wordless wednesday: simple pleasures
foodmamma
win tickets to the calgary home and design show!
It’s that time of year again! Time for the Calgary Home and Design Show. This is a fun event for the whole family! Whether looking for ideas on how to decorate your new home or looking for ways to redesign and update your current one, the show is filled with loads of ideas. There are lots of talented designers and TV personalities with fun and original ideas.
There are also lots of cooking events, my favourite part! These include cooking challenges, Food Truck throwdowns and demos from our cities beloved foodies. When hunger hits, the Food Trucks will be there to fill our bellies.
Even Q likes to go to the show, especially on family day. This year, family day includes special performances from Peter the Puffin, kid-friendly cooking lessons from Crave Cupcakes, and a scavenger hunt. There’s also face painting and tattos, and so much fun for kids of all ages.
The show starts this Thursday and ends on Sunday. Times are:
Thursday, September 19: 4PM to 9PM; Friday, September 20: 12PM to 9PM; Saturday, September 21: 12PM to 9PM; Sunday, September 22: 10AM to 9PM.
Want to win tickets to the show? With so many ways to enter, it’s easy! Just write a comment, send me a tweet or leave a comment of Facebook. Deadline to enter is Wednesday at 6pm.
back to school with tickety toc
Q starting kindergarten seemed to be a milestone that was so far away and here we are. After meeting his teacher last week, he had his first real day today and he loved it. He even thanked us for putting him in school! Let’s hope this enthusiasm lasts over the years.
Time is just flying by so I know that our upcoming family trip that we have booked will come in no time. We are counting down the days until we take our first Disney cruise! Hubby and I have cruised before but we are looking forward to this fun adventure with Q. If you hear me mentioning all things Disney over the next little while, now you know why. There seem to be many tips and tricks and I spend countless hours researching them. There’s no doubt that I’m the one who’s most excited.
While tv time was once dedicated to Treehouse, we are now spending time watching the Disney channel and Q has found some new favourites – Special Agent Osso, Bananas in Pyjamas and Tickety Toc.
Tickety Toc follows the fast-paced adventures of many characters as they race against time to keep the clock ticking and chime in time. Tickety Toc explores concepts of teamwork, social responsibility and problem solving in a fun and engaging way.
For the first time in Canada, colorful new licensed long-sleeve tops and cozy sleepwear feature a range of unique designs and showcase the popular characters from the series. The full line of Tickety Toc apparel and sleepwear is now
exclusively available at Walmart stores nationwide, with select styles
available online at Walmart.ca. The high quality shirt was comfortable and Q had fun wearing it. Perfect for back to school.
Want to win a top for your little one? Enter here by leaving a comment about back to school. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday, September 13th at noon.
Disclosure – A Tickety Toc shirt was sent to me for review. The opinions on this blog are my own.
wordless wednesday: first day of kindergarten
cousins night out: brava bistro
I’m so lucky that I have a wonderful bunch of cousins that I can actually call my friends. Since life can get busy, we have started a monthly dinner for those of us in town – cousins night out. It’s a great chance to spend time with the ones we love while having a dinner out.
Since my cousin’s wedding was last month, everyone was in town! With nine cousins and seven spouses, our group of sixteen took over a long table at Brava Bistro for an amazing dinner.
Brava was very accommodating, fulfilling our desire to eat family style. It was perfect – by sharing, we were able to try many dishes and weren’t limited to just one – the best way to avoid food envy.
The appetizers and salads we sampled were delicious! The Prawn and Avocado salad was light and tasty while the Burrata and Tomato Salad was a great showcase for the creamy cheese.
Lobster was the star in both the Lobster Gnocchi and the Lobster Poutine. The poutine was my favourite of the night and I will definitely be going back for more.
Our mains were just as delicious and I was happy to be able to sample a little of everything. I really enjoyed the pasta dish, the Orecchiette Alfredo, which was creamy and garlicky.
Everyone loved the Beef Short Rib which was soft and tender. This was served with Mac and Cheese and Broccoflower.
The Atlantic Salmon was perfectly cooked and Crispy Cracklin Chicken was surprisingly juicy.
The night ended with sweet treats of Creme Brulee, Warm Gingerbread Cake and a Brownie Sundae. Delish!
It was a wonderful night with family. Can’t wait to go back!
3rd Annual Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale
family, food and a fairy tale wedding
Wow, I think this has been the longest I have been away from my
dear blog. I have good reason though. We have been celebrating, for
almost two weeks, my little cousin’s wedding.
dear blog. I have good reason though. We have been celebrating, for
almost two weeks, my little cousin’s wedding.
