Calgary

Orange Is the New Black in Calgary – Unique Gift Idea

December 16, 2015 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

Do you have someone on your Christmas list this year that you are at a loss for what to get them? Or maybe someone keeps asking you what’s on your list this year and you can’t think of anything. This may be just the thing you were looking for.

Orange is the New Black author Piper Kerman is going to be speaking at an event on April 14, 2016! This would make a perfect gift for the OITNB fan on your list. Piper Kerman is not only the author of the book, but the book is a memoir of her experiences in Women’s prison and the inspiration for the Netflix TV series. I’ve heard that she is an excellent speaker and funny too.

“The View from Behind Bars an evening with Piper Kerman at MacLeod Hall in Calgary”, also includes a silent auction plus an option to buy premium seating to the event which includes a signed copy of Piper’s book “Orange is the new Black, my year in Women’s Prison”.

But this event will not only be entertaining, it is also raising money for a great cause. The Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary (EFRY) is a non-profit organization that has been helping women and youth who are dealing with the legal and justice system for over 50 years. They provide practical programs, basic necessities and connections to community resources with the goal of creating more hopeful futures.

The money raised from this event, “The View Behind Bars – An Evening with Piper Kerman” will go to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Calgary’s prison to community transition programs.

I’ve really enjoyed watching OITNB – my favorite parts are the backstories. It really helps illustrate how often common themes of poverty abuse, trauma and addiction are to the women who end up engaged with the justice system and how without help these cycles could just keep repeating.

The show also gives you a bit of an idea of how hard it would be to start over and transition back into society. The Elizabeth Fry Society tries to help ease this transition through practical support.

Tickets are on sale now so go grab a couple for that tricky person on your list – your sister, or sister-in-law, friend or mother- and cross them off. Or drop a big hint about what you would like this year by sending this link.

For 50 years, Elizabeth Fry has offered a hand up to thousands of women in the Calgary community, providing practical programs, basic necessities and connections to community resources, all with the goal of creating more hopeful futures.

Room in a Box – How you can help High River

November 25, 2013 by danawyyc 1 Comment

The Alberta floods may seem like a distant memory, but for many High River residents the effects of the flood are still an ongoing issue. There are families whose houses have been condemned and have lost everything they own. There are families who have still not been able to return home.

Room in a Box is one group trying to help ease people through this difficult time. Room in a Box was founded by a woman who wanted to help her cousin whose High River home was destroyed in the flood. As she collected things in different boxes to give to her cousin when she was able to return home, she decided to expand this simple idea to help others in the community as well.

There are number of different ways that you can contribute to Room in a Box. You can supply one of the various, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom or Christmas boxes, buy a small appliance, or you can donate money through DQ/Orange Julius at the Sunridge Mall.

Each box needed has a list of new items that are needed. You simply buy the items on the list and leave the box at one of the drop-off locations.

Currently the biggest need is for king, queen and double sized bedroom boxes.

You can find out more at Room in a Box’s website and Facebook page.

Angel’s – Bowness – #yycisopen

August 10, 2013 by danawyyc 1 Comment

Location: Bowness – 603-47 Avenue NW Calgary (Near Bowness Park) – http://www.angelsdrivein.com/

We stopped in at Angel’s Drive In after spending some time at nearby Baker Park. Angel’s Drive In was undamaged in the flood and only had to close for one day but I imagine they are still finding business to be down. They are perfectly located for picking up lunch for a picnic lunch or grabbing dinner on the way home for a day out at Bowness Park. Unfortunately, Bowness Park is still completely closed.

Angel’s Drive In is a Calgary Institution. It’s located in a small blue building that I was surprised to find out also has a small restaurant area inside. We ran through the drive through and ate at the small picnic area beside the parking lot.

I had the Bowness Burger because – it was the Bowness Burger! It has a mayo based sauce, onions, pickles cheese and lettuce.

Bowness Burger

My mom got the Deluxe Burger – ketchup based sauce, cheese, bacon, lettuce, onions and tomato – because being at the Drive In was making her feel nostalgic.

Deluxe Burger

The burgers were huge. I tried my best to capture that in a photograph but you are just going to have to trust me. They are good sized burgers. They are also really good. This shouldn’t be surprising as Angel’s has been around for a long time but I wasn’t really expecting too much.

Kids Burger and Kids Hot Dog

This was our first time to Angel’s Drive In but it definitely won’t be our last.

Have you been to Angel’s Drive In? What did you think?

Fat City Franks – #yycisopen

August 8, 2013 by danawyyc 1 Comment

Location: Mission – #3 2015 4 Street SW, Calgary, AB http://www.fatcityfranks.com/

Fat City Franks is one of our favorite restaurants in Calgary. It’s also one of the few restaurants that my special needs brother likes going to. So we end up going to Fat City Franks fairly frequently. One of the things we love is that it is owner operated. Jane and Bob really take pride in what they’ve built and always seem happy to be there. Fat City Franks did not receive flood damage, but had to close for days due to power outages in Mission. This was costly both in terms of food that had to be thrown out, and lost revenue. They are finding that business is still down as people are still moving back into the neighborhood.

