The Good Side Of The Holiday Season
Dan 
Thoughts 
Anju, calgary, Calgary Co-op, Cookbook Cook Co, Dan's Good Side, downtownfood, giveaway, Muse, White Cap Publishing
I don’t normally do giveaways on my website, but this December, I thought it would great to be able to provide some great culinary experiences to some well-deserving individuals.
There are always people in our lives that deserve that extra something. Whether it’s a person working hard volunteering for a local initiative, a friend that carpools with you to work, a boyfriend that always holds the door open for you, or even someone who’s recently experienced the passing of a relative.
There are thousands of people (in Calgary alone) that could have their day deservingly brightened by an extra special gift. Well, not wanting to be a Grinch this year (not that I am typically a Grinch…), I’ve reached out to some great businesses and am excited to partner with them all for three weeks of giveaways.
Do you have an amazing individual in your life who’s day needs to be brightened?
I’ll be selecting one person each week leading up to Christmas for a dinner for four at one of Calgary’s top restaurants, some cookbooks and gift card to Calgary Co-op. What more could you ask for?
12 Comments to “The Good Side Of The Holiday Season”
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My girlfriend Carly. She is a great cook and she feeds me every night even though she comes home after I do… It’s not that I stereotype her role in the kitchen, I’m just THAT bad at cooking.
She likes to tell the story about on our first date, I made her freezer-burnt chicken that I didn’t even defrost. I just put it into some boiling water. The same water that I had put the freezer-burnt Green Giant vegetable medley in. Then I served it all, unseasoned with a slice of white bread.
I know she’d enjoy eating a good meal that wasn’t cooked by her.
Amazing giveaway! My brother is in his second year at Mount Royal and he has been working so hard this semester. Late nights and weekends on campus, nose to the grindstone–that type of thing. I would love to celebrate his success with a meal out OR with a special meal cooked by yours truly! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
My sweet husband is my ‘Goodside’. When I met him 7 years ago, his specialty was grilled cheese, and by specialty I mean that’s all he knew how to make. In the last year, he has discovered a passion for cooking (huzzah!), but whilst working full-time, studying, and having a beautiful one year-old, he doesn’t get a lot of down time. Even so, our most cherished times are when we’re in the kitchen together. It sure would be a very happy holiday to surprise him with a night out, new recipes to fuel his culinary passions, and to create a meal together. Thanks for such a great giveaway!
My boyfriend Aaron is the most hardworking person I know. He frequently works 70+ hour weeks for the Calgary Stampede Showband and the Calgary Round Up Band. Each are non-profit music organizations that rehearse weekly in the evenings, often have weekend long band camps and frequent performances. Due to his busy and erratic schedule, he rarely has time to prepare himself good meals and when he does have the time, he doesn’t have the confidence in the kitchen to cook healthy and tasty options. He would be so deserving of an opportunity to enjoy a really excellent meal with friends and would more than appreciate cookbooks that would help him to feed himself better. A man cannot live on beans and Kraft Dinner alone.
My boyfriend has always loved to cook and explore new restaurants for ideas to make at home and we would frequently spend exorbitant amounts on fantastic ingredients to prepare the meals he imagined. But since we moved to Calgary 2 years ago, we’ve been working hard to save some money and so the going out to new places and cooking up fancy meals at home has been limited. It breaks my heart because I know how much he misses it and I would love to be able to give him some of those experiences back without totally destroying the budget we work so hard to keep. I know he’d be ecstatic and I’d love to see the look on his face.
I’d like for Harvena Chiacchia to have this gift. She is my friend’s mother and I’ve gotten closer to her family these past few years. She’s extremely kind, understanding, charitable & honest. She’s made an incredible difference in my life. An extremely hard-working mother and community-giver, I want her to receive something as a “Thanks for being who you are!” She rarely goes out for a meal and I know that she’d especially like the cookbooks & gift card!
I would vote for Michelle DeCecco for her selfless attitude. She is an extremely busy career woman, but she is also a devout volunteer at Inn from the Cold. Michelle not only spends what little spare time she has at the shelter, but she gives her whole heart. She genuinely cares for others, particularly people who have found themselves in a tight spot. I’ve seen her organize events, a wedding and provided other forms of donations to the shelter. I know Michelle would feel there was no need whatsoever for her to be rewarded or thanked because she does what she does because she loves to help others. She’s inspired me to be less selfish person and to appreciate what I have in my life.
A person that I work with recently lost her husband, she is back at work now, and she has such a great attitude though I can see the sadness in her eyes, I think she could use an unexpected little surprise, I believe that a series of little things could make someone in pain smile a bit and make it all a bit ok
I would vote for my friends Michelle and Craig who have twin boys! They were born premature at 25 weeks. The boys are amazing and incredibly strong! Michelle and Craig are amazing parents – so strong and loving! As you can imagine having twin boys is a lot of work but they never complain and are truly deserving of this prize. They have come so far and the boys are a year old now and this will be their first Christmas at home. They’ve inspired me to be a better parent!
My husband Emilio. He is a good man – he has always had a job where he puts his life on the line for others. He spent 23 years in the military and is currently a firefighter here in Calgary. He has had an awful year and deserves a treat. He is a very active man, always physically in top shape. In April, he hurt his knee running, and long story short, he was diagnosed with a blood cancer. He has gone through chemo and has just started radiation – and he has had to give up his love of running (at least for now). He has had an incredible positive attitude throughout and never complained. He used much of his time off lately volunteering at our daughter’s school. He is an amazing dad to our son and daughter, and a wonderful husband – and a great cook.
Thanks!!
I was going to nominate my wonderful husband. He works so hard and is such a great Daddy to our kids. Seriously, the man never stops and is always doing something for someone else. But after reading all of the other nominations, it seems like there are people out there who could probably use this prize more than him. We have an amazing relationship, 2 beautiful healthy young children and that is enough for us. I hope someone very deserving wins this prize. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and for spreading some holiday cheer
My wife Ashleigh, she is partners in her company, she helps with my (our) company, and we have a 3yo. this leaves her with no time for herself. She feels terrible if she doesn’t have time for laundry, cokking, spending time with me or our son. To top it all, most of our family and friends don’t know or respect what she does, AND they think i’m the hard worker!