Alberta Food Tours Inc.

10/16/2026

🎂✨ FOOD ARTISAN FRIDAY: THE ART OF CAKE!

This Food Artisan Friday, we're celebrating Edmonton's very own pastry artist extraordinaire, Chef Gloria Bednarz, Owner and Head Pastry Chef of The Art of Cake! 💛

Gloria's love for baking began on her family's farm, where she grew up picking wild berries, enjoying fresh local ingredients, and watching her mother and grandmother bake bread and make their own butter.

That passion led her to NAIT and eventually to fulfilling her dream of opening her own café alongside her family.

For over 18 years, The Art of Cake has been making Edmonton's dessert dreams come true! 🍰 With a signature style blending vintage charm and modern elegance, Gloria and her talented team create everything from breathtaking wedding cakes to irresistible pastries and sweets.

Step inside and you'll feel like you've entered a fairy tale, complete with vintage china, sparkling chandeliers, and display cases filled with beautiful treats! ✨

🚌🎄 AND HERE'S THE SWEETEST PART!

We're thrilled to have The Art of Cake as the FIRST STOP on our Edmonton Holiday Bakery Bus!

Join us for a festive day of discovering incredible local bakeries, meeting the makers, and stocking up on holiday treats!

📅 EDMONTON HOLIDAY BAKERY BUS DATES:

🎄 Saturday, November 21, 2026

🎄 Saturday, November 28, 2026

🎟️ Seats are limited! Grab your tickets through the link in our bio.

10/14/2026

🚌🍪 YOUR HOLIDAY BAKING LIST CALLED. IT WANTS A SEAT ON THE BAKERY BUS!

What if getting ready for the holidays meant discovering delicious local bakeries instead of spending hours in your own kitchen?

Join Alberta Food Tours this November and December for our annual Bakery Bus — a delicious day of discovering local bakeries, finding new favourites, and gathering goodies for the holiday season!

📍 CALGARY BAKERY BUS
🎄 Saturday, November 21
🎄 Saturday, November 28
🎄 Saturday, December 5

📍 EDMONTON BAKERY BUS
🎄 Saturday, November 21
🎄 Saturday, November 28

🥐 Discover bakeries you may not have tried before
🛍️ Stock up on treats to share, gift, or keep all to yourself
🎄 Get a head start on your holiday baking
👯 Make it a memorable day out with your favourite people

Less baking stress. More bakery bliss! ❤️

Tag your Bakery Bus buddy in the comments, and let's make this holiday season delicious!

🎟️ Tickets: https://albertafoodtours.ca/tours/calgary-holiday-bakery-bus-tour/

10/14/2026

72 Hours in Oslo

Karen Anderson, author of Savour it All blog shares that Oslo has managed to combine nature, culture, food, architecture and everyday life in a way that makes the city itself feel like an invitation to participate. She shares ways to go from a tourist to a traveller invested in the place as you walk it, swim it, ferry across it, eat it, sit outside in it, visit its museums, sauna beside it and wander home through it.

Oslo combines nature, culture, food, architecture and everyday life in a way that makes the city itself feel like an invitation to participate. Savour It All blog author Karen Anderson shares how to transform from a tourist to a traveller invested in the place as you walk it, swim it, ferry across i...

10/12/2026

Calgary Chinatown: Classic Eats, Surprising Finds and the Stories Behind Them

Explore Calgary’s Chinatown through classic eats, hidden gems, cultural landmarks, public art and local favourites with food writer Karen Anderson of Savour It All.

Explore Calgary’s Chinatown through classic eats, hidden gems, cultural landmarks, public art and local favourites with food writer Karen Anderson of Savour It All.

10/11/2026

🥧 SUNDAY RECIPE: STONEPOST FARMS’ PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin pie season is here, and this one is made completely from scratch.

This family recipe from Stonepost Farms pairs a crisp, flaky crust made with their ethically raised pork lard with a rich sugar pumpkin filling. Lightly spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, and made extra creamy with milk, butter and eggs, it’s a true taste of fall in Alberta.

One tip from Karen: you really only need a small sugar pumpkin! The first time she made this recipe, she ended up with enough pumpkin for four pies and a coconut pumpkin soup.

Stonepost Farms’ Pumpkin Pie

Makes: Two 9-inch pies
Prep: 60 minutes
Bake: 60 minutes

For the crust:
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 lb lard
- ¾ cup ice-cold water
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp vinegar

For the filling:
- 1 small sugar pumpkin (about 4 cups mashed)
- 2 cups milk
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp melted butter
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten

Method:
1. Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the lard with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles small peas or lentils.
2. In a separate bowl, combine water, egg and vinegar. Add to the dry ingredients and bring together into a ball. Cover and chill while preparing the filling.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Cut into smaller pieces, peel and steam until tender. Mash—you’ll need about 4 cups.
5. Roll out the chilled dough and fit into two 9-inch pie plates. Trim and crimp the edges, then bake for about 10 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly golden.
6. Increase oven temperature to 425°F.
7. Heat the mashed pumpkin in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly stir in the milk, followed by the nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the melted butter, sugar and beaten eggs until thoroughly combined.
8. Divide the filling between the prepared pie crusts.
9. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°F and bake for another 45 minutes.
10. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!