The restaurant is small, casual, bright and clean. I love coming here with our kids because it’s quick too. Over the last few years, I’ve tried every hot dog on their menu and many of their monthly specials. They are all good, but my favorites are the Chicago Dog and the San Antonio Black Bean Chili Dog. I also really like switching the hot dog for a farmer’s sausage.

Our favorite seat

Pic of Gordie from 2 years ago

Although they have great menu options, they will also prepare a custom hotdog for you. Gordie’s favorite used to be ketchup, then ketchup with tomatoes and mustard. And now plain.

Coney Island Dog

Chicago Dog

If you like hotdogs, I would highly suggest giving Fat City Franks a try. Their malted milkshakes, potato salad and coleslaw are great too. (They’ve been profiled on “You Gotta Eat Here!” too)

Super short Clip of Fat City Franks including the Chicago Dog with a Farmer’s Sausage and a Ukranian Dog:

Have you been to Fat City Franks? What did you think?

Spolumbo’s Fine Foods and Deli Review #yycisopen

July 13, 2013 by danawyyc 1 Comment

Location: Inglewood – 1308 – 9th Avenue SE. Calgary, Alberta http://www.spolumbos.com/ItalianDeli/

We stopped in at Spolumbo’s for lunch after playing at the nearby Nellie Breen Playground. I had heard that they had just reopened after repairing the damage from the Calgary flood this year.

I love buying Spolumbo’s sausages at the grocery store but don’t often get a chance to go and eat at their deli. My mom and I both ordered the hot sausage on a bun. I’ve had it before but it never disappoints. The spiciness is not overpowering and the marinara sauce complements it perfectly. I found it to be just the right amount of food for me, but if you’re a big eater, you may want to get a side or one of the biggest sandwiches.

I wasn’t sure at first what I was going to get for the kids. The sandwiches are pretty big (although you can get mini-versions). In the end I bought the fruit salad and a plain sun-dried tomato chicken sausage for the kids to share.

It was perfect! The fruit salad was huge (especially for $6) with lots of variety and the kids thought the sausage was pretty darn good too.

I also picked up a Spolumbo’s Special to take home for my husband. It was big enough for him to use half for lunch and the other half for dinner.

I found Spolumbo’s to be pretty kid friendly too. The atmosphere is pretty casual and they have a couple booster seats and high chairs. There are no kids menu’s but they have salads, mini-subs and sandwiches, and mild sausages.

Have you been to Spolumbo’s what did you think?

Summertime Alberta Barbecue Beef on a Bun – The Canadian Food Experience Project

July 13, 2013 by danawyyc 6 Comments

It’s Stampede in Calgary this week so for this month’s The Canadian Food Experience Project challenge I decided to do BBQ Beef on a Bun. The Canadian Food Experience Project started last month on June 7, 2013, it aims to gain global clarity to what Canadian food really is through the participants‘ collective stories and experiences.

This month, the challenge was a regional Canadian food. In Alberta, beef is a natural choice – if there is one thing Alberta is known for, it’s beef. Barbecue beef on a bun is a Stampede staple – you can get all kinds of wild food at the Stampede from deep fried butter to deep fried oreos to deep fried… Well, basically if there is anything you have ever thought about deep frying, you can probably find it at the Stampede and a few more you hadn’t even considered. There are a lot non-deep fried options too but none of them feel like Alberta for me more than beef on a bun. (My friend Merry has also written up her take on Stampede food with her baked mini-donut muffins)

Despite the devastating flood in Calgary this year, only two weeks before, the Stampede went on as planned with a lot of hard work and a few modifications. This is especially remarkable because the Stampede grounds had been covered in water during the flood. I took this kids down one morning and there were only a few places where you could see evidence that there had been a flood at all. There is still a lot of work to be done to rebuild Calgary and the Saddledome is not currently operational, but it was great to see how well the City had pulled together.

Heading home after a fun morning at the Calgary Stampede

We didn’t have beef on a bun while we were there, (we might have had a corn dog), but I picked up a roast when we got home and started cooking. Cooking a roast might seem insufferable in the summer, but you can actually cook a roast on most barbecues even if you don’t have a rotisserie or smoker (although those are great too!)

