Kicking Off My Calgary Trip to the Calgary Farmers' Market

I have had an amazing couple of days in Calgary so far! I have done a little bit of all of my favourite things. The trip started with amazing Crave cupcakes (as every trip to Calgary should). They were waiting for me on arrival with the new feature flavour of the month (it may have changed now that it is August), lemon meringue. It was perfectly light and flavourful, the perfect cupcake for summer! We have Crave cupcakes every week when are living in Calgary and every trip when we visit. My sister is such a big fan that I always have to bring some home to Nova Scotia with me when I am flying from Calgary. When I leave Wednesday morning I will be carrying Crave cupcakes on the flight with me by request for Kevin in Quebec and Beckie in Nova Scotia. We sure do crazy things for the people we love! Want more on Crave, do your sweet tooth a favour and visit their homepage by clicking here. 

After indulging in amazing Crave cupcakes for dessert I nestled into bed and met an early morning alarm for a trip to the Calgary Farmers' Market. I am of the opinion that visiting Farmers' Markets earlier rather than later is always the best call. This was my first trip to the Calgary Farmers' Market and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the Calgary Farmers' Market, it is right up there with my favourite market in Vancouver (Granville Island) and the Open Aire Market in La Jolla. 

I tried a little bit of everything and much like Kootenay Festival I started my day with a little breakfast gelato from Frank & Mabel’s Frozen Treats! I had a “cookie” flavoured gelato pop and it was amazing. It left me wanting an entire serving, but it was a little too early for the full serving for me.

I should note before I made it to the food court in the Calgary Farmers' Market I had already indulged in some almonds. As you can see Going Nuts has a wide range of almonds for your tasting perusal, I tried a little bit of everything. There were amazing flavours that everyone can love and then innovative new almond flavours that only Going Nuts makes. For example, they have two new summer flavours “Watermelon” and “Sour Patch Kids”. Yes, two very unique flavours of almonds. Honestly, I enjoyed them both. They are different and fruity, perfect conversation starters for your next gift or gathering! What did I end up choosing? Well, after three months away from almonds and our low-carb diet I picked Kevin up the most popular almonds Going Nuts sells “coconut almonds”. I am so excited for him to try them. You can visit their website here for a full look at the amazing nuts, trail mixes and everything they offer.

Another item I picked up for Kevin’s “welcome back to the real world” goodie bag is one of my favourite things to eat but not make, peanut brittle. I tired a wide range of Sweet’s peanut brittle and I was so impressed with each flavour. I had to pick up a bar and I immediately knew which flavour I needed as soon as I saw it, I had to give it a taste too and I was so impressed with the salty/sweet balance, of course I had to buy Sweet’s “Bacon Brittle”! I am equally as excited to open the brittle and give it a go! Sweet can be found on the web here... 

We finished our trip to the Calgary Farmers' Market with a coffee from the Fratello Analog Café. We are big fans of Fratello coffees but I had to try their special feature “Iced London Fog” which was Earl Grey tea with vanilla and milk. I’m not a fan of any type of tea (so to be honest with you I am not sure why I chose this) but I absolutely loved this creation. For more on Fratello Coffee click here.

On top of the many fun, tasty products I sampled and bought on my first trip to the Calgary Farmers' Market we also bought a great deal of healthy stuff too! 

-Flat iron steaks from Silver Sage Beef. Check them out here. 

-Basil, greens and rhu-berry pie from Innisfail Growers. Mare about Innisfail Growers here. 

-Lobster mac & cheese from Simple Simon Pies. Your path to indulgence starts with a click here. 

-Lots of fruit from Cherry Pit. Much, much more than cherries! For all the details on Cherry Pit click here.

On top of the amazing assortment of goods we walked out of the market with there were many other unique goods at The Calgary’s Farmers' Market everything from a wide range of bee’s wax products, dog treats, vinegars, oils, flowers, gluten-free foods (I am seriously excited to try the gluten-free bakery’s bread) and farm fresh eggs. I could list the amazing goods and services at the Calgary Farmers' Market for pages (if blogs had pages). 

More than just a market for your basic necessities, Calgary Farmers' Market is pretty much a mall that you can go to and feel good about blowing your budget at. How often can you say that? I love spending my money and meeting the people who it will be benefit, that is something that will never truly happen at a big-box store. I think sometimes in cities we take for granted how important buying local is, we think that someone else who has more money will do it or that the market is a place for stroller-pushing mums to meet up and hangout at. The Calgary Farmers' Market is definitely not like that at all. I saw business men meeting up for a quick bite of lunch, picking up a couple of groceries and then sitting down for a quick meeting. The Calgary Farmers' Market is designed to appeal to a wide range of people and I can guarantee you will enjoy it!

