Lindork’s Lists #151 – Deep Freeze Fest, Lunar New Year Treats, Cheap Prime Rib + A Dumpling Giveaway!
Newsletter for Jan 18-24, 2023
Note: this is the public version of my weekly email newsletter that gets sent to subscriber inboxes first each Wednesday. Get the full newsletter first by becoming a free subscriber.
Things to Do This Week
We’re still in a pandemic! Please mask up, stay home if sick, and get vaccinated/boosted.
Celebrate winter at Deep Freeze: A Byzantine Winter Festival (Alberta Ave.)
Deep Freeze Festival returns this Jan. 21 & 22 with programming taking place along 118 Ave. from 90-95 Street. Catch FREE musical performances, art installations, ice sculptures, the Cool Runnins’ Deep Freezer Races, and more!
Shop the New Year’s Pop-up Market (Bonnie Doon Community Hall)
There’s a pop-up market this Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10-5 p.m. featuring local artists specializing in handmade items, from ceramics to earrings, clothing and more. The rink at the community hall is also open so you’re encouraged to bring skates to enjoy as well!
Check out the Edmonton Ski Club’s Winter Pride Party + Community Appreciation Day (9613 96 Ave.)
The Edmonton Ski Club is hosting a Winter Pride Party on Fri Jan. 20 and a Community Appreciation Day on Sunday, Jan. 22 this weekend.
The Winter Pride Party includes discounted rates on tubing, skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing, dancing, and there’s a DJ plus afterparty at Evolution Wonderlounge.
Community Appreciation Day skiers and snowboarders will get complimentary hot chocolate, hot dogs, treats and other surprises!
Go for a winter segway adventure with River Valley Adventure Co. (downtown)
This January, the River Valley Adventure Co. is offering 50% off any Saturday winter adventure! Use SUPERSAVESAT at check out for any of their rentals including segway tours, fat bikes, snow shoes and more.
Check out the Gaia Exhibit at Muttart Conservatory (9626 96A St.)
There’s an out of this world exhibit now at the Muttart Conservatory called Gaia, featuring a large scale Earth art installation. You might remember the giant Moon exhibit from a few years back. This is from the same artist!
Watch Skinamarink horror movie in theatres before its gone (Metro Cinema)
Skinamarink, a horror movie made from an Edmonton filmmaker that’s getting rave reviews, is currently being shown at the Metro Cinema. There are showings on Jan 18, 29, and 31, if you want to support a local filmmaker and are into spooky flicks!
Got an Edmonton area event, virtual event, or something coming up you think my readers would be interested in knowing about? Let me know!
Food to Try This Week
Please continue safely supporting local restaurants, in whatever way works for your comfort levels. If not dining in, please do take-out! Please stay home if you’re sick.
Check out the new lunch menu at Izakaya Tomo (3739 99 St.)
Japanese restaurant Izakaya Tomo (who recently celebrated a decade in business!) is now open for lunch! They’re serving different donburi rice dishes, curry and rice, select rolls, salad, sashimi and noods Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12-3 p.m. starting today.
Try the yuca waffles and nachos from Tropical Sweets (10235 124 St.)
I tried the newish Tropical Sweets Cafe on 124 Street and absolutely loved their Chorinachos (chorizo nachos) as well as their Nutelita (nutella) gluten-free yuca waffles with strawberries, bananas and kiwi. Highly recommend!
Grab a prime rib dinner at a discount at River Cree Casino
Meat (and well most groceries) are pricy as hell these days so some discounted dinners are welcome. Tap25 at the River Cree Resort & Casino is serving up prime rib meals for just $16.99 after 11:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursdays (18+ dining only).
Try new Edmonton area bubble tea spots (various locations)
Happy to say I’ve been able to try two newly opened, independent bubble tea spot in both Spruce Grove (west of Edmonton) and Sherwood Park (east of Edmonton) and they were both excellent. Be sure to check out Bubble Tea Coffee Lab at 100 King St. in Spruce Grove and Boba Bar at 3850 Sherwood Dr. in Sherwood Park (conveniently located next to Park Integrative Health where I go to get massage + acupuncture! #ParkIntegrativeHealth_Partner) Great to have more bubble tea options in the area!
Check out these Lunar New Year Events happening this weekend + special treats:
Fu’s Repair Shop is hosting a six-course Lunar New Year Celebration Dinner on Sunday, Jan. 22, with 50% proceeds supporting Asian Gold Ribbon Campaign—which provides supports / advocates for improving Asian mental health.
The Lingnan is doing a Lunar New Years Buffet Menu on Jan. 20, 21, and 22.
Chocorrant, Yelo’d and Reinette Cafe are selling Lunar New Year special treats!
There was also this Lunar New Year banquet happening in Chinatown on Friday that has sold out! I wanted to mention as I think it’s great there was such interest.
