So, what did I decide to do with $100 on my Big Day Downtown? If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably guessed right. I blew it all on one of my fave addictions: food and beverage.

First, big ups to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission for inviting me to “Go To Town.” The launch party at Pipa‘s new Atrium was a fabulous venue to showcase what our lovely downtown core has to offer: wonderful atmosphere, delicious food and divine mixed drinks. While I stuck to the sangria (offered in both the white and red variety), I highly recommend the caipirinhas. Need help pronouncing that? Check out the audio link on Merriam-Webster. According to Wikipedia it’s Brazil’s national cocktail. Which kind of begs the question, what’s Canada’s?

White Sangria from Pipa

One of the many delights served up on beautiful dishware

After thinking long and hard about where I wanted to spend my pre-paid credit card, I decided to see how far it would take me while hanging out with Cokebaby and the in-laws. First destination:

The Foggy Goggle: Home of the Google, I mean, Goggle Burger

The Foggy Goggle is a favorite watering hole among us for its unpretentious food and decor, comfy couches and live music on the weekends. (Inside joke: my brother-in-law is always misattributing ownership of the burger here to the internet giant.)

My tiara

I’m a fan of cider and Guinness so this concoction, a tiara ($5.43), is a dream come true. Two is even better. Or you can order the big brother version, a crown float, which comes in a pint glass.

Potato skins done different

Foggy Spuds ($9.75) are what Cokebaby described as a meeting of potato skins and corn chowder. Maybe that sounds a little weird to you but, trust me, they were pretty yummy.

We moved on from here to The Loose Cannon Scottish Public House for some pre-dinner scotches. I’m not a big connoisseur of the beverage but I do have a couple of favourites. So, I went with the Dalwhinnie 15 yr ($9.25) and wasn’t disappointed. The only picture I had from this location didn’t really pan out because it’s oppressively dark even in the day. I also have to say, while I’ve only been here a handful of times, the service has always been lacking. The menu offers standard pub fare and on the 25th day of every month they serve a haggis dinner in commemoration of Robbie Burns.

Dinner was served at Brussels Restaurant & Brasserie. I’ve posted a review here before and still love the beautiful decor, charming ambiance, and delicious mussels and beers. Plus, Cokebaby and I are vacationing in Belgium this September!

Practice makes perfect

I’m a big fan of fruit beers so I started with the Mort Subite Kriek Lambic ($11.95), then had a Fruli Strawberry ($8.25) with my Moules Escargot ($9.95) & frites ($3.95). My only complaint from this visit is that the menu often relies on waitstaff to make recommendations but ours was not all that knowledgeable in pairings. This fact proved a bit more crucial when several of the beers we wanted to order were out of stock (beer emergency!).

Best quote of the night, said at this location: My husband to his brother, “Did you just call me Cokebaby?!”

Chocolate ice cream with coffee grinds

For dessert we headed to Sugah for some hand paddled ice cream. Nuff said, really.

Overall, it was a fun way to spend a day. More importantly, the Big Day Downtown campaign has inspired me to add a Downtown Halifax tag for all my related content including, first and foremost, restaurant reviews. I’ll also be adding to the tag regularly going forward. So, keep your recommendations coming in the comments section for spots to check out in downtown Halifax.

Fun foodie times ahead this weekend in Halifax! Just a quick note to put this event on your radar. CATCH is all about local seafood and the hottest culinary trends. It takes place this weekend (June 19 & 20) at the Cunard Centre.  Cokebaby and I will be heading over with the in-laws to check out some of the yummy eats (and drinks). You can’t get much more local food on the East Coast than with the bounty of seafood we have on our shores.

[It's no secret that my fave restaurant in the city is Brooklyn Warehouse (follow them on Twitter @BrooklynHalifax). I've even said, "I’d divorce brownie husband and leave our chocolate chip kids behind if I could marry the menu." The obvious reason for my infatuation with the food is the chef. The not so obvious reason is the ingredients which are locally sourced. Chef Graeme Ruppel was kind enough to stop by the blog to talk about his philosophy.]

Chef Graeme Ruppel: Keep it local!

By Graeme Ruppel

Over the last couple of years, as I moved from a kitchen grunt, unquestionably following the chef’s commands, to becoming a chef myself, I have seen how the decisions we make every day about our food can affect things well beyond the kitchen. We are voting with our dollars here.