It was the perfect way to start my Friday! After the Market the day continued to be awesome with a quaint BBQ on the deck and then a Stamp’s game. They won 99% of the game, if only they would have won the 1% of the game that mattered…

Need all the details on the Calgary Farmers' Market you can visit their website here. The Calgary Farmers' Market is open all year long on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9am until 5pm! 

The Best Salad I Have Ever Had at The Wooden Spoon Grand Forks

If you read my blog you know it is not a common occurrence for me to order a salad at restaurants. Today I am getting straight to the point of this blog and it is the Wooden Spoon in Grand Forks’ “Grand Chicken” salad. I had the “Grand Chicken” for the first time Family Day weekend when I was in town for the Chamber of Commerce’s big Family Day celebrations. Everyone in town raved to me about the amazing food at the Wooden Spoon so I drug my boyfriend to the hot spot for lunch.

As you can see the salad is huge. So my boyfriend had his panini and then helped me devour my salad. He instantly wanted to order a second one to have a full “Grand Chicken” to himself. The salad has a base of mixed greens with roasted pumpkin, candied chili, roasted almonds and topped off with chicken and feta.

I was finally back in Grand Forks for another great event and had to take our Street Teamer to the Wooden Spoon for another salad.  She picked the “Grand Chicken” salad as well and loved it too! Thank goodness they had not changed their menu; I had been thinking about the salad for months. When I mentioned to my boyfriend that I went back to the Wooden Spoon for the salad he was so jealous. They don’t make food like that at Basic Military Training!

He was also very jealous of the desserts that I brought home with me. I could not pick just one so I brought home a slice of the Ponderosa banana cake and a slice of the lemon yogurt berry cake.  Both of the desserts were amazing! You can see them pictured here in the display window. I would recommend splitting them both with a friend.

If I had to choose just one I would go with the Ponderosa banana cake. It was divine. The chocolate chips on the top of moist, dense banana cake were perfection. Both desserts were amazing! I imagine the lemon yogurt berry cake would be even more amazing with ice cream… yum!

The next time you drop by Grand Forks stop into the Wooden Spoon and enjoy an amazing lunch (or breakfast… yes they are open for breakfast too)!

The Wooden Spoon is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8am until 3pm for breakfast and lunch. You can visit the Wooden Spoon on 3^rd Street, Grand Forks. They also have a patio; it is the perfect spot to have a sunny lunch while in beautiful Grand Forks!

I hope to try the breakfast menu the next time I visit. The homemade cornbread with spinach, bacon, poached eggs and maple syrup sounds amazing; I am a sucker for cornbread!

You can "like" the Wooden Spoon on Facebook here.

Kate's Christmas Card 2013 Winner

Don't you just love him? 

Okay, this is the second last Holiday-ish blog I will write until December madness crops back up in 11 or so months.  Yesterday I sat around my apartment, welcoming the New Year by cleaning up the old crap that just sits around. Unfortunately, it got me thinking about nixing all those Christmas cards. Each one made me smile as I opened my mail box, I really love receiving them but my table shrine  (I was pretty lazy and dressed up a fold out table rather than a tree this Christmas) has got to go. I hate the idea of tossing all these mementos of Christmas 2013, my first away from home; but I hate the clutter. Also, I come from a long line of hoarders and I really want to nip that habit in the bud.

What do you do with your Christmas cards?

I thought I would also take this time to acknowledge my favourite Christmas card from 2013, it was from my Nanny Bruce and I absolutely love it.

Seriously, I have this little guy pinned above my desk at work. He is the Christmas Card 2013 Champion. Why do I like him so much? Well, he is golden. The best (okay, just my favourite) color of dog, he has the most adorable puppy-sized scarf around his neck and he is not just walking in the on a freaking mission. This guy is trudging through the snow to get somewhere. No effort was made to have a happy puppy on a winter walk; this pup is just like us humans; dressed for the snowy conditions but still not happy to be out experiencing winter weather.

I would love to have this little guy in my home, I like to think he is dashing off to an important place to accomplish monumental things. That is the expression on his adorable little face and I love it.

Okay, I may have gone a little too deep with analysis of this Christmas card. But, I do truly love it. Props to Grandmother MacDonald and Ashley Ettinger for also playing the pet cards this year, they were a close second and third.

Thank you everyone for your Christmas cards! I am already looking forward to picking a favourite for 2014!

Kate’s Favorite Things: Pinch Provisions ‘Minimergency Kit’

I love stockings, growing up we always got four stockings, one on Christmas Eve night when “Santa” would stop by my Grandmother’s house and each of us grandchildren would sit on his lap and be given a large man’s foot worth of candy, underwear, hygiene products and usually one cool thing to put a smile on your face. The next stocking would come Christmas morning after Santa had visited our home, this stocking would be filled with more fun items and candy.  The next stocking would come a little later in the day at our Great Grandparent Kinney’s house, usually these stockings were a little more boring than the first stocking and the only really interesting part would be to see who would get the coolest stocking (they were rotated around for a while until eventually each great-grandchild had a name on their stocking, killing the surprise). The last stocking of the Holidays would come on New Year’s Day with all of the “leftovers” from Santa’s Workshop or maybe some pretty sweet Boxing Day sale deals to ensure everyone ended up with the things they really wanted for Christmas.

