Celebrate Canada Day 2012 in Calgary, with tons of family friendly activities!

At Heritage Park, the first 2012 guests before 10:30 a.m. will be treated to Heritage Park’s famous hot pancake breakfast.

Fort Calgary offers children’s activities including pony rides and petting zoo, a spectacular car show, featuring 100 classic and antique cars, and a full day of entertainment featuring the Blue Mondays House Band and plenty of special guests at the NMC stage. If you arrive early enough, you can catch a free pancake breakfast, starting at 9:00 a.m.

Click on the following link to see more events that are taking place at a variety of locations across Calgary: http://www.calgarycanadaday.ca/

In Canmore, you can enjoy the Rotary Pancake Breakfast (who doesn’t love free pancakes!!!) at Centennial Park from 8:00–11:00 a.m., which will be followed by a Canada Day parade, marching band, fireworks and more: http://www.canmorealberta.com/canadaday/

Don’t forget that the entry into Banff National Park is free on July 1st, so you can visit the town of Banff, and celebrate Canada Day with great entertainments and performances till 11:00 p.m.!

http://www.banff.ca/activities-events/festivals-special-events/canada-day

We have some great books on touring the wine regions of British Columbia as well as recipes inspired by B.C. wine. Check out these books to get the insider scoop on how to find some wonderful wine tours.

John Schreiner's Okanagan Wine Tour Guide by John Schreiner

The lush Okanagan Valley is internationally acclaimed for its wine industry. Updated and revised with more than 60 percent new material, John Schreiner's Okanagan Wine Tour Guide provides succinct insider profiles of each of the region's 129 wineries, and for the first time covers winery producers from Creston, BC. Included are thumbnail sketches of wineries and winemakers, as well as everything you need to know to take a fascinating self-guided tour through the valley that produces 95 percent of British Columbia's wines. Schreiner peppers the book with fascinating facts acquired through his own winery visits, and gives his recommendations about what to sample from each cellar. Maps, addresses, telephone numbers, and website addresses round out this comprehensive guide.

Island wineries of British Columbia by Gary Hynes

Winner of the Gourmand International Wine Books Award 2011 for Canada

Celebrate the unique flavours, terroir and grape varieties that can be found only on the wine islands off the west coast. A collaborative effort from the writers of EAT Magazine, Island Wineries of British Columbia is your guide to a growing wine culture and the food movement that accompanies it. Starting with the history behind the regions wine production, this book is an intimate conversation with local wine producers, their individual stories, their most memorable creations and where you can find their beautiful wineries. Complete with maps and suggested wine tasting excursions, Island Wineries of British Columbia also explores the island's meaderies, cideries, fruit wines, artisan distilleries and craft beer. You’ll find recipes from some of the regions most talented chefs, including offerings from Café Brio, Camilles, the Sooke Harbour House and Stage Wine Bar; each recipe has an emphasis on local ingredients and provides exquisite pairings of wine and food.

Winefeast: Eat, Drink & Discover BC Wine by Troy Townsin

This beautiful book features more than 120 tantalising wine-inspired recipes that have been collected from BC's top winery chefs and winemakers. Legendary chefs like Michael Allemeier from Mission Hill Winery and Bernard Casavant from the Burrowing Owl have contributed their favourite cooking-with-wine recipes to this compilation, making it a must-have for anyone with an interest in Canada's culinary hertage. The recipes focus on gourmet cooking that uses easy to find ingredients and simple instructions so that both novice and experienced cooks can recreate these culinary delights at home. Winefeast introduces readers to the world of wine and contains informative, and at times humorous, sections on how to taste wine and improve sensory evaluation skills, how to cook with wine, as well as histories of all the different grapes and wine styles that are produced in British Columbia. There are also sections on food and wine pairing as well as detailed maps and region-specific guides with wine touring highlights so that visitors and locals alike will have all the information they need to tour BC's spectacular wine country. The book contains mouth-watering food shots and breathtaking scenic photography by Gary Faessler. Winefeast is the perfect gift or must-have keepsake for anyone with a passion for food and wine. With a copy of this book and a bottle of BC's finest, readers will have no problems creating a 'wine feast' that will delight guests and quench their thirsts for BC food and wine knowledge.

