookies from Les Amis du Fromage
- Chocolate sparkles from Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver
- Chocolate and vanilla spirals from O’Doul’s, Listel Hotel
- Chocolate dipped shortbread & Melting Moments from Pane E Fromaggio
- Gingerbread stars from Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver
- Coconut Cranberry Almond Cookies from Pourhouse Restaurant
- Ginger Cookies from Terra Breads Bakery
- Oh La La Grand Marnier chocolate cookies from Toast of the Town Catering
- Brown sugar shortbread from Raincity Grill
- Rosemary butter cookies from Bishop’s Restaurant
Where to buy
Each tin can be purchased with a minimum donation of $50. 100% of your donation goes direct to BC Children’s Hospital. Cookies for Kids has raised $40,000 over the last 4 years.
- Vista D’Oro Farms: info@vistadoro.com or call 604-514-3539 to ensure tins are set aside for you
- Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts: bakery101@picachef.com or call 604-734-4488 to ensure tins are set aside for you
- Edible BC: info@edible-britishcolumbia.com or call 604-662-3606 to ensure tins are set aside for you
- Win a cookie tin for your loved one from Tiny Bites. Tell us who you’d give this cookie tin to if you won one from us. You can comment here, reply to us on Twitter, or let us know on our Facebook page.
Librandi organic extra virgin olive oil from The Olive Oil Merchant
A year had nearly passed since Buzz Bishop mentioned it to me, but I finally got to meet Teresa Kuhn of The Olive Oil Merchant, a new artisan olive oil retailer with roots in Kelowna and Vermezzo, Italy. One of her products blew my socks off: an organic olive oil made by the Librandi family in Calabria. In 2010, the Librandi was chosen as the Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Organic Farming by Flos Olei with a tasting score of 97/100. The recently published 2011 report boasts an even better accolade for the Librandi farm: Olive Oil Mill of the Year (organic or otherwise). Check out the tasting notes (PDF) for more detail.
I bought one of these as a Christmas present for one olive oil fan in my life, and had another one donated for one of you to gift to a loved one. Now I wish I had gotten a third for our own pantry!
Where to Buy
A 500ml bottle of Librandi olive oil is $27 and the 750ml is $31. The Olive Oil Merchant is the only retailer I’ve come across that carries the Librandi for Canadian shoppers. I’ve also seen online shops that sell to the UK and Italy.
- Purchase online through The Olive Oil Merchant: 500ml Librandi | 750ml Librandi
- Win a 500ml bottle of Librandi for your loved one from Tiny Bites. Tell us who you’d give this olive oil to if you won one from us. You can comment here, reply to us on Twitter, or let us know on our Facebook page.
Vegan holiday dinner from Whole Foods
One of the most entertaining media events I went to this year was a scavenger hunt at the Whole Foods on Cambie. They organized it in the style of Supermarket Sweep – remember that game show? We had 30 minutes to track down 10 items in our personalized shopping lists. It was delicious mayhem! After, we were treated to some samples from the catering division, who told us about their Whole Holiday Meals. I don’t normally put too much stock in product promos, but having friends and family that can get left out during holiday meal planning, I perked up when they mentioned an entire vegan option.
The Holiday Meals are meant to be ready-made dinner spreads to order in advance, pick up, and serve. They’re made with local and sustainable raw ingredients, which is hard to come by when choosing a meal-to-go. The vegan menu sounds just as delicious as the ones that come with turkey or ham. It’s something I’d pick up if we need to entertain a breadth of appetites during the frantic pace of the Christmas season.
Inside a Vegan Holiday Dinner (serves 4):
- Wild rice cranberry and fig “roast en croûte” (field roast), 900g. Rich grain meat stuffed with a sausage-style mixture of wild rice, quinoa, and dried figs, wrapped in a flaky vegan pastry
- Fresh green beens amandine, 680g
- Acorn squash with wild rice stuffing, 900g
- Olive oil smashed Yukon Gold potatoes, 900g
- Mushroom gravy, 500ml
- Classic cranberry relish, 500ml
- Dinner rolls, 6
- Poached saffron pears, 4
Where to Buy
You can order a Vegan Holiday Dinner, which serves 4, for $69.99 at pretty much any Whole Foods location. There’s a wider selection – choose from whole turkey dinners to just specific sides – but I thought it’d be nice to give out a Vegan option in homage to my vegetarian family members.
- Contact your nearest Whole Foods location at least a business day or two in advance.
- Win a Vegan Holiday Dinner for your loved one from Tiny Bites. Tell us who you’d give this dinner to if you won one from us. You can comment here, reply to us on Twitter, or let us know on our Facebook page.
Gift selection announced Friday, December 17, 2010
Are one of these gifts perfect for someone on your shopping list? Tell us which gift suits and who you’d give it to if you won one from us. You have till noon on December 17th to let us know, and we’ll tell you if you won it on the same day so that we can arrange a pick-up / meet-up before December 22nd.
The Fine Print*
There’s not a lot of conditions, but we thought you should know:
- The person you intend to give a gift to cannot be yourself, as tempting as that may be.
- This contest is open to anyone that can arrange to pick up their item within Greater Vancouver (ideally, downtown Vancouver). If we were to ship these items, you won’t get them in time for Christmas, anyhow.
- If you’re worried about disclosing the recipient’s name because they might read Tiny Bites too, send an extra email our way with the person’s name. We’ll be addressing the gifts to your recipient.
Categories: Food, Food Purveyors, Yummy Products
About Tiny Bites
Tiny Bites is a food blog that explores all things edible and imbibable in Vancouver, British Columbia. More >
Articles by Karen Hamilton
Read the food and non-food articles that I've contributed to sites other than Tiny Bites.
