Alberta
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Gluten-Free Lemon Sugar Cookies
You know what I love? Citrus. You know what I also love? Sugar cookies. These cookies are very much a homemade version of those Wow Baking Lemon cookies, which means they're soft, lightly coated in sugar, and full of fresh lemon flavour. Read More.
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Starting a Garden Journal
Pandemic life has me concentrating on my hobbies right now. With the businesses on hold, I have time to work on my hobbies more. It no longer feels like I have to get them done and out of the way so I can tackle the mountain of emails or the unending task list related to running events & photoshoots. It's not that I don't love those things - I definitely do! - it's just that if there had to be a positive outcome in all this, reconnecting with my hobbies is something I'm grateful for. It makes me think long and hard about work/life balance and what I want to…
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Za’atar
Like many of you, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately. Pandemic life has me playing with my hobbies again and that’s not a bad thing. Hobbies are saving lives right now, which is great. My friend Stephanie suggested I start a recipe blog, but I promised that if I did it, I’d make sure my recipes weren’t prefaced with pages upon pages of nonsense before you get the instructions. So, here’s my most-requested recipe: za’atar.
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Seeing the Wolfdogs
If you are coming to Calgary and are looking for something a little different to do, consider visiting the wolfdogs at Yamnuska Wolf Dog Sanctuary. This beautiful natural space just past Cochrane, AB is a lovely spot to be quiet and observe some truly content animals. I can’t stress enough how much this place embodies the “sanctuary” portion of its name, not just for the animals who live there, but for the people who visit. The Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary houses many adorable wolf / dog mixes. These are animals who were bred as pets, but their owners quickly realized that they couldn’t handle the innate needs of their wolfdogs and…
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Homemade Cherry Liqueur
Every summer, I keep a close eye on my mother’s Nanking cherry trees. When the bright red berries have finally soaked up enough sun, I pick the trees clean and either eat them all or force my mother confect them into Nanking jelly. This year, there weren’t many cherries on offer. The trees had been struggling to grow and when I had picked what was suitable, there was only about a cup of cherries in a bowl. The local magpies nattered at me the whole time, clearly claiming ownership of the tree’s fruits, but I’m a people and I wanted them, even if there were only a few. After listening…
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Wild Horse Warm Springs
It’s a romantic idea: a hot spring, secluded and private in the mountains. There’s no one around, just you and the beautiful mountain views, all yours to take in while you soak in warm water and fresh mountain air. It turns out, such a place exists.
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Looking for Lille
In my quest to photograph as many ghost towns as I can find, I kept coming across notes about a little gem called Lille, Alberta. Things looked great for Lille when it was first established in 1901. Within a few years, there were about 20 residences on the townsite, along with all the amenities like a hotel, doctor’s office, and a school. The coal mining industry in the area led to the construction of an expansive system of coke ovens, specially made in Belgium. Each brick was stamped with a unique number, shipped, and the ovens were reconstructed brick-by-brick in Lille sometime in 1903-1904.