When I started in the restaurant industry, if was at one outpost of a chain, where nearly everythingwas brought in frozen, preprocessed, preportioned, precooked…predone. As a sixteen year old kid, with some reactionary right-wing leanings, I thought that this was just how things were done. We were serving a lot of people each day after all.

But as I moved on, went to school, and moved out to Halifax, my view started to shift. I started to realize the importance of training your staff to do the prep work, to make something that was better than what the frozen boxes could offer. And as I got my techniques sorted out, the next step was starting to appear. That of seasonal, local cuisine.

Seasonal, local cuisine is not a new idea. It is the way things have always been, we just lost sight of that when refrigeration came along. The ability to transport, and maintain foods edibility, across long distance is truly a marvel, and has greatly expanded our diet. But it does come at a cost. Probably the best examples are fruit. Where do you think those strawberries you bought in January came from? Chile? Argentina? 8700 kilometers aways, those berries were picked when not even close to ripe, transported in a temperature and gas controlled container to prevent ripening (not spoiling, ripening), and then, upon arrival, the gas mixture is changed, to encourage rapid ripening so that they are ready for the shelves.

Now then. Eat one of those berries, and then wait till August, when the sun is beating down on you and the humidex is set to ‘kill’, find a strawberry plant (if you can find wild strawberries, even better), and bite into one of those. One will taste of the perfect encapsulation of the day, the other like sugar water. Wouldn’t it be worth waiting for those strawberries to be ready, even if it means waiting a full year? Trust me, there are lots of things that you can still eat between now and then.

I would like to present, as a case study, the city of Portland, Maine. In 2006, a report to the Maine Department of Agriculture found that only 4% of Maine’s food was being grown or harvested within Maine. The report also recommended, to ensure a safe supply of food (which is something I haven’t even touched on here) to its citizens, Maine needed to produce 80% of the food consumed there by 2020. Within a few years, Portland, having taken on the challenge, became a culinary hot spot, with one of the highest restaurants per capita in United States (after a recent trip there, I can attest that they were all busy. And it wasn’t even the tourist season yet), and was named as the “Foodiest Small Town” by Bon Appétit in 2009, just 3 years after making local food a serious concern.

And there is a lot of very good food being produced here in Nova Scotia. But not nearly enough of itis consumed within our borders. Everybody needs to be aware and make informed decisions in when they’re shopping. Even when you stop by Sobey’s, take a few extra seconds and find the products that are labelled as “Grown in Nova Scotia”, make sure to visit the farmer’s market, sign up for a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) box and get some weird vegetables and teach yourself how to cook them. Get involved with what you’re eating.

Graeme started in the restaurant field when he was 16, dishwashing at a burger bar for a faceless corporation. After hopping through a few of Edmonton’s other large conglomerates, Graeme decided to actually get good at his work and enrolled at the NAIT School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. It was during this time that Graeme switched from working for the Man, to working in smaller, owner-operator settings. After completing his schooling and finishing his apprenticeship, Graeme decided to leave his beloved, open prairies for the most drastically different place he could think of: Halifax. It was here that Graeme started his devotion to local and seasonal products; after biting into his first, fresh Annapolis Valley Apple. After a few tumultuous years, Graeme finally found a couple of guys who were as dedicated to giving a damn as he was. And that’s how he came to be the head chef of the Brooklyn Warehouse. Follow chef’s musings.

For years Cokebaby and his male friends have been lamenting the lack of a place to get southern BBQ. Recently, within months of each other, two new restaurants that fit the bill opened up in the city. For the most part, I don’t post negative reviews here. If I don’t like a restaurant, you simply won’t find it among my food reviews. Unfortunately, one of the two in this comparison didn’t make the grade so please bear with me.

First up is Boneheads BBQ located in the South End on Barrington Street. It’s a tiny little spot tucked away near Point Pleasant Park. Simple decor, friendly staff, with food that’s stick to your ribs yummy. Cokebaby and I were waiting for another couple for dinner when we ordered some onion rings to start. Just as advertised they’re big, crispy, golden & hand battered ($5.49). Deep fried perfection.

When they arrived, one of the friends ordered the shredded BBQ chicken sandwich: smoked chicken pulled off the bone, served on a soft roll ($5.99).

Two of us, including me, had the Pulled Pork BBQ Plates: served with cornbread, cole slaw & two more sides of our choice ($13.99). I had the potato salad and pit beans. The entire meal was delicious but I wound up packing half of it for lunch the next day. I know, I know. Eyes bigger than belly. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of the cole slaw because it was kind of sweet but everyone else seemed to enjoy theirs.

