While I love hosting parties, they seem to take a lot out of me. Mack (and Kim’s) housewarming party is a good example. They moved into their new apartment in May. I offered to help Mack with the housewarming preparations (mainly around menu planning), and started thinking about summer-appropriate foods to serve. June soon gave [...]

I noticed the other day that Essence Organic Tea Bar (10011 102 Ave) has shut down for good; it lasted about a year. I think their somewhat hidden location and no evening hours didn’t help matters. Mack sent me a link about the Art Gallery of Alberta‘s Request for “Expressions of Interest from qualified restauranteurs [...]

I’ve written in the past on this blog about seminars and workshops I’ve attended to learn more about the topic of HIV/AIDS, but they’ve been heavily skewed towards the international side of things. For whatever reason, it’s become easy to ignore the same issues at home and concentrate only on the problems abroad. Thus, when [...]

I had made pesto with some leftover fresh basil I bought at the farmer’s market a few weeks ago, intent on using it for a recipe for Chicken Pesto Pot Pies I saw in the fall issue of Our Compliments magazine. I finally had the chance this weekend. We cheated with the potatoes, and used [...]

I had been looking forward to the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) exhibit, titled Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City, for some time. From the website: “Guided by MSF aid workers, visitors are asked to imagine that they are among the millions of people fleeing violence and persecution in, for example, Somalia, [...]

Mack and I decided to take advantage of a warm September evening by playing a round of mini-golf at the Whitemud Amusement Park (Whitemud Drive & 75 Street). While I had been on the go-karts before, I had never actually tried my hand at their golf course. Old Country Golf The designers of the park [...]

It’s funny (and tragic) how it sometimes takes national bodies to draw attention to local institutions, but I found that this was the case with The Lingnan (10582 104 Street). Food Network Canada chose the family behind The Lingnan to feature on their upcoming season of Family Restaurant, to begin airing January 2009. I saw [...]

Though it seems the world has just recovered from the massive spectacle that was in Beijing, over fifty countries are gearing up for an Olympic competition of a different nature. Occurring once every four years, the Culinary Olympics take centre stage in Erfurt, Germany from October 19 to 22. NAIT is once again fielding a [...]

My officemate was recently asking me about cheap eats in our area. I immediately directed him to the Italian Bakery and Nhon Hoa. Nhon Hoa (10622 97 Street), with two locations within a stone’s throw of each other, was a frequent stop in my childhood. Not for me (I didn’t learn to appreciate food until [...]

Via Chowhound: Bacon, the eatery known for locally-sourcing ingredients and serving up comfort food favourites, closed as of September 9. Their message indicates that the proprietors may move into a different space in the future, but provide no details. Xtreme Asian Fusion (with a name like that, how can they go wrong?) is hosting their [...]