Save this recipe for your next fall gathering. 🍂

Recipe by Karen Anderson / Stonepost Farms

10/09/2026

Alberta Food Tours Celebrates 20 years in business

Founder Karen Anderson reflects on the journey and impact of Alberta Food Tours as a woman in business and food tourism pioneer.

Alberta Food Tours Celebrates 20 Years in Business and founder Karen Anderson shares the impact as a woman in business and pioneer in food tourism.

10/09/2026

🌻 Food Artisan Friday: Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm

What started as a family farm has blossomed into a place where food, fun, and community come together! 🌱

Meet Tam Andersen, the owner, farmer, and self-proclaimed "Director of Fun" at Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm in Bon Accord, Alberta.

The farm's roots stretch back to 1898, when the land was first homesteaded along the historic Athabasca Landing Trail. In 1956, the Chedzoy family established Prairie Gardens, and today, Tam continues its legacy of hospitality with a passion for local food and agri-tourism.

In 2008, Tam launched the farm's first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, growing vegetables on just two acres. Since then, Prairie Gardens has expanded to 25 acres, producing everything from pumpkins and strawberries to apples and fresh vegetables. 🍓🎃

But what makes Prairie Gardens truly special is its commitment to community. The farm supports more than 10 local farmers, partners with food banks, gives back to local charities, and welcomes families to experience the joy of farm life through festivals, workshops, and hands-on activities.

For Tam, farming is about more than growing food. It's about bringing people together, supporting local agriculture, and creating memories that last a lifetime.

📍 Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm | Bon Accord, Alberta

Learn more at prairiegardens.org

10/02/2026

🌾 Food Artisan Friday: Sunworks Farm

Would you change the way you eat if your health depended on it?

For Ron and Sheila Hamilton of Sunworks Farm, that question changed the course of their lives.

After their young daughter developed severe food and environmental allergies, and Sheila struggled with fibromyalgia and arthritis, the Hamiltons began looking much more closely at where their food came from and how it was raised. They started to see food differently, not just as something to eat, but as something that could support their family’s health.

Despite having no farming background, they packed up their family and started farming near Camrose, Alberta. What began with just 80 chickens raised in outdoor mobile coops has grown into a farm built around organic, sustainable and humane farming practices.

Today, Sunworks raises chickens, laying hens, turkeys and grass-finished cattle, and even has its own on-farm processing facility, allowing the Hamiltons to oversee the care of their animals from farm to finish.

They’ve been Certified Humane since 2005, but perhaps our favourite part of their story is Sheila’s.

After once being told she could eventually need a wheelchair, today she’s out on the farm hoisting 40-pound straw bales.

That’s one powerful reminder of why Ron and Sheila have spent decades asking us to think about where our food comes from. ❤️

09/30/2026

On this National Truth and Reconciliation Day we honour one of our greatest Indigenous mentors, Yvonne Jobin. Yvonne passed away on September 27, 2026.

At Alberta Food Tours, we were fortunate to have her guidance and friendship since we first partnered with her business, Moonstone Creation, over a decade ago.

Yvonne and Karen became good friends over the years and Yvonne contributed recipes to Karen's cookbook, Eat Alberta First, in honour of her daughter Amy and grandson Colton.

A few times each year, the two would sit in Yvonne's kitchen for tea and a chat about family, life, tourism, and being women in business. Yvonne mentored Karen on protocol and Indigenous ways of being and in turn she often called Karen for advice on tourism opportunities. In TRC matters, Yvonne encouraged Karen with, "Keep up the work; it matters."

Yvonne loved to say, "Knowledge is useless unless it is shared." She shared her knowledge of arts and crafts with all and made an artistic home for the work of dozens of Indigenous artists at Moonstone Creation. She will be deeply missed by her community and all of us at Alberta Food Tours.

09/27/2026

SUNDAY RECIPE: Roasted Red Pepper & Fennel Soup🫑

With fall officially here, soup season has arrived!

This Roasted Red Pepper and Fennel Soup from Karen Anderson was inspired by visits to Broxburn Vegetables & Café near Lethbridge, owned by Food Artisans of Alberta Paul and Hilda de Jonge.

Roasting the peppers, fennel and onions gives this soup a wonderful smoky depth of flavour. Serve it warm with a grilled cheese for a cozy fall meal, or enjoy it chilled!

Roasted Red Pepper & Fennel Soup
Makes 6 servings | Prep: 20 min | Cook: 15 min

Ingredients
• 6 red peppers
• 1 fennel bulb, cut into sections (reserve the fronds)
• 3 small new onions, roots and green tops removed
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• ½ cup half-and-half cream
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. Heat your grill to high. Roast the peppers, fennel and onions until charred on all sides, about 15–20 minutes.
2. Set the fennel and onions aside. Place the peppers in a thick brown paper bag, fold it closed and let them sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Peel the peppers, remove the seeds and set aside.
4. Heat the olive oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and cook until golden and fragrant.
5. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
6. Add the broth, roasted peppers, fennel and onions. Bring to a boil.
7. Carefully blend until smooth, then return the soup to the pot.
8. Stir in the cream and gently simmer until heated through.
9. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.

Serve it alongside a grilled cheese for the ultimate cozy lunch or supper.