When I called home and asked the Intrepid Junior Blogger if
I should buy tickets to the event I knew the answer would likely be yes – but
even I had not predicted her level of enthusiasm. She expressed great
excitement, and insisted I get tickets as soon as possible. The event in
question? Not a rock concert or festival – but rather the annual A Taste of Fort McMurray.
The IJB attended Taste of Fort McMurray last year, and I
guess it made an impression on her. Maybe it was trying kangaroo, or simply all
the cupcakes – but this year she not only wanted to go but insisted, and when I
arrived home Wednesday night after work she was ready and anxious to tackle the food
– and oh, what food it was!
We arrived at MacDonald Island Park, exchanging our tickets
for passports that we immediately disregarded, explaining to the passport
stampers that we were focused quite keenly on the food, and only the food. She
and I never have been much for rules, and so we tackled the food stalls with
gleeful abandon, mixing appetizers with desserts and entrees. We ate our way
through every booth, sampling endless varieties of sliders and cupcakes, soups
and scallops. We aimed for the restaurants she cannot enter, being a minor, and
sampled the offerings from Wood Buffalo Brew and Original Joe’s. We ate and
ate, stopping for an occasional drink, and then we ate some more. We ate enough
to determine our favourites – and it was not an easy conclusion.
For the Intrepid Junior Blogger the favourite was the lamb
from the Hearthstone Grille at the Sawridge Inn, followed closely by the ribs
from Table 63 at the Quality Inn. I was quite partial to the pork belly from
MacDonald Island Park, and we both found the chocolate cake in an ice cream
cone from The Chef’s Table at Mitchell’s a delight. We did not, in fact, find
any food we did not enjoy, and while some particularly caught our attention all
the food was wonderful to experience.
And we ate cupcakes, of course, ones infused with Bailey’s
and chai tea, and ones that tasted of cherries. In fact by the time we reached
the Chocolates and Candlelights booth we were relieved that the chocolate was
packaged to take home, because we couldn’t eat another bite.
I think the IJB was a little sad there was no kangaroo this
year, but the event brought out her foodie side, as she is the true food lover
in the family and she critiqued her way through the samples (should she ever
write a food blog I think it would easily surpass this blog as she is both
unflinchingly honest and accurate in her assessments, with a very fresh palate
and a young adult perspective). We both enjoyed the entire evening though, from the food to the live music to the helpful and friendly volunteers. In the end, though, just like last year we rolled out the door, feeling significantly heavier than when we arrived. We headed home, the IJB downstairs to the sofa and me upstairs to finish some chores.
Just before bedtime, though, I snuck into my purse and pulled out two small gift-wrapped packages. I opened one, and then took the other down to the IJB. And so we finished off a night of food and fun – and an evening spent together – with a chocolate covered pretzel, perhaps the perfect way to end the night.
The
IJB and I would like to thank
Volunteer
Wood Buffalo,
Leadership
Wood Buffalo,
Non-Profit
Sector Link,
all
the volunteers,
and
all the food vendors
for
an amazing evening of food and fun!
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