Summertime Barbecue Beef on a Bun

(adapted from Best BBQ Beef Oven Roast in the I Love Alberta Beef Cookbook)

Summertime Alberta Barbecue Beef on a Bun - The Canadian Food Experience Project

Ingredients

Ingredients
4-13 lb oven or rotisserie style roast (inside round, eye of round or sirloin tip) The max size will depend on your barbecue size - you'll want it to easily fit on one side of your grill).
1-2 cups of salad vinaigrette - you can use bottled or home made. I used a home made sun-dried tomato dressing.
Buns
Barbecue sauce
Sun-dried tomato vinaigrette
¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove chopped
2 sprigs oregano
1 tsp honey
⅓ cup canola oil
½ cup water
salt and pepper

Instructions

Add vinaigrette ingredients to a blender or food processor until well mixed.
Pierce the roast all over with a fork. Stick in a large zip lock bag and cover with dressing. If your roast is too big for a large zip lock bag, you can use any kind of dish, but you'll need more dressing and may want to turn the roast a few times as it marinates. Let it sit in the fridge for around 12-24 hours.
Take out your roast and discard the marinade.
Place a drip pan underneath one side of the barbecue and turn the heat on the other side of the barbecue.
When the grill is hot, place the roast over the drip tray and close the lid.
Cook at 400 F or about medium high heat until a meat thermometer reaches 135-145F. Rotate roast occasionally for more even cooking.
Allow about 20 minutes per pound - check with a meat thermometer.
Remove roast to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Slice roast thinly.
Add roast slices to cut buns and top with barbecue sauce (we used Bull's-Eye which is the official BBQ sauce of the Calgary Stampede).

Salus Fitness Personal Training Review

June 21, 2013 by danawyyc 3 Comments

Sarah of Salus Fitness recently offered to let me try out her personal training services. I was initially intimidated, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it. I didn’t have any experience with having a personal trainer and I wasn’t sure if I could handle the dynamic of 1 on 1 attention while I worked out. I generally shy away from the spot light and am not the most coordinated. It came at a good time for me though so I said yes despite my reservations. My daughter is now over a year old and I really needed a kick start to get back into exercising. I’ve lost most of the weight I gained while pregnant but am far from fit.

Sarah is passionate about helping women not just lose weight but be strong. She is a mom and has two young kids too. She knows what it’s like to need to lose weight or be out of shape and the challenges that mothers face to find time to exercise. She organizes her workouts to be short (generally 45 minutes) but vigorous. They contain strength training, interval training and some stretching too.

At Salus Fitness, Sarah provides a number of different training options, including individual training at her home or your own home and year-round bootcamps in SW Calgary.

We decided to do a few sessions of training in my home. I had my brother come over to watch the kids which wasn’t a huge ask because it was only for a total of about an hour. When Sarah arrived for her first session she immediately put me at ease. Her supportive and encouraging manner helped me push myself way harder than I ever would on my own. She made sure that I wasn’t pushing myself so far that I was going to hurt myself and if something was just too difficult for me (like push-ups) or too easy (this wasn’t actually an issue but she gave me ideas for the future) she was able to modify my workout to better suit my needs.

At the end of our sessions Sarah gave me a personalized workout that I could do from home. I’m still working on being able to do a proper push-up, (okay a proper modified push-up) but I have a great start to getting myself back in shape. I would absolutely recommend her to my friends and family and will seek her out if (or more likely when) I need another fitness boost in the future.

You can find out more about Salus Fitness and what bootcamps Sarah is currently running at http://salusfitness.ca/

Disclaimer: The training sessions I took part in by Salus Fitness were complementary, but as always, impressions and opinions are my own.

Calgary Home + Garden Show Giveaway!

February 27, 2013 by danawyyc 3 Comments

The Calgary Home + Garden Show is back again this spring and so is Bob the Builder!

We went last fall for Family Day and if you are planning on taking your kids that is definitely the time to go. Gordie loved seeing Bob the Builder and there were a few kid friendly activities as well.

This year Family Day will feature a ton of kid-friendly activities as well as opportunities for parents to kick-back and relax. Some of your experiences will include:

2 Bob the Builder live performances 12:15 and 3pm
Interactive, animal-themed play sessions hosted by the Calgary Zoo
Ambulance tours hosted by Calgary EMS
GiantLEGO® house-building with Bricks 4 Kidz
Tattoos and face-painting
Food truck Alley!

We’ll be stopping by again this year (Gordie still loves Bob the Builder so how could I resist?) and I’ve also been given some tickets to giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment below about what you are most looking forward to see at this Spring’s Calgary Home + Garden Show and you’ll be entered to win!

Contest closes 1pm February 28, 2013. You’ll be notified if you are a winner and you’ll be able to pick up your tickets at the gate. Good luck!

Calgary Zoo–Canadian Wilds Bingo Free Printable

June 13, 2012 by danawyyc 2 Comments

My friend and I were thinking for an activity for our kids to do while they were at the Calgary Zoo. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to make something myself.

I made up 5 different zoo bingo cards using Animals found in the Canadian Wilds area. We were also having an orange day (wear orange clothes, eat orange things etc) so that’s why the middle square is orange. We had the kids each find something orange for that ‘free play’ square. We gave each of the kids one of the cards and when they found one of the animals on their card they got a sticker to put on it.

The kids aged 2-5 had a really good time so I thought I’d share the cards I made so other people could use them too.

You can find a free 5 card zoo bingo card printable here.

Calgary

Summertime Barbecue Beef on a Bun

Footer