NEAROF

You thought they were dead? Pfft. You can’t kill the Twinkie! Millions – well, maybe thousands – of Canadians were relieved when they learned the impending demise of American food giant Hostess wouldn’t affect their Twinkie fix. Turns out the brand is owned by Saputo in Canada, so we can keep cramming snack cakes into [...]

Is there anything they won’t milk? In the past couple years, I’ve sipped cow milk, almond milk, rice milk, soy milk … and those are just the milks I remember. But quinoa milk? This was new to me. If you read much about food, you’ll know there’s currently a love-in surrounding quinoa – the latest [...]

I did a double-take when I walked by the potato chip selection at Calgary’s Sunnyside Market. Hardbite’s folksy packaging has clearly had a major update, and this was my first time seeing it. Overcome with a sudden hankering for chips, I picked up a flavour that was new to me: Schezwan Peppercorn. My Hardbite experience [...]

“Waaaaarm up with an ice-cold beeeer!” hollered a tray-carrying vendor at a particularly chilly autumn CFL football game I attended last year, if memory serves. I loved his pitch, mostly because it’s so perfectly outlandish you can’t help but laugh, but also because some beers are designed as winter warmers, even if not in the [...]

When I reach for a low-cal beverage (other than water, naturally), I typically grab a bottle of Coke Zero. I prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi, so translating that preference to the low-calorie cola world is logical enough. But I’m also one of those long-suffering Canadians who has a fondness for cherry colas, a terrible affliction given [...]

Remember when coffee shops sold coffee? If a bump on your noggin prompted the loss of all memory prior to May, you’d be forgiven for thinking that coffee shops sold only pastries, iced coffee, frozen hot chocolate and decaf grande mocha Frappuccinos (hold the whip). The hissing of summer lawns? Sorry, Joni, but these days [...]

Who in Canada doesn’t have childhood memories of chomping on Arrowroot cookies, possibly while sipping from a plastic tumbler of apple juice? For some reason, Arrowroot cookies have become the toddler snack of choice. How this connection between children and Arrowroots came to be is beyond me, but the sweet, simple flavour is tasty enough [...]

This is it. My first ever Stampede. While I have it on good authority that it is possible to eat a free dignitary-flipped hotcake breakfast every day for the duration of Stampede, I know there will be days when I want at least one meal other than breakfast. Lunch? Supper? What’s a new Calgarian to [...]