The Panda Gift Guide To Fun And Success

As the end of the year approaches and holidays abound it is never too late to send your friends a little something to say you are thinking of them. A little something vegan, possibly handmade. I present a list of things I would enjoy should Sinterklass stuff them in a shoe for me.

The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman. Two lovely people wrote a damn fine cookbook. The pumpkin ice cream is the best. And you can’t go wrong with homemade bacon bits.

Vegan Dish has a selection of vegan stamped mugs and bowls to enjoy this winter in the cold. Have some lapsang souchong in a bright blue mug to warm your day.

The good folks at Tattoed Geek have a plethora of soy candles and lip balms to stuff your stockings with. Treewool has the beautiful garland scarf that I have been eyeing all fall. You can’t go wrong with organic bamboo.

Vegan Pie in the Sky from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Best dessert book of 2011 for all your pie needs. Pumpkin cheesecake is good any day of the year.

 

 

 

VOTM Guide to Gifting Part 2: If you’re not a cat.

You saw Buhbah’s picks, here’s mine! Buy local, handmade, vegan, etc. Some might say we’ve entered “last-minute” as it pertains to gift-buying for the holidays, but I say psshaw. Bake your hard-working postal worker some cookies and hope for the best.

This wonderful gift pack from Food for Lovers Queso (we love Chris and Crystal!) is essential. Your lucky recipient gets a jar of the best vegan queso, either a felt ornament from our very own Panda With Cookie or a queso cozy, and a personalized gift card. Open to US-only, sadly, but I know I have lots of American friends staring blankly at the tortilla chips in their cupboards.

I'd go for the felt serrano.

I love My Zoetrope, it is no secret. I fell in love with artist Michelle Cavigliano’s colourful illustrations last year, and this year I am really excited to have her 2012 Calendar sitting on my desk, awaiting 2011 to bite the dust. Because aren’t we all waiting for 2011 to bite the dust?

Someone on my list will find this grey turban ear warmer from Treewool under the tree. Good thing my family ignores the blog.

I am by no means a perfume girl, but I can think of handful of crazy friends who would love this fascinating Grandpa’s Pipe-scented roll-on perfume oil from LondonCity.

The next two picks come from local (to me) businesses run by incredible people I have had the privilege to either work with, eat with, or write about.

Nice Shoes is Vancouver’s first vegan shoe store, run by a wonderful vegan couple. And I have been thinking about, saving up, not saving up enough and then going broke, and then thinking about again these boots for years.

Karmavore Vegan Shop has the ubiquitous Peppermint Chocolate Vitasoy in stock. Enough said. Non-Canadians, you are in luck—Karmavore ships worldwide!

After that Vitasoy aperitif, we are getting hungry, yes? How about some PandaWithCookieBakes Earl Grey tea cookies or some SweetVConfections S’more Fudge?

This beautiful necklace makes me feel pretty emotional because it would have been the perfect gift for an inspiring bird-loving person I knew and loved and who passed away a couple of years ago. I’m sure many people would appreciate its uniqueness.

And because it always comes back to cats (Buhbah just jumped on my lap), who needs Santa cards when you can have trampoline kitties? The scrappyrat Etsy shop donates some of its proceeds to various worthy animal causes.