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! 

Big Thanks to Michele and the B.C. Lung Association

I do not eat sugar, I do not eat wheat. One of my many weaknesses to break these trends in my eating patterns (it is not a weight loss diet thing, therefore I hate calling it a diet because of the stigma attached with that word) is Cinnabon. I have resisted that sweet cinnamon smell that haunts the malls of North America every time since I put on my wheat/sugar free pants, but when it is delivered to our door I cannot resist. Indeed life does need icing.

A big THANK YOU to Michele from the B.C. Lung Association for delivering an amazing Monday treat (on the most depressing day of the year), this is the type of Holiday treat everyone can use! Seriously, it was the highlight of our day here at Mountain FM. This is the first Holiday season here at Mountain FM so this is the first time I have experienced this miraculous annual delivery of this sweet surprise, Michele says she does it every year. This has taught me a valuable lesson; all annual future ‘holiday’ treat deliveries I do will happen on the first real back to work Monday of the New Year.

Again a HUGE thank you to the B.C. Lung Association for their annual treat, for more information about the B.C. Lung Association and their work like the Christmas Seal campaign you can check them out here http://www.bc.lung.ca/campaigns_and_events/public_service.html.

Now, it is Tuesday and there still are Cinnabons in the fridge… it is 5am… and there is still extra cream cheese icing to top them left in the fridge too. Fat Kid Kate would have just eaten the tube of icing and been content, but she has learned her lesson the hard way about doing that… but, that’s another (pretty scarring) story for another day. 

The 1st Annual Taste of Castlegar

I am such a lucky girl.

I love my job because I get to go to amazing events like 'Taste of Castlegar'.

Not only did I get to go to ‘A Taste of Nelson*’ last week, I also got to go to ‘Taste of Castlegar’. I can gladly say I enjoyed every calorie of my very tasty week. We had lots of sweets at the office as well*.

The rain did not stop the fun at the Lion’s Head Pub. Food vendors were under tents doling out their prized menu items from their new autumn menus. It is impossible to pick a favorite although I heard a lot of amazing feedback about all the items for the day. I can honestly tell you I was impressed with everything I tried. From butter chicken to cinnamon rolls, I ditched my diet and worked my way across all my taste buds. I really, really hope there is a second annual ‘Taste of Castlegar’ next year!

On top of all the great food the staff at the Lion’s Head Pub made great hosts to all the madness and the entertainment was killer! You need to check out ‘Taste of Castlegar’ next year. A big thank you goes out to everyone who made this great event possible, including everyone at the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce.

*If you look in my backlog of blogs you can read more about ‘ATaste of Nelson’ and our smiley-sweet week at Mountain FM. 

Sweets, Sweets and More Sweets

I am sure you have heard that Tim Horton’s Smile Cookies are out in full force again this year. One of the perks about working in radio is the vast amount of food that arrives in the office the second a charity item is up for grabs… like the smile cookies.

Also, the Pastry Shop in Trail not only makes the best buns in town they make amazing doughnuts too.

My co-workers are trying to get me fat. Seriously, all this amazing food needs to stop finding a home in the Mountain FM break room.

Jenny Fine’s was blown away by the treats from the Pastry Shop in trail.