Day 8: No-bake snowballs

Day 8: No-bake snowballs

Day 8 of our annual baked-goods celebration brings a coconut-dusted confection from reader Marlene Cyncora.

I used to make these every Christmas, and it was one of my children’s favourite treats. I had to hide them in order to have some left for Christmas Day. Of course, whenever I thought I’d found the perfect hiding place, not so! Someone always found them.

It’s an easy recipe to prepare and does not require baking.

Christmas Snowballs250 ml (1 cup) dates, chopped180 ml (3/4 cup) sugar125 ml (1/2 cup) walnuts, chopped125 ml (1/2 cup) butter2 eggs, beaten2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) salt5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla500 ml (2 cups) Rice Krispies1 pkg unsweetened coconut

Mayoral candidate denounced for online comments

A Winnipeg mayoral candidate is facing criticism after he posted derogatory comments about immigrants and used the word “gay” as an insult online.

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Manitoba’s newest curriculum introduces the menstrual cycle earlier and repeatedly calls for explicit lessons on how students can give, seek, and decline to provide their consent.

The education department has released its sweeping proposal to overhaul how exercise, nutrition and sexuality are taught between kindergarten and Grade 12.

Grade 5 has long served as a key turning point for “the talk,” said J Fiedler, a sexual and reproductive health educator who provided input on the new curriculum.

“There’s no ‘the talk’ anymore. Now, there’s continuations of multiple ‘talks,’ which can hopefully reduce stress for students and stigma that people experience talking about sexuality.”

Winnipeg venues saying no to AI-made advertisements

Although the days when telephone poles and notice boards across the city were thick with gig posters, either slopped up with wheat paste or wrapped tight with packing tape, are behind us, the art of making an appealing visual ad for live music events is still a vital part of the local creative scene.

However, a widespread backlash against a new kind of slop — the use of generative AI images — has been building, especially among creatives when it comes to promoting live music.

“Live music is and always has been a DIY type of scene, especially locally,” says Evan Simpson, who has been working as a graphic designer for nearly a decade.

“For years people have been making their own flyers, or if they have the budget, hiring a designer or artist to come up with some artwork for their flyers. It’s a whole ecosystem, a scene supporting itself. If you take away the visual side of it, the spark, individuality and uniqueness of each gig poster is lost. What a sad world it would be if all art were made by AI.”

Premier touts Port of Churchill opportunities at Canadian investment summit

Premier Wab Kinew announced Monday that major capital investments in the Port of Churchill Plus project will receive an exemption from Manitoba’s seven per cent retail sales tax.

Kinew made the announcement at the start of the two-day Canada investment summit in Toronto. The premier made the pitch to a room of 250 Canadian and global investors representing more than US$13 trillion in assets.

“We are here in Toronto to tell global investors that the Port of Churchill is open and ready to expand,” Kinew told the Canadian Global Growth Forum, a provincial government news release said.

“These new capital incentives make it easier for investors to get in on the ground floor of the largest project featured at the Canada investment summit. The grain and critical minerals we are already shipping out of the port are reaching Europe faster than the Port of Vancouver. With the right investments we can ship commodities year-round, strengthening trade between reliable partners and creating good jobs,” the premier, who was not made available for an interview, said in the release.