Again, I love stockings. I love Christmas. This year I only was on the receiving end of one stocking. I filled a stocking for my boyfriend with all of his favorite things and his parents sent a stocking back from Calgary with him for me.

This was one amazing stocking; my boyfriend’s mother may just be the Queen of Stocking Stuffing. Everything in it was gold, including one of my new favorite things.  The absolutely brilliant Pinch Provisions Minimergency Kit (For Her of course).

Every item, big or small, was wrapped in this stocking so when I got to the ‘Minimergency Kit’ I had to stop and read the entire listing of exactly what it was, pure genius. The ‘Minimergency Kit’ truly is mini, measuring in at 3.5” x 2” x 2” and is home to 17 beauty and personal care items.

Here are just some of the emergency items included in this amazing little bag (pictured to the right):

-Breathe freshener

Picture from http://pinchprovisions.com/

-Floss

-Clothing mending kit (yes, a kit inside a kit)

-Lip balm

-A tampon

-Hair spray

-Clear nail polish

Yes, the Minimergency Kit is a BIG help for those tiny emergencies that seem to ruin everyone’s days. It is a little silly how confident it makes me feel just having it in my purse.

Naturally, loving my Minimergency Kit as much as I do I had to check its mother company our online, Pinch Provisions. They also make emergency kits (in mini and full size) for men, teachers, moms, back to school, hooking your wedding party up before the wedding, brides, grooms and sending your kid off to college (there may even be more).  They even sell refills for your kits too!

I think this is the perfect item to put in a stocking; it is one of my favorite things from this Christmas and an all-round brilliant idea from Pinch Provisions.

To find your future emergency solution visit Pinch Provisions here.

New Add: Arctic Monkeys –Do I Wanna Know?

New Music Add: Arctic Monkeys –Do I Wanna Know?

There is some pretty graphic doodling being done in this music video so I have posted two versions, viewer beware.

REALLY excited that one of my current favourite songs, from my current favourite album, from my current favourite band has been added to the Mountain FM playlist.  With a mesmerizingly addictive guitar line and lyrics that will loiter in your mind for days, this is a song I hope I get a lot of requests for. I’ll admit it has not left my iTunes ‘recently played’ list for months and I think it can also be found in the top 10 of my most played songs ever.

You can check out my previous ravings about the Arctic Monkey’s, their new album ‘AM’ and even their music video for ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’.

I hope you like it, I know I shrieked when I saw it on my music logs and gushed like a schoolgirl when I announced it on-air. I’ll even admit that I cranked the speakers in the studio and sang at the top my lungs, this only happens for the cream of the classic and best new rock we play (it tends to happen at least once a day).

Let me know if you like it!

Two of My Favourite Canadians: Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole

I am not a huge fan of change. I was really unhappy when I learned two of my favourite Canadians were planning on heading south of the border to Ammmurrrica. When Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole announced they were going to be leaving their program ‘Sportcentre’ on TSN my heart broke. I am a huge sports fan  I would fight the urge to read sports articles and watch game updates just to keep things fresh for the late-night edition of ‘Sportscentre’. Living on the East Coast you have to stay up pretty late to catch the live edition of the show, the live edition is the best run of the show because it roles unedited unlike other editions.

Jay and Dan are hilarious. When my boyfriend and I drove across Canada we listened to all of their Podcasts… yes, every single one. Listening to hours and hours of audio in a short duration of time can convince you that you actually know these people and give you a personal attachment, very strange (and worrying) indeed. The podcasts are part of my emotional reaction to this dynamic-duo moving stateside.

I seriously miss them on ‘Sportscentre’ as well. Seriously, all those crappy things you don't want to do ‘Sportscentre’ makes better. If you have the gumption to get your butt somewhere early in the day you can catch ‘Sportscentre’ in line rather than boring afternoon poker. That is the world I live in, waiting in line at the DMV, waiting out at the service centre, waking up from a hangover, going to the gym; all things made better by Jay and Dan’s presence (and made worse by TSN’s typical afternoon programming).

Seriously, if I could meet any of my media idols Jay and Dan come in second (they are “life partners” so they count as one person in my rulebook) to the almighty, Lorne Michaels.

I miss you Jay and Dan, TSN is  just not the same. I still love the main crew at 'Sportscentre', but they are lacking the Jay and Dan flare... 

This month Jay and Dan made their American debut; below you can check them out working blue in the US.