Don't forget to track your green commute this week at commuterchallenge.ca.

If you work for CPL, or other participating workplaces, your workplace is already registered and you can register as an individual. The tracking is really straightforward this year.

If you provide your Airmiles number, you are eligible to win 500 Airmiles!

Hint: An easy way to calculate your kilometerage is to use Google maps "get directions" tool and enter your start and end points. Your one-way kms are displayed. Double it when entering your Commuter Challenge information.

Nobody knows the local landscape of farmers and sustainable food production like chef and award winning author, dee Hobbsbawn Smith.

Dee introduced Calgary to regional cuisine when she opened her restaurant, Foodsmith, in 1992. Since then she has written three best-selling cookbooks and Shop Talk, a round-up of the best local butchers, bakers and specialty grocery stores, as well as a weekly Calgary Herald column on food. Now dee's back with her latest book, Foodshed: An Edible Alberta Alphabet, which explores local food producers from Asparagus to Zizania (wild rice) and along the way, includes some great recipes and detailed information on sourcing local food.

Dee will be reading from her book and providing a PowerPoint discussion as well as selling copies of Foodshed at the Calgary Public library, John Dutton Theatre (2^nd floor), on Friday, June 1, 7 p.m.

If you care about what you put on your plate, this is an event not to be missed!

Camping: Our Favourite Sites in Britain

Time Out applies its expertise to the world of camping with comprehensive reviews of 100 fantastic campsites in England, Scotland and Wales. Each site is illustrated with beautiful photography and detailed information on facilities provided; attractions and activities in the area; the best eating and drinking options; amusing the kids and the general pros and cons of each site. Whether you're after forest hideaways or beachside retreats; beautiful or jolly; remote or urban; with family or just friends, Time Out Camping covers it all, whatever you're looking for.

Walking Palestine: 25 Journeys into the West Bank (Interline Walking Guides) by Stefan Szepesi

With the images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so dominant in our minds, walking for leisure is the one activity probably least associated with the West Bank region. But Stefan Szepesi's book wanders well off the beaten track of Palestine as only a synonym for occupation and strife, exploring its inspiring natural and cultural landscape, its intriguing past and present, and the hospitality of its people. The book takes first-time walkers and experienced hikers, as well as armchair explorers, through Palestine's steep desert gorges, along its tiny herders' trails, and over its quiet dirt roads running past silver green olive groves. With side stories and anecdotes on heritage, history, culture, and daily life in the West Bank, the book ventures into the traits and character of Palestine today. Walking Palestine also offers a wealth of practical walking tips, including references to local guides, the West Bank's best leisure spots and countryside restaurants, and charming places to spend the night.

Only Pack What You Can Carry: My Path to Inner Strength, Confidence, and True Self-Knowledge by Janice Holly Booth

Magnetically written by former CEO of a North Carolina Girl Scout Council and award winning CEO for the Western New York chapter of a national arts-in-education organization, this uniquely engaging travel journal describes four keys to unlocking personal and spiritual fulfillment: solitude, introspection, courage, and commitment. Through a series of compelling travel essays and deeply thoughtful memoirs, Janice Booth draws readers into each adventure-ranging from a solo hike through Northern California to galloping across the fields of Ireland to a short stint with the Circus Arts learning the flying trapeze-and shares her secrets to a fuller life through traveling alone. Step by step, she demonstrates why leaving everything - and everyone - behind for a few days (or more!) is the best path to inner strength, confidence, and true self-knowledge.

Also, available in an electronic version.

A Sense of Direction: Pilgimage for the Restless and the Hopeful by Gideon Lewis-Kraus

Irreverent, moving, and thought-provoking, Lewis-Kraus riffs on the perpetual war between discipline and desire, and its attendant casualties. Across three pilgrimages and many hundreds of miles, he completes an idiosyncratic odyssey to the heart of a family mystery.