Fun with Seasonal Crafts The holiday season can be an expensive time for any family, but it is especially difficult if you are living on a fixed income. That’s why we’ve put together Christmas activities and home-made gifts that can become a fun and affordable part of your family’s holiday season. Let us know how these crafts work out for you and your family. Even better, share your own affordable family traditions with us and other visitors to the Christmas Exchange homepage. You can submit your suggestions to merryxmas@storm.ca . Fun with seasonal crafts. Gay Cook's Christmas Recipes Gay Cook is a long-time supporter of the Christmas Exchange and Chair of Ottawa's Biggest Bake Sale 2006. Gay writes a weekly food column — Talk of the Town — in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper and is a former food editor of the Ottawa Sun newspaper. She also writes freelance for publications such as Fifty-Five Plus and Food & Leisure Magazine. She regularly teaches demonstration cooking classes and is frequently engaged to speak about Canadian culinary issues. She is an honorary member of the Canadian Federation of Chefs and Cooks and winner of the Sandy Sanderson Award recognizing outstanding food journalists. She is on the Board of Governors of the National Capital Sommelier Guild and a member of Cuisine Canada. These recipes and more can be found in Mrs. Cook’s Kitchen Basics & Beyond. Gay Cook's Christmas Recipes.