Cokebaby went with the rib combo plate: half slab of pork back ribs plus your choice of one BBQ meat ($20.99). He chose pulled chicken with mac & cheese and dirty rice as his sides. Again, no complaints.

Other side offerings include: garden salad, hand cut fries, sweet potato chips and chili. At the table is a variety of delicious bottled sauces which are also sold separately. Although there’s plenty of pop and juices to choose from, we decided to go with Propellor Beer to wash it all down.

To have with leftovers the next day we took out a peach cobbler that’s served with vanilla ice cream and caramelized pecans ($3.99). It was simple but spectacular at the same time.

Overall, the pulled meats at Boneheads are far superior to Q’s. I’d argue the potato salad is as well unless you like crunchy bits of pepper in yours.

Photo credit: theogeo from Flickr

Next up: Q Smokehouse and Southern Barbecue (@Q_BBQ).

So, have you ever had a food service experience so bad that you’re kind of embarrassed for the people working behind the counter? Well, that’s how I felt coming out of the dinner experience at this establishment.

Right from the start, the setup for ordering food seems like it’s lacking proper flow. There’s a metal cordon to divert the queue. I had a feeling we were on the wrong side of it but the line had already formed and there was no signage to steer us. As a result we wound up too close to the tables so that patrons kept having to squeeze and push behind us in order to get to the cutlery and free pop refills station.

Then when we got to the front of the line we were promptly informed that they were out of chicken except for pulled chicken. It was just past seven o’clock and we were dining with Cokebaby’s sister and brother-in-law.

Since there were no other chicken options, I went with the pulled chicken sandwich ($9). Like Boneheads you get your choice of sides with your meals and I chose potato salad which tasted great but the peppers were very crunchy which kind of ruined the overall texture for me. My sister-in-law ordered a similar item, a po-boy sandwhich: Louisiana style all dressed with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, pickles and onion served with sweet potato fries ($9). As I mentioned already, the pulled meats at Boneheads is definitely tastier.

The guys had three beef ribs which includes corn bread, one sauce & two choices of sides ($13). The sweet potato fries were tasty. I didn’t sample the baked beans or fries, so I can’t compare them to Boneheads but the others were pleased with those sides. Other side options include: mac ‘n’ cheese, coleslaw, gravy, corn bread, sweet potato fries, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled onions & red peppers.

There’s only one bottle of a vinegar style sauce at the table along with ketchup. So sauce wise, I’d say Boneheads wins over Q’s because you’re able to add as much or as little as you want at the table.

Mixed drinks at Q’s are delicious though. They don’t have a stocked bar, like Boneheads, but they do make a fantastic concoction called a Lynchburg lemonade: house made sweet lemonade with a shot of Jack Daniels ($5.50). Otherwise, Garrison is the beer of choice here and they’ve got a couple brews on tap (14 oz. for $4.50).

Here’s where the story really starts to go downhill though. There are maybe seven tables in total that are occupied by the time we sit down, with only about three couples ahead of us in line. The wait for our food was far too long. Cokebaby’s brother-in-law went back for three refills of pop before we saw any sign of our food coming up.

It was a good half hour before Cokebaby was informed that they were out of beef ribs and it would take an additional 15 minute wait or they could offer full rack pork ribs (an upgrade to a $16 meal). He went with the latter and they gave a free pint of beer for the trouble. A few minutes later, the other couple received their order.

Another 10 minutes pass. We inquire about our order. By all outward appearances it looks like they have no idea what happened to the order. Some time later the other couple has finished their meal, with still no sign of ours. So we tell the staff that we’d like it packed to go. After probably another ten minutes, there’s still no sign of our order. At this point they’ve fully refunded the price of the meal.

Over an hour and a half after we placed our order, we finally received our meal. They even threw in Cokebaby’s beef ribs for the trouble. By the time we get home the sweet potato fries were soggy and had to be reheated. The cornbread was forgotten.

I do give them credit for trying to make up for the huge mistake. If they had turned it around quickly I might not have major reservations about going back. Although the ribs turned out to be tastier than at Boneheads, everything else was similar enough that I can’t see returning any time soon.

Gather ’round, my readers, for a tale of my new favourite restaurant in the city of Halifax. Brooklyn Warehouse (@BrooklynHalifax) is one of those tucked away gems that you might not come across unless you’re attending an event at the Forum or live in the area.

