Anna Olson from the second season of Fresh with Anna Olson.
Michael Smith
Julie Van Rosendaal
With a dusting of snow on the ground in some cities in Canada, we're reminded that the festive season is not far away. Time to start planning. What will our homes look like this year?
Holiday decor 2009 will honour the past, with a focus on simple ways to update what we already have. After a year of tough times, it's the gift of time that will define this holiday season -- time spent together, or looking for that one special, little gift, or creating something handmade and from the heart.
We asked some of the celebrity presenters for this year's inside tips and trends. Here's what they had to say.
"It's all about building memories this year. And what we remember are not the gifts.
"The value in Christmas is in the time spent with others. It's the gesture that's in the true spirit of Christmas.
"Gifts from the kitchen are always popular. Cookies are never turned away, but this year cookie exchanges will see an expanded repertoire to chocolate, candies, stockings and other things made."
-- Anna Olson, TV host of Fresh, Food Network Canada
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"Expect to see a little more glamour this year in holiday decorating and gift-giving. With decorating, we'll see colour combinations of glossy black, rich purple and silver for a nod to the art deco era, and also rich red plaids entangled with gold glitter threads for a sparkling, luxurious country look.
"Gifts this year will be small luxuries: cashmere socks, high-end candles, silver cufflinks, a silk pillow. Luxe is not big and gaudy, but very personal and refined this year.
"Homemade gifts can follow the luxe trend, too: a jar of brandy-poached pears; hand-knit cashmere scarf; dried fruits covered in dark chocolate; a fresh wreath made of holiday greens or caramels covered in crunchy sea salt are a few ideas."
-- Karl Lohnes, Canada AM and style editor for Style At Home
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"I find that my family and friends are at a point in their lives where they are accumulating less, and food gifts certainly fit this demographic.
"To make entertaining easier on the host, potluck contributions will be encouraged this year, keeping in mind that it's the 'getting together' that is what really counts. So why not let others participate in helping to make the gathering a success? More families are actually 'assigning' dishes to ensure that the menu is well-rounded."
-- Gail Hall, food activist and consultant with Seasoned Solutions
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"This year, shades of champagne are very big. If you have Christmas decorations in silver, gold or bronze, it is easy to update your look by adding a splash of champagne. It could be as easy as adding some ribbon or spraying some ornaments.
"One of the most impressive new things for this year takes LED lights to new levels. Now, there are a whole lot of discs, string lights and T-lights. Some of them are waterproof and change colour. They all add light, sparkle and drama and make all decorations look new again."
-- Stasia Nawrocki, author, tablescape designer extraordinaire and owner of Edmonton's Dansk Gifts
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"If there is a silver lining to our current financial mess, perhaps it's that many of us have been inspired to reach out into our communities and forge local food connections. We're finding lower prices, but we're also rediscovering the simple joy of getting to know the folks who produce our food."
-- Michael Smith, TV host of Chef at Home and Chef Abroad on Food Network
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"I like spending cold afternoons cooking or creating gifts, sometimes with my 11-year-old niece. I find kids learn more about the concept of giving and are far more excited about gifts for teachers and friends when the gifts are homemade.
"Every year my family makes Christmas crackers to share during the big feast. We save toilet-paper tubes and buy tissue and snappers at the craft store. Then each of us is responsible for picking up a gift under $10 that fits. And therein lies the challenge: fitting it inside a toilet-paper tube! We top them up with Quality Street chocolates, and the result is far more fun (and personal) than prepackaged Christmas crackers. It's also a fun way to spend a wintry afternoon."
-- Julie Van Rosendaal, author of One Smart Cookie, food writer and blogger of www.dinnerwithjulie.com
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"Even as times are on the upswing, giving from the heart remains a potent theme for this year's Christmas gift giving. So we'll be packing festive boxes of cookies, offering a bottle of homemade limoncello, a jar of salsa from our kitchen, or a special treat of toasted-almond English toffee in a pretty tin -- gifts that reflect our love and are carefully handmade to please our family and friends."
-- Elizabeth Baird, Canadian Living food editor
-- Canwest News Service
