holidays

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Gift Guide for Editors and Writers 2014

Written by Jennifer S. Getsinger, Ph.D., P.Geo.; copy edited by Joanne King

Are you wondering what to give all the wordsmiths on your shopping list this holiday season? How about decent pay, a steady flow of work (without having to do too much promotion), and a good computer that doesn’t keep crashing in Microsoft Word? All joking aside, it’s easy to find many more-or-less affordable gifts for editors and writers. Here are some gift suggestions that will delight even the most difficult to please.

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Urban Girl gets culinary

Box-standard biscotti.

Box-standard biscotti. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

Exciting poodle biscotti!

Exciting poodle biscotti! The smaller, thinner shape requires less baking time than the traditional oblong. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

This Christmas, Urban Girl is baking her way through her hostess-gift list. A recent trip to a local flea market turned into a cookie-cutter shopping spree when she happened upon a stash of retro kitchenalia. She’s decided to make low-fat gingerbread wiener-dogs (recipe: The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking) as well as poodle and Scottie dog biscotti (recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook).

Cookies in wide-mouth mason jars, with a twist of eco-friendly twine. Hostess gifts done.

Top tip: hover around the oven when baking cookie-cutter biscotti—the smaller, thinner shapes burn easily.

After burning two batches of her poodle and Scottie dog biscotti, Urban Girl realized that they needed less than half the baking time called for in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook recipe. Lesson learned.

Sourcing:

The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.

Funky cookie cutters
While Urban Girl purchased her cookie cutters at a local flea market, she noticed equally funky-looking ones on the Etsy social–commerce site.

Lifetime measuring cups
Urban Girl loves her measuring cups. They have pouring spouts on both sides and can be placed directly on the stove top to melt butter or warm oil.

Spice Jar measuring spoons
Urban Girl swears by her slim-line Spice Jar measuring spoons: each fits into the mouth of a standard spice container, metal or glass. The day after she purchased them, she dropped off her box-standard balloon-shaped measuring spoons at her local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

“Gingerbread People (Reduced Fat)” recipe from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, 1997. Recipe on pages 828–829.

“Almond Biscotti” recipe from Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, 2008.
This biscotti recipe has become an Urban Girl favourite: it’s low(ish) calorie and delicious. Recipe on page 296.

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EVENT LISTINGS: December 2012

Do you have an event planned (or know of one) that you’d like to appear in these listings? Send us the details.

November 24—December 24, 2012: Vancouver Christmas Market

Looking to experience an authentic German Christmas market while you shop for traditional German Christmas decorations, toys, pottery, food and drink, jewellery, and crafts? Fancy a stroll through “romantic rows of little wooden huts decorated in pine branches and illuminated with strings of little white lights”? This market is for you!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYPjFvJnecs?rel=0&w=640&h=360]© Vancouver Christmas Market

  • Time: 11h00–21h00 (November 24–December 23); 11h00–18h00 (December 24)
  • Cost: $5 for adults (Monday–Friday: 16h00–21h00; Saturday–Sunday: 11h00–21h00); $2 for adults (Monday–Friday: 11h00–16h00); $2 for children age 7–12; no charge for children <7 years of age
  • Location: Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza, 650 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
  • More information

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December 5, 2012: SFU Philosophers’ Café: Is Language Changing for the Better or Worse?

The topic for this SFU Philosophers’ Café is sure to warm the hearts—and stir the blood—of all editors. It will be moderated by Dr. Lorna Fadden, the same Dr. Fadden who presented EAC-BC’s November 21, 2012, lecture on forensic linguistics.

Topics to be discussed include the following:

  • How is language changing?
  • What are some of the features that appear to be dying out?
  • What new features might be entering the language?

About the moderator: Dr. Lorna Fadden is an assistant professor of linguistics at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Over the past decade, her research has focused on discourse analysis, mostly of police interviews, and the methods and ethics of dealing with language evidence. She has consulted on numerous cases in Canada and the United States. She’s also SFU’s First Nations languages coordinator and a regular moderator for SFU’s Philosophers’ Café.

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December 8, 2012: EAC-BC Christmas party

Have you signed up for EAC-BC’s Christmas party? This year’s party will be an informal evening of board games, word games, gossip, shoptalk, and, for those who are feeling a little shy, icebreakers. (Don’t forget to bring your favourite games such as Scrabble, Snatch, and Scattergories). Guests are welcome. Dress is casual.

To avoid paying the cover charge, let the doorman know that you’re with EAC.

Have an idea for a party activity? Send your suggestion to social chair Eve Rickert.

  • Time: 18h30–closing
  • Cost: individual tabs (drinks start at <$5; nothing on menu >$12)
  • Location: The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver
  • RSVP

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December 8–9, 2012: Got Craft? (holiday edition)

Held only twice a year, Got Craft? is Vancouver’s largest indie craft fair. Its mission? “To bring together a community that fosters handmade and DIY culture.” This is a great chance to shop for one-of-a-kind presents while participating in a crafting DIY workshop or two.

Bonus: the first 50 people through the front doors each day will receive free swag bags.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAGd_uGjL9E?rel=0&w=480&h=360]© Shaw TV

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