I had heard so many great things about the place from foodies and friends alike that I recommended it to Cokebaby’s brother when he was looking for a new spot to check out for brunch. He and his wife returned with such rave reviews that we had to finally try  it out for ourselves.

We loved it.

How can I express my love of Brooklyn Warehouse? Hypothetically, let’s say I’d divorce brownie husband and leave our chocolate chip kids behind if I could marry the menu. (Sorry, Cokebaby.)

First thing’s first. Yes, the Brooklyn Burger is all that: 7 oz. Oulton’s organic N.S. beef, Quebec raw cheddar, Brother’s smoked back-bacon, red pepper mayo, tomato, onion, and pickle, served with oven roasted potato wedges ($12). It’s been named one of the Top Five Burgers In Canada by Chatelaine Magazine in 2009. And was 1st Runner-Up 2009, 2nd Runner-Up 2008 in The Coast’s Best of Food.

Here’s the rub though. If you know me, you know I love a good burger. And, this is one fine burger. But, I’ve got to say, the rest of the menu is pretty spectacular. So, I’m going to say it. If you’re going to Brooklyn Warehouse, the burger isn’t the best thing on the menu. Think about what that means.

Photo credit: stu_spivack from Flickr

My fave dish so far has to be the rabbit: Braised rabbit’s leg and a loin stuffed with ham hock, served with mushroom smash & roast carrots ($20). I have no idea what the chef does to the smash but it’s sweet and buttery taste bud nirvana.

Cokebaby, on the other hand, swears by the pork chop: Propeller root beer brine, vanilla-whiskey drizzle, bacon-cider risotto, served with roast vegetables ($21). In fact, he ordered the same meal twice in a row. He never does that. In fact, he makes fun of me for being so predictable.

Anything served with risotto is a good bet. The chef here has really perfected the art. Obviously this isn’t a place for vegans although there are a couple items on the menu for that crowd. But, if you’re into local eating, this is definitely one of the spots to go in the city. They even have a specially brewed beer from Propeller Brewing Company called the Brooklyn Dark ($5 for 12 oz. glass, $7 for 18 oz. pint, $ 18 for 64 oz. growler).

The atmosphere is warm but simple, the service always attentive and knowledgeable. There’s a prixx- fixx 3 course menu on Tuesdays and on Wednesday nights they offer $1 BYOB corkage (which is also applicable throughout the week for all Nova Scotian wines).

Even though we were just there on Monday night prior to the Jesse Cook concert, I have serious thoughts about going back tonight for my birthday. That’s crazy talk though, right?

Bring Barrington Back

Earlier this week, my guest addressed the renewed concern about the decline in business on Barrington Street here in Halifax. When Cokebaby and I moved here over ten years ago, the street was facing similar hard times but was able to turn it around with some interesting shops. My feeling is that with the new incentives for building owners the street will turn it around again.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest. Write your love letter to Barrington Street in the comments section below or tweet using the #ECBC hashtag (short for East Coast By Choice). Tell me what you love (or loved) about Barrington Street. You don’t even have to live here. If you have a fond memory or if you still enjoy what the street has to offer, I want to hear about it.

Up for grabs: some pewter tags of historic downtown Halifax properties that I picked up while working at the Downtown Halifax Business Commission. I have one of the old fire station that is now McKelvie’s on my keychain.

One entry per person per day. The contest runs until midnight on Sunday. Winners will be randomly selected to receive one pewter ornament each. Please be sure that you sign-in to leave a blog comment so I can e-mail you or follow me on Twitter (@AliasGrace) so I can DM you.

[My aunt who lives in Paris sent me a lovely little note recently: "I love your blog and the foodie sections in particular. I frequently make the Curried Cauliflower Soup that Kristen Pickett contributed—the tip of roasting the cauliflower first is brilliant and makes all the difference…" She wanted to share a holiday recipe and a lovely coincidental little story about a cookbook she discovered while living in Canada. Enjoy!]

By Julie Dior-Kruger

Photo credit: wayneandwax from Flickr

When I moved to Paris, one of the few books I kept from my Torontonian library is Marie Nightingale’s Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens, published in 1971. How did I get my hands on this book? Well, I bought it because of its quaint name and its reproduction of the recipes used by early settlers. It was the golden age of ethno-museums and pioneer villages.

