Canadian Living November 2013

Sitting on a Calgary patio on a warm August day, I received an unexpected phone call. “Jann has a busy day,” said the voice on the other end of the line, “but she can meet you if you come to her esthetician’s house while she gets her nails and eyebrows done.” “I’ll be there,” I replied. I was ready to jump at the chance to meet Jann Arden, a woman who has touched so many people, not only in Canada but also around the world. When I arrived at a modest single-storey home 20 minutes from downtown and headed through the beaded curtains to the small basement that’s been her beauty parlour for many years, a sparkly foil was being transferred to the top of her purple nails. We spoke…

OUR TESTED-TILL-PERFECT GUARANTEE means we’ve tested every recipe, using the same grocery store ingredients and household appliances as you do, until we’re sure you’ll get perfect results at home. “Our art director, Stephanie, claims to hate meat loaf, but even she was enchanted by our updates to the classic. How can you go wrong when you smother something in creamy mushroom sauce?” – ANNABELLE WAUGH “Kosher chicken is sprinkled with salt and left to sit before being rinsed and packaged. When we tested a variation with nonkosher chicken (just in case!), we found it needed significantly more salt to create the same delicious flavour.” – IRENE FONG “I was extremely fortunate to be a taster during the development of these cookies as talented baker Melanie Stuparyk worked on the eggnog-flavoured icing. There’s a fine line…

PRAISE FOR 30 DAYS I have never written to a magazine before, but I just have to tell you how wonderful the 30 days of meals (“30 Meals for 30 Days,” September 2013) is working out. I am making them all in turn. They are great! Please do this again soon (every month would be fine with me). –Linda Pearsall SMITTEN WITH SEPTEMBER I wanted to drop you a line from Desbarats, Ont., population 400, to tell you how much I’m enjoying the September issue of Canadian Living – and I’m only on page 32! (Yes, I read magazines start to finish – always have.) Man, it’s snappy, informative and chic. I love it. –Susan Lawrence FREE FAITH FROM CATEGORIES I’m trying to put it behind me, but I’m offended by the opening line that…

WHEN JANN ARDEN GOT HER LITTLE BALL OF FUR, LIFE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER. I never thought of myself as a little-dog person. I was a big-dog girl. A farm-dog girl, solely because that’s what we had growing up in the country. My mother always loved having a pet in the family, so I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a big old mysterybreed pooch gallivanting behind me. Those were gloriously happy days. I think my parents took great comfort in knowing I was never outside alone. I had a furry soldier travelling with me every step of the way, a protector at all times. It wasn’t just dogs that were part of our family; most summers, it was a menagerie of all sorts of animals. My mother kept pet geese and…

MEN MAKE DINNER DAY Nov.7 In Canada, men spend 59 percent of the time women do on chores such as cooking, cleaning and caring for the kids. On Nov. 7, men can change those stats by cooking dinner for their wives. (Hint: Our “Quick & Easy” meals on page 142 each take only about 30 minutes to make, so your guy will have time to do a load of laundry too!) NATIONAL KNITTING MONTH Research shows that knitting can relieve stress, delay memory loss and help with depression. It can even strengthen your immune system. Plus, when you knit November away, you can warm up with a cosy handmade sweater or chunky scarf come December. WORLD KINDNESS DAY Nov.13 It turns out, the payit-forward model of kindness is actually rooted in science. One study has…

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? Across the country, Canadians are tapping their feet, just hoping to get a little health care. Our nation recently received a report on health-care wait times for a variety of treatments and procedures, and they need improvement. According to the Wait Time Alliance, although more surgeries are being performed, the demand is outpacing the system’s resources. In fact, if you’re in need of a hip or knee replacement in Canada, there’s a good chance you’ll be waiting for more than 26 weeks – putting us way behind other places with publicly funded health care, such as the U.K. and the Netherlands. On the upside, you can find out how long you can expect to wait in an instant by checking your province’s wait-time website. –Jill Buchner To…