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The new year is finally upon us and we, like many others, are happy to say adios 2020. We are starting the new year full of optimism and hope that life will return to some sort of normalcy. We continue to focus on community and the creative locals who manage to stay fresh and innovative in the toughest of times.

By WANDA BAKER

SWEETS FOR YOU AND YOUR SWEETIE Stephen Gollan is a travel photographer and blogger who dabbled in kitchens at an early age as a sous chef. His passion for traveling led him around the world learning more about spices and meeting local farmers. Upon returning home to Calgary, he began blending and selling the spices he brought back with him. Interest in these blends and success as a photographer meant more traveling and to date, Gollan has traveled to

Ollia Macarons & Tea is known for its classic French macarons with a modern touch. A gluten-free bakery, they offer an assortment of goodies online and instore. With Valentine’s Day approaching, Ollia’s is offering an exotic Ispahan macaron cake. Made famous by French pâtissier Pierre Hermé, Ispahan is a macaron shell topped with white cake, rose white chocolate ganache, lychee butter cream, and raspberry coulis. It’s finished with raspberries, rose petals and lychee, and perfect for two, measuring four inches across. Place your order online for pick-up, take-out or delivery. more than 100 countries, built relationships with farmers during his travels, and imports more than 300 whole spices. He and his mom, Mary Gollan, blend the spices in Calgary offering a variety of unique combinations through their small shop in highlights include Ethiopian bebere, Sumatra rendang, West African jollof, Georgian svaneti spice, and Afghanistan char. A few of the whole Ollia Macarons & Tea | $12.00 TOP O’ THE MORNIN’ TO YA, SOUPS ON Owned by Inglewood resident and longtime entrepreneur Jill Hawker, The Apothecary is Calgary's original refillery and a destination for essential oils, wellness, natural body care and a zero-waste home. The store opened in 2012, and the refillery in 2017 allowing customers to drop in with their own jar or pick one up to fill with favourite products. They also offer a small selection of culinary items including soup mixes, teas, herbs, sprouting seeds, gums, salts, soups and zero-waste kitchen essentials like reusable containers and Weck glass jars. We like the jarred artisan dry soup mixes for making a quick, easy dinner. Each jar will make 8-12 cups of soup and requires only the addition of a protein, tomatoes, or coconut milk. Choose from several combinations and purchase online. We recommend the coconut chicken curry, taco bean and the always-popular chicken noodle. Last year, The Apothecary started offering curated kits and the Top o’ the Mornin! is the perfect morning wake-up call. The box includes granola and maple syrup, pick-your-own coffee, jam, nut butter and dried fruit all for one set price. Add-ons are available for an additional fee and all ingredients are Canadian.

A WELL TRAVELED SPICE RACK the Crossroads Market. The Spice Merchant The Apothecary | the-apothecary.ca | Soups $9 | Kits $24 spices you can try are Kampot red pepper, Icelandic arctic thyme salt, grains of Selim and Greek mastic. A story accompanies each spice blend making it even more interesting. Questions? Ask any of the team members working the booth in the market or send a query online. The Spice Merchant | thespicemerchant.ca | $6.00 - $44.99

SUSTAINABLE, LOCAL, DELICIOUS Born-and-raised Calgarian Vanessa Rundell knows a thing or two about cooking. Having started in the kitchen as a child, by age 15 she was a line-cook at a local eatery. By 20, she was a red-seal chef. Rundell continued to work her way through the restaurant industry honing her skills while focusing on quality, finding the best local ingredients, and bringing people together over food. Today, she’s the talent behind Preserved, an online artisanal foods boutique with a brick-and-mortar store in Bragg Creek. With Alberta’s short harvest season, Rundell supports local farmers by choosing items picked at their peak for optimum freshness. She collaborates directly with producers and farmers like Gull Valley Greenhouses to create products in her lineup that include salsas, candied chilies and bread-and-butter pickles. Rundell features seasonal offerings and curated boxes for gift giving throughout the year. We love the jams paired with cheese and crackers, and always add the mustard pickles and antipasto giardino to our charcuterie board.* Preserved YYC | preservedyyc.com | $8.25- $9.75 DRINK FOR YOUR HEALTH Rviita Energy Tea was started by Mitch Jacobsen, an engineer by trade who wanted an energy drink that wasn’t straight coffee, tea or like the other high-test energy products currently on the market. Looking for a healthier alternative to match his active lifestyle, he joined forces with Robert Wigg and Karly Jacobsen to develop a natural coffee alternative. After a couple of years of experimentations and testing with a food scientist, the team came up with a formula and a name that worked. Rviita is a lowcalorie, caffeinated beverage made using natural caffeine from tea and guarana seed, plus organic honey to sweeten. The packaging leaves a low carbon footprint, is recyclable and can be repurposed by filling with water to turn it into an ice pack. Rviita Energy Drinks are available in six flavours and can be found at the Italian Centre Shop on Fairmount Dr. S.E. in the beverage aisle.* Italian Centre Shop | rviitalize.com | $4.49

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