I have tried many of the recipes, which are absolutely great. It also includes a short history of the multi-cultural settlement of Nova Scotia—from the rather unique perspective of the cooking pot.

The Micmac Indians taught the settlers how to hunt for bear in the winter (watch out for the tell-tale vapours out of their dens), how to make maple syrup and maple sugar cakes, which roots and plants were edible, corn, etc. The French were the earliest settlers and, accustomed as he no doubt was to the French tendency to poetize about food, Champlain said there was “none as tender as the moose meat (wherefrom we also made excellent pasties) and nothing as delicate as a beaver’s tail.” There is, however, no recipe for beaver’s tail.

Years later, the English in Halifax introduced English fare, which may explain our love for world food…But their desserts were not bad—they inaugurated family Sunday outings to tea-houses for indulgence in strawberries and cream or Strawberry Shortcake—Nightingale claims this was a precursor to ice-cream parlours.

German settlers were known for their excellent sausages, breads (“never would a Lunenburger turn a loaf of bread upside down for fear she would upset a ship at sea”), cakes…and of course sauerkraut. The New Englanders, fleeing the American Revolution, took up the farms of the unfortunate Acadians, and brought Thanksgiving Day with them, as well as more sophisticated recipes for clams and lobsters. The Irish brought with them “luscious potato pancakes, soda bread, corned beef dinners and Irish stews that ‘mother used to make’”. The Scots arrived with tons of recipes for oats, Haggis and Auld Man’s Milk (otherwise known as eggnog).

And finally the Blacks (Nightingale says that “43% of the Negroes in Canada live in Nova Scotia”—this was back in politically incorrect 1971—but I doubt that the statistic is still correct), who had come to escape slavery, brought with them exotic dishes they had elaborated down south, like black-eyed peas, chow-chow—a hot, spicy relish, skillet cornbread, cobblers (Blueberry Grunt), etc.

Anyway, I dig out Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens at least once a year at Christmastime because it has a fabulous dark fruitcake recipe. The French have a nice custom of fresh oysters or foie gras at the beginning of a Christmas or New Year’s meal, but they don’t really have a specifically Christmas dessert. Their Bûche de Noël or Christmas Log, is just a jelly roll decorated with heaps of icing to look like a log in the wintry woods. Anyway, this is the recipe for English dark fruitcake:

Dark Fruitcake
1 pound butter 2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 pound brown sugar 1 ½ teaspoons salt
11 eggs 2 pounds seeded raisins
1 cup strawberry jam 1 pound sultanas (or black currants)
¾ cup apple jelly ½ pound candied pineapple
¼ cup molasses 1 pound candied cherries
1 teaspoon baking soda ½ pound dates
½ cup heavy cream ½ pound chopped citron
1 teaspoon almond flavouring ½ pound mixed peel
4 cups flour ¼ pound broken walnuts
1 teaspoon nutmeg Rum (lots)
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix in order given. Add baking soda to molasses and blend until molasses froths. Save out one cup of the flour to dust the fruit. Grease pans and line the bottoms with two layers of heavy brown paper and one layer of wax paper. Use one layer of brown paper and one layer of wax paper around the sides. Bake in a 275° oven. Test with a toothpick or straw. Wrap the finished cake(s) in a rum-soaked cheesecloth and wait for at least one or two weeks. Recipe can be halved.
Small cakes require about 2 ½ hours.

Medium cakes require about 3 hours.

One large cake requires about 3 ½ – 4 hours.

If you use entirely organic ingredients from the health food store, this recipe is actually quite healthy—assuming you don’t overeat! You can experiment with dried apricots instead of, or in addition to, cherries. Cointreau or Grand Marnier is less classic, but a little more subtle than rum and goes especially well with the fruit. You can serve this fruitcake with homemade lemon ice-cream (it’s Christmas after all), which is so easy to make, does not require an ice-cream maker and is sooo delicious that you will never buy ice-cream again. I swear. This is the recipe:

Lemon Ice-Cream

3 medium organic lemons

1 cup xylitol (best sugar substitute)

2 cups heavy organic cream

Grate the zest from 2 of the lemons (a special zest grater makes this very easy). Squeeze the juice of all 3 lemons into a small casserole – stir until the xylitol is totally dissolved. Add the lemon zest. Whisk the sweetened lemon juice and zest into the heavy cream. Pour into a shallow container, cover and freeze until firm (no need to stir to break up the crystals). This will take from 3-6 hours depending on your freezer. Transfer the ice cream in its container to the fridge 30 minutes before serving to soften slightly.

