Edmonton: 124 Grand Market

  
I just got back from the 124 Grand Market, where I got my fill of yummy food, sunshine, and small dogs wrapped in baby slings around their owners. Ahh, summer markets. Love 'em.

I especially like the 124 Grand Market. The evening crowds aren't as overwhelming as the Saturday morning crowds at other markets; everyone's just there to get something to eat and browse leisurely. It's just the right size, too - big enough to offer lots of variety but small enough that you can stop and talk to the vendors and see the sights, rather than skimming past hundreds of tables.
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Chewy Flax & Oatmeal Spice Cookies

This past weekend I made a trip back to Red Deer to visit my parents and some friends. Despite the iffy weather, my friend Jenna and I decided to be brave and go to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. I felt a little sorry for the vendors - violent gusts of wind threatened to blow tents away and topple displays. But we had hot coffees and lots to talk about, plus we ran into several people we knew, so it wasn't all bad.

Going to the Red Deer farmer's market always reminds me of these flax oatmeal cookies that my mom and I discovered there years ago. They were made by some women selling flax seeds and other flax products (back when flax was the "new" superfood everyone was going crazy for). Anyway, the cookies were delicious, so we bought some seeds and got their cookie recipe, which also includes oatmeal and raisins. High fibre = healthy = I can eat as many as I want, right? Yes. I like that logic.


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Edmonton: Menchie's Garneau Grand Opening

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be one of the Edmonton bloggers invited to Blogurt Fest, the pre-Grand Opening info and tasting event held at Menchie's Garneau. It's the first location of this awesome chain in Edmonton (I first got hooked on Menchie's in Red Deer, where there are now two locations) - but we were told there are many, many more locations to come worldwide. If you haven't been to a Menchie's yet, it's a self-serve frozen yogurt shop with a wall full of flavours (Garneau has 16 - including non-fat, dairy-free, no sugar added, and gluten-free options; calorie info is posted for each one)... after you finally decide on which flavours to choose (sampling cups are provided), you move on to the toppings - so many toppings. Candy, cereal, fresh fruit, granola, chocolate, cookie dough, nanaimo bars, mochi... pretty much anything you could imagine. You pay by weight, which you'd think would be dangerous, but pretty much every time I've gone I've gotten a really substantial heap of yumminess for only about $4-5.


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