It’s been an
amazing week! The wedding was beautiful and it was so wonderful to see A
and S so happy. My cousin got her fairy tale wedding, both of them
incorporating themselves into the details. His fave, Converse, were worn
by the ten kids that walked down the aisle. Her fave, everything
Disney, was seen throughout, like on the cake table and the candy table.
amazing week! The wedding was beautiful and it was so wonderful to see A
and S so happy. My cousin got her fairy tale wedding, both of them
incorporating themselves into the details. His fave, Converse, were worn
by the ten kids that walked down the aisle. Her fave, everything
Disney, was seen throughout, like on the cake table and the candy table.
The
best part was all the family time. My sister and her husband flew in
from Afghanistan, cousins came from Ontario and BC and we got to spend
some quality cousin time together.
best part was all the family time. My sister and her husband flew in
from Afghanistan, cousins came from Ontario and BC and we got to spend
some quality cousin time together.
Even better was that the second
generation of cousins got to spend time together and form the same close
ties that my cousins and I share. I am so blessed and lucky to have
these guys in my life.
generation of cousins got to spend time together and form the same close
ties that my cousins and I share. I am so blessed and lucky to have
these guys in my life.
Of course there was food! Lots of it! From
savoury to sweet, cultural to local, we filled our bellies at many
events over ten days. We even managed a dinner at Brava Bistro, more on
that to come.
savoury to sweet, cultural to local, we filled our bellies at many
events over ten days. We even managed a dinner at Brava Bistro, more on
that to come.
Congratulations A and S! Wishing you a happy ever after!
a month of sundays
I’m so excited for my friend Cheryl’s new book, A Month of Sundays. It just came out last week and I was excited to receive my copy.
Cheryl’s first book, Sunday Morning Quilts, came out last year. A few months later, Cheryl was already photographing her next book and Q and I were very excited to be involved. We went over one afternoon while the talented Kate Inglis worked her magic behind the camera. You can find my little guy’s picture in the book, sitting in a tree.
Even non-quilters like me can enjoy the book which has beautiful projects that Cheryl has completed as well as some fun things that her and her family enjoy on the weekend. The projects are a work of art and Cheryl is quite the artist with her gorgeous quilts.The book also has a chapter on Sunday dinner with mouth-watering recipes for roast chicken and lemon curd. There’s also a recipe for a very tasty appetizer of slow cooked tomatoes. I couldn’t get enough of these!
I’d love to support Cheryl’s book and what better way than to give away a copy to a reader. If you live in the Calgary area, feel free to enter. Cheryl has agreed to sign the book making it the perfect keepsake! Enter below. You can purchase Cheryl’s book on Amazon or Chapters and visit Cheryl’s website for more info.
eid mubarak
Happy Eid!
May your life always be filled with sweet and wonderful things.
Wishing you and your families love, peace and happiness always.
~sfq
Happy Eid!
May your plate of life always be full.
Wishing you and your families love, peace and happiness always.
~sfq – See more at: https://foodmamma.com/2012/08/eid-mubarak.html#sthash.Sj368sWq.dpuf
May your plate of life always be full.
Wishing you and your families love, peace and happiness always.
~sfq – See more at: https://foodmamma.com/2012/08/eid-mubarak.html#sthash.Sj368sWq.dpuf
Happy Eid!
May your plate of life always be full.
Wishing you and your families love, peace and happiness always.
~sfq – See more at: https://foodmamma.com/2012/08/eid-mubarak.html#sthash.Sj368sWq.dpuf
state and main
When a restaurant is able to provide me with many choices for appetizers that I can fill myself with a meal of them, I am a happy girl. That is exactly what happened last week when I checked out the new State and Main with some media friends. State and Main is the new kid on the block, opening its doors in Calgary at Chinook Centre. From the same people that brought us Original Joe’s, State and Main offers classic comfort food with character.
All the appetizers we enjoyed were delicious! These included the Chicken Gyoza, Spicy Tuna Tartare, Dragon Boat Lettuce Wraps, Mama’s Meatballs, Calamari and Butter Chicken Poutine. My favourite were the Bang Bang Shrimp. I could probably have eaten these all by myself.
The mains were also tasty and the ones we tried included the Long Beach Fish Tacos, Red Thai Shrimp Curry and the Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak. The fish tacos were a fave amongst our whole group.
Definintely looking forward to going back to try out the dessert menu and for some more Bang Bang Shrimp!