Merry Christmas!
Julie Dior-Kruger

[The holiday season is upon us. It's a season of celebration which, among other things, means a month filled with food and drink temptations. I've asked a number of food and fitness experts to chime in with some tips for a "Healthy Holiday" East Coast By Choice series in order to help minimize the need for a New Year's resolution that involves swearing off of chocolate for a year. This first guest is no stranger to the site. So without further ado, here's some helpful advice from the blogger behind With Bite.]

By Kristen Pickett

One of the most common questions that I’m asked as a freelance food writer is “How do you stay so tiny?”  Well, I’m about to tell you the answer to the $60 million-dollar question:  Work. Well, work and a little thing called willpower.

Be aware of liquid calories!

That’s right; it’s not easy to be surrounded by food in my professional job as an event planner as well as in my casual one as a food writer and not be over overweight.  When I first started down my food lovin’ path, I realized early on that choices would have to be made and willpower used in order to continue on this path.  It’s difficult, but not impossible.

Please remember this when you’re faced with the dreaded “holiday party pounds”, every dieter’s nightmare.  You can do it!  You can survive the holidays and go back to the office not being the one complaining about how much weight you’ve gained.

Here are my top 8 suggestions on how to avoid the holiday bulge.  OK, I know 8 is random number, but I have so many suggestions that I’d feel pretty Scrooge-like keeping them all to myself.  You may start this at Christmastime, but these are simple steps that you can adopt in your daily life, in order to put your skinniest foot forward.

Tip 1:  Eat before you go out. That’s right, fill ‘er up! Fill up on the good stuff, I mean. Eat some fresh fruit, a warm pureed vegetable soup or a big salad with lean protein before you leave for a holiday party.  If you’re not hungry when you arrive, you’re less likely to cave for calorie-laden snacks.

Tip 2: Think before you eat, evaluate your hunger.  Yes, that might seem like a drag when plump and juicy sausage rolls are being passed around or the Quality Street is calling out from it’s tin.  But think about it: are you really all that hungry, or just bored?  If the answer is the latter, try to get outside for a brisk walk or play some board games with your family in front of a roaring fire. Distract yourself and you’ll probably realize that you weren’t that hungry after all.

Tip 3: Avoid the buffet.  Unless you have some serious self-control, assess the buffet, fill your plate and keep moving!  Don’t linger, don’t collect $200, just pass “go!”  If you hang out by the buffet table, you’re more likely to keep going back for more. If you fill a plate and sit down to consciously eat your meal, you’re less likely to go for seconds.

Tip 4: Go for quality over quantity! Is it really quality food that you’re eating? Consider this; compare waxy old chocolates to luscious, decadent Lindt ones.  For every one Lindt chocolate that you’ll eat, you’d probably have to consume about 5 of the crappy ones to create the same feeling of satisfaction.  So go for quality the first time!  Which brings me to the next tip…

Tip 5: Beware of Christmas-themed foods. Remember that even though they’re red and green, Christmas M&Ms don’t taste any different from the all seasons variety. People tend to eat more of novelty food simply because it’s Christmas-themed.  So pass on the chocolate kisses wrapped in red and green foil, and go for something you can’t get all year round such as egg nog or candy cane ice cream.

Tip 6: Watch your back. If you’re going to a holiday party, the host/hostess has enough to think about without having to worry about your diet.  If you want something low-fat, low-cal, low-carb, whatever – bring it yourself!  It goes without saying that an overwhelmed host will appreciate the offer and be thrilled to have one less thing to take care of.

Tip 7: Be aware of liquid calories. As with any kind of mixed drink, wine or beer, you’re consuming liquid calories in addition to the ones you eat.  Try this: Drink water!  No, I don’t mean be lame and drink tap water. Bring a bottle of sparkling water – Perrier or San Pellegrino, and a couple of sliced lemons or limes and have a nice fizzy drink between every glass of alcohol. The fizz will help to fill you up, leaving you less hungry to consume snacks.

Tip 8: Exercise! This is just commonsense.  If you’re gong to consume more calories during the holiday season, make sure that you burn more!  Bundle up and take a walk to look at Christmas lights or visit your local ice rink and play a game of hockey with your neighbours.  This might also be a time to try and switch up your activity level.  If you’re used to the beginner yoga class, try the intermediate, or add another ½ hour of cardio at the gym.

