Welcome back

…to Alberta if you’ve been away, to your desk if you’re back to work, or school if you’re studying (or teaching!).

It’s never long enough, is it? I start with great plans once our July/August issue has uploaded to print the third week of June, though I feel the need to get the chores out of the way first and get everything in order, and then I can relax… but I’ve come to the conclusion that summer is like an avocado – wait for a break until pretty much everything’s crossed off the to-do list, wait until I’ve completed preparations for Q3 and Q4, wait until my inbox is unrecognisably short and nobody’s waiting on me… and, too lateit’s September!

It’s been a fun and action-packed time, with eight new restaurant openings, two radio segments on 770 CHQR, two television segments on Global TV (do be sure to watch at 8:20 am September 9 for my next one!), judging three excellent cooking competitions – the Calgary Police versus the Calgary Fire Department cooking competition at Stampede Kitchen Theatre is always one of my favourites to judge! And of course - the Alberta Beverage Awards, which is no mean feat – it was ginormous and a huge success, and ran so smoothlymostly because of the very capable and competent team behind the scenes, to whom we are truly grateful.

One of the highlights of the summer was a surprise weekend in Yellowknife for their first ever NWT culinary festival, to pair some of the dinners with wine and speak about the wine and pairings at the events. There’s a terrific community spirit, and I loved to see how the chefs really make the most of their local ingredients – ingredients that may be less familiar here. Many dishes utilised chaga (a type of mushroom), crowberries, bison and muskox feature strongly on menus, with whitefish, pickerel, and lake trout instead of salmon, and boreal greens. I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival.

And now it’s time for our annual wine and culinary tour, this year to northeast Spain, and I’m already keeping my eyes open for Holiday Gift Guide ideas!