Mark your calendar for next weekend too:
There’s a free Chinatown Lunar New Year event on Saturday, Jan. 28 (11:30 a.m. opening ceremony / dragon and lion dance in front of Lucky 97, then performances and events from 1-5 p.m. at the Ukrainian Hall 10629 98 St.) and Rosewood Foods will be announcing details for a Lunar New Year dinner too.
Also: Check out this 2022 Edmonton Food Review from Sharon who notes that despite some restaurant closures, there were plenty of new independent openings, along with a banner year for Windermere and the many restaurants they’ve been able to attract to the south west Edmonton neighbourhood.
Eaten something amazing recently? Want to show some love to a struggling restaurant? Have a take-out suggestion? Let me know to include in this newsletter.
You Missed a Newsletter Giveaway!
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit (or in the Vietnamese calendar, the Year of the Cat!) and ahead of Lunar New Year (Jan 22), I gave away a Lunar New Year Feast Bundle Prize courtesy of Honest Dumplings in my Jan 18 email newsletter! I regularly run giveaways just for subscribers.
Honest Dumplings is an Asian, woman-co-owned local dumpling company who make some pretty unique dumplings with bold flavours. The Lunar New Year Bundle includes General Tso’s Chicken, Pineapple Sweet & Sour Pork, and Carnivore Variety Pack Dumplings with Kimchi Pork Belly and Jalapeno Popper Spring Rolls and Ginger Garlic Spicy Dipping Sauce.
Co-owner Ray says dumplings represent prosperity because their shape resembles ancient Chinese money. Spring rolls are usually eaten during the Lunar New Year in China as well and eating spring rolls is a way to welcome the arrival of spring. The golden cylindrical-shaped rolls represent gold bars — which symbolize wealth!
PLUS: Get 20% off Honest Dumplings via the Uproot Food Store using code LINDA.
This includes all the dipping sauces, dumplings, and spring rolls. Applies to one-time purchases. No minimum purchase requirement. One use per customer. Can’t combine with other discounts. Code active until Jan 31!
Get up to 90% off your Fresh Prep order
I’ve resumed my partnership with my favourite Canadian meal kit company Fresh Prep so first time orders / new accounts can get up to 90% off using code INFLINDORK90. This code is valid until Feb 14 so if post-holidays has you feeling a little unmotivated to cook, or you’re strapped for time and recipe ideas, try Fresh Prep!
#FreshPrepCA_Partner
From the Blog Vault
I’m learning some Vietnamese dishes to cook this week from my mom ahead of the Lunar New Year, and thought I’d throw back to this Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tết) blog post on food, games, and traditions I wrote last year.
If you’d like to try a traditional New Year dish (without cooking it yourself), Vietnamese restaurant Co Chin Saigon in Chinatown is selling sticky rice mung bean rice cakes with different fillings (known as Bánh tét, Bánh chưng, or Bánh ú depending on the different shapes—round, square or pyramid).
Some News to Know
I’m piloting a new newsletter section sharing a few local / national news you may be interested in each week—from light and heartwarming to hopeful, political & more!
Zellers is coming back to Kingsway Mall (inside The Bay) this year—and opening an online store. Much nostalgia!
More off-leash dog parks may be coming to Edmonton which is generally good news but just a reminder not to bring your dog to an off-leash dog park if they’re not the kind of dog that can be off-leash with other dogs.
“The Last Of Us” TV show adaptation of the popular video game just premiered over the weekend and after just one episode, it’s breaking all sorts of records, including best video game adaptation of all time. Pretty neat since most of the show was filmed in Alberta!
lol the winning names of the City’s Name a Plow Contest are pretty funny, including Amarsleet Snowhi, Ctrl+Salt+Delete, and Snow-Be-Gone-Kenobi.
In things we knew the ‘Premier’ wouldn’t be able to do but said she’d do to try and win anti-vaxxers over—Danielle Smith says she won’t be pursuing COVID pardon legislation on advice from justice officials (and because pardons don’t work that way in Canada which apparently she didn’t know but said anyway).
Popular on my Blog Right Now
Here are the top four most popular posts on my blog this week:
Discount Codes to Save You $$$
Get 20% off Honest Dumplings via the Uproot Food Store using code LINDA. Applies to one-time purchases. No minimum purchase requirement. One use per customer. Can’t combine with other discounts. Code active until Jan 31!
Get up to 90% off your first order of Fresh Prep using code INFLINDORK90.
Get 20% off the world’s most versatile smokeless firepits from Coulee Outdoor using code LINDORK20.
Get one free custom cake topper with a cake purchase valued at $150 or more from The Nancy Bakes. Just mention LINDORK.
Get 20% off a Kaavish Spa booking when you mention LINDORK20.
Get 20% off at clothing boutique Bamboo Ballroom using my code LINDORK20.
See more discount codes over on my blog
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