Hopefully my 8 steps will give you some food for thought over the holidays.  These are no-fail tips to stay trim and look terrific.  That being said…you can always start in January!  Enjoy the holiday season!

Kristen Pickett is an event coordinator in Halifax with a passion for all things culinary. As a freelance food and beverage writer, Kristen’s blog, With Bite serves to profile Halifax’s culinary community. She is a regular food and beverage contributor to Haligonia.ca, as well as various publications in Atlantic Canada.

Growing up in a multi-ethnic household that includes parts of Asia, the one thing we always had on supply in the household was tea. It’s something that I’ve carried with me into adulthood. At any given time, you can open a cupboard in the kitchen and there will be at least a dozen types available. And that’s not including the contents of a small tea chest on the counter top.

I prefer loose leaf tea, partly because of the waste factor of tea bags. However, I’ve yet to find the perfect diffuser—one that doesn’t allow loose leaves to escape but it also easy to clean—especially when it comes to the finer types of tea like mate or rooibos. (If you’ve found one, please do your your tea aficionado duty and let me know where in the comments.)

Photo credit: CoffeeGeek from Flickr

On a recent trip to Toronto, I was very excited to try a red espresso latte (made from red rooibos) which I’d heard about from being a tea geek. I was instantly hooked.

Shortly after tweeting about my new found warm beverage love, the kind people at red espresso sent me a sample of their product.

If you’ve had rooibos tea before you’ll know that it’s kind of messy. Not so when you make an espresso. It’s exactly the same process as making the coffee version and the “grinds” simply get compressed into an easy to clean block. It’s great on its own but my favourite way of drinking it is still in latte form.

With lots of people cutting back on or quitting coffee, red espresso is a great alternative. It’s also a nice change for tea drinkers to get the experience of an espresso without the caffeine. That’s right. There’s no caffeine. Additionally, it’s high in antioxidants and I find that no sweetener is required (unless you want to use a dab of honey). Unfortunately, there’s only one café in the city that serves red espresso. The Wired Monk gets extra points for that distinction.

Personally, I’m looking forward to concocting a red espresso eggnog latte for the holidays. Maybe that sounds better in theory than it will in practice but I’m willing to bank on it being pretty yummy.

Photo credit: kaytethinks from Flickr

I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur of beers, but when I do have a pint I prefer something fuller than a Bud Lime. Cokebaby dabbles in home brewing and wine making so he has a better appreciation for the art behind micro brews. When we recently checked out one of Halifax’s newest dining spots, Rock Bottom Brewery, it was mostly for the beer.

First off, I love the decor. Although owned by the same folks who run Your Father’s Moustache (located upstairs in the same building) the two restaurants are worlds apart. Where upstairs you have a wide-open North American style pub & eatery, downstairs is a cozy, warm and intimate bar. As the name suggests, there are plenty of rock walls. The low-lighting, earthy tones and wood beams give the feeling of being tucked away in a grotto of sorts.

So cozy.

The food is 100% un-pretentious. Simple comfort food is the impression I took away from the meal. I had the turkey & avocado burger with baked sweet potato fries ($10.50). The cheese, bacon, sautéed onions and chipotle mayo as toppings were all kinds of awesome. Even though the additional combination of avocado and tomato made for a messy burger, the combination of flavours was precisely what I love about burgers. For drinks, I went with wheat ale followed by a stout. Both were totally enjoyable. When it comes to beer, I may not know much about the process of making it, but I know what I like and Rock Bottom Brewery makes beer that I like.

Cokebaby went with one of the specials as he’s apt to do: a meat lasagna with Caesar salad ($7.95). Although he wasn’t disappointed in the meal, he said it was just average. The most interesting thing about the entrée was that the pasta was whole wheat. He enjoyed the beers that he had with the meal though: nut brown followed by red. We finished the meal with warm gingerbread: made in-house & drizzled with a lemon vanilla sauce ($6).

Service was attentive, efficient, and very friendly. Other things that impressed me about the restaurant were the variety of healthier options available, like baked sweet potato fries or mashed sweet potato. They also provide gluten free options. The beers are also reasonably priced: 12 oz ($4.20), 18 oz ($5.75).

There’s no mistaking the pride taken in making the beer either. Each has a great little write-up on the menu and the metal casks are on full display behind glass for diners to see. Live entertainment takes place in various forms throughout the week, too. Overall, our experience at Rock Bottom Brewery was lovely and we’ll certainly be going back.