Manitoba spin on Austrian classic

Bombers let another one slip away and face pivotal issue

Mike O’Shea summed it up best.

“That one doesn’t feel very good.”

Nor should it.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers started out hot Friday night, only to run out of gas down the stretch and allow the visiting Toronto Argonauts to steal a 30-28 victory.

Concrete doc befits brutalist Winnipeg

Moviegoers across North America are pounding the pavement and lining up around the block to see The History of Concrete, small-screen documentarian John Wilson’s feature-length debut.

Nuit Blanche ready to wow in city’s core

For one night each September, downtown Winnipeg becomes an art gallery — an amusement park, even.

During Nuit Blanche, which takes place tonight, 3D projections spill across the Exchange District, The Forks and St. Boniface, and thousands flood the city core to take in live music, DJs and installations.

“There really isn’t anything like it. I know every promoter probably tells you that, but we are the only event that works at this scale in the fall,” says Nuit Blanche general manager Kurt Tittlemier.

“Culture Days Manitoba is run with the mission statement to make free, accessible artistic programming to all,” he adds, referring to the multi-week national festival, “and Nuit Blanche is our flagship event.”

Day 1: Chokecherry or saskatoon berry jam a perfect piquant replacement for black currant jelly

We’re kicking off our annual cavalcade of Christmas cookies with a submission from reader Katharina Haigh, who adapted a traditional Austrian recipe with a Manitoba twist. The measurements, as in most European baking recipes, are by weight, not volume.

I grew up in Austria and I used to make these cookies, called Ischler Kringel, with my mom. They are still a big hit whenever I bake them. My mom got this cookbook, Großmutters gute Weihnachtsbäckerei (first published in 1970), sometime in the 1980s and passed it on to me. The title translates to “Grandmother’s Good Christmas Cookies” and these recipes more or less go back to the turn of the last century.

“Ischl is a place in Austria, and a Kringel is an old term for a ring, essentially a doughnut. The original recipe calls for black currant jelly, but I have adapted it to Manitoba by using homemade chokecherry or saskatoon berry jelly.

The magic lies in the contrast of these very delicate cookies, the strongly flavoured jam and the topping. Originally, the cookies were decorated with sugar frosting and sprinkles on one side, and chocolate and pistachio nuts on the other side, but I usually only do either of the two.

Unhappy Dynacare staff refuse OT shifts; doors could be closed at clinics with Saturday hours

Some Winnipeg Dynacare sites normally open on Saturday were closed last week, and may continue to be because staff are refusing to pick up overtime shifts after they were forced back to work amid a labour dispute with the company.

Positive anticipation is growing about major housing developments underway in Winnipeg’s downtown

If traffic is light and the wind is down, Somia Sadiq is able to hear the roar of Winnipeg Jets fans twice: first through her window, then on TV.

From her apartment view high above downtown, she can look out at Graham Avenue’s painted pedestrian landscape, see construction cranes and hear the heavy equipment at work as massive housing projects take shape at The Forks, at what used to be Portage Place shopping centre and at the former Hudson’s Bay building.

Sadiq has lived at 300 Main for 2 1/2 years, a few steps from the city’s famous, windy and reopened-to-pedestrians Portage Avenue intersection. At 42 storeys, it’s the tallest building in Winnipeg.

She is among 18,000 downtown residents who will soon be joined by thousands of others attracted to the city’s core by the new wave of major construction projects.