It’s summertime and driving is long, sweaty, and cranky. Trips to the cottage, camp, and the family all mean a potentially annoying road trip.


With a 4 and 2 year old and family that lives a minimum of 2.5 hours away we are road trip experts. When visiting family isn’t enough for us, we like to take day trips around the province, visiting farms, festivals, and lakes.  And I always come armed with food.

About the only thing I dread about road trips now is emptying the car afterwards.


Here are my survival tips for a road trips with little ones, and not one involves a portable DVD player:

1. Buy a cooler that can plug into 12 volt jack in your car. This will keep your items cool while you drive, better than any ice pack.
2. No time to bake before you leave town? Stop at the farmer’s market and pick up some fresh fruit, a pile of farm fresh veggies, some breads, dips, and a few treats. This will save you from fast food snacks or getting caught without food when the hunger pangs rear their monstrous heads.
3. Have a set of car/picnic tools like a paring knife, cherry pitter, and small cutting board. I also recommend a pile of small plastic bags for garbage and a set of wipes that stay in the car.
4. Keep a few bowls in the car itself to pass back any bagged snacks you have. It sure beats constantly reaching around the seat with cereal and dried fruit.
5. Have a reserve water bottle to top up the supply, or replace the one that fell between the car seat and the door going around a corner.

It’s been my experience that the kids start spazzing in the car when bored, or worse, bored and hungry. So keeping an ample supply of food you are happy to share and a few picnic spots along the route identified for running around.


And be prepared for “what’s to eat” instead of “when are we going to get there?”

Cheryl is a mom to two energetic and strong-willed little girls.  It’s a good thing they already like her cooking.  She blogs the family’s cooking and taste adventures at Backseat Gourmet. 

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Remember a few weeks back, I asked you to send in your questions for Anna & Michael Olson and Mark McEwan about their passions? (I must say it's pretty clear from the picture they are passionate about one another for one!) Thanks for all your questions btw. I knew you guys would come through.

The husband and wife cooking duo sat down to talk about their passions and answered a whole bunch of  your questions. Check it out!  (Mark McEwan will be divulging his passions in a few weeks. Keep your eyes out for that).

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Whether it be milk, dark or white there is always a place in my heart, stomach and mouth for chocolate. Nothing can be wrong when I'm indulging in the stuff. It's like a personal relaxant. Although even a chocoholic like me may have to think twice about indulging in some of these treats. Read on.

1) I don't know if this still holds a strange factor, but when I initially learned that people dipped bacon in chocolate I thought, weird. But maybe it's truly the perfect combination of sweet, salty, chewy and interesting. I'll let you decide.

2) Chocolate covered potato chips. Now you might think to yourself, that's not odd. Here is where I disagree, it's not really odd in the sense that it shouldn't be done, but I've never come across the stuff until my co-worker Elana brought some PEI Chips: Chocolate Covered Potato Chips (Old Dutch Rippled) back from her trip to the east coast. The verdict: super tasty. Should you come across this snack, embrace them. 

3) Let's get into something more interesting shall we? Chocolate covered onions. I'm really not one for eating raw onions, though I suppose if you really enjoy the vegetable this might spruce it up.

4) Squid anyone? I also don't eat squid and this ups the ante for my case. I can't eat something that looks exactly as it is, and this just takes the cake for me. I wonder if it's good, has anyone tried it?

5) Beware of the scorpion! Apparently you can eat these eight-legged claw-snapping tail-stinging creatures. Though I don't know why you'd want to. Nonetheless, should you be interested don't fret because they're available dipped in chocolate! Kudos to anyone who has enough guts to bite into this. If you've tried it, or any of the items above, I'd really like to hear about your experience.

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If you're saying to yourself: "A hot dog is a hot dog." You are right, no argument there. However, a hot dog is just like a person in the sense that it's what's on the outside that counts...wait...did I get that right? Tubby Dog is one of (yes, there's more than one!) Calgary's specialty hot dog establishments, and eating down for a bite to eat is always a memorable experience.

Instead of being 'good for you,' Tubby Dog opts to be 'fun for you.' With old food memorabilia showcased inside, dessert options ranging from Twinkies to Wagon Wheels, and unexpected toppings such as crushed potato chips, it is a safe bet that most customers are going to be leaving their calorie counter at the door. It boasts a creative menu with selections like the Sumo Dog (wasabi, pickled ginger, seaweed, and japanese mayo) or the PBJ dog (peanut butter, jelly, and topped with Captain Crunch cereal...yum?)

My out-of-town lunch-date had specifically requested this venue for our bite to eat. A Tubby Dog regular in her college days, she went for her old favorite, the Yogi Bear (standard fixings: ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, cheddar cheese) with a 'Not Dog' (veggie) instead of a hot dog. I grabbed the weekly special with mustard, home-made relish, pickled chili peppers, cheese, onions, tomato slices and finished with some celery salt. (Hey, I never said this was fine dining!). 

We also decided that a perfect accompaniment to our dogs would be the T-Rings, their take on onion rings are, well, intense, to say the least. Let's just say they are on par with the size of a donut and the onion to dough ratio is about 1:8. In this case it's really all about the 'oh my gosh' reaction, and less about the taste, but definitely fun for kids!

Tubby Dog should definitely not be on your daily menu agenda, but once in awhile feel free to indulge, and, hey, buy that Twinkie for dessert, you deserve it!

Tubby Dog
1022 17 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2T0A5
(403) 244-0694

Dan Clapson is a business manager and food blogger based out of Calgary. He is always creating new recipes and striving to expand his culinary limits.

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Please welcome celebrity chef, entertainment expert and pioneer in the bar-chef movement  Kathy Casey to the Ask an Expert spotlight. 

As one of the first female executive chefs in the U.S., she was named one of Food & Wine’s “hot new American chefs.” A savvy spotter of what's hot on the culinary and cocktail scene.  In 2010 she was lauded as one of the 50 Best Twitter Chefs (@KathycaseyChef) by Guide to Culinary Schools; her blog, Dishing with Kathy Casey, was included in Saveur.com's Sites We Love. A prolific writer her ninth book is Sips & Apps.

As  you can see, the gal's got credentials and I'm only giving you shortened version of them. I'm thrilled to have her on board!  We’re kicking off our inaugural Ask a Mixologist post with this question from Rachel who asked: Which fresh herbs go best in cocktails?

Kathy Casey: Almost any herb can be incorporated into a cocktail— and mint is the go-to standard. But there are some others that definitely highlight the characteristics of particular spirits. Take for instance fresh sage: Its dusky flavoir brings out the earthy tones of tequila—especially a reposado with its softer, subtler smokiness.

Fresh basil is lovely with strawberries and lemon. I love to make a drink I call the Strawberry Shag, with fresh muddled basil, sugared strawberries, lemon and vodka—lightened with a splash of soda. So summery!

Thyme plays well with light rum, Champagne and gin and is especially nice in a drink that has pear incorporated into it. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs in cocktails and really complements most spirits, from dark to light. It also stays perky and is less likely to go “limp” at your bar—making for not only a great cocktail ingredient but also a beautiful visual display at your next party.

Try shaking rosemary up with limoncello, vodka, lemon and a dash of honey syrup (1 part honey + 1 part water); serve up or on the rocks. More unexpected herbs, like cilantro and tarragon, lend a fresh, clean note to a cocktail when paired with vodka, silver tequilas or white rums.

Do you have a question for our Mixologist? Ask below.

Ask an Expert feature appears Wednesdays.

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