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Added by Hike Bike Travelon January 9, 2012
Saved under Adventure Travel, Winter
Tags: Canmore, dog sledding tours, dog-sledding, Rockies

It’s January – and there’s a lot of winter left in the Rockies. One way to enjoy it is to embrace it and try new activities.

Last weekend my husband and I tried something entirely new; we spent an afternoon of dog sledding in the Rockies, not far from Canmore, Alberta with.

Clipping in our seven dogs

Dog sledding has been on my bucket list for quite some time. I always associate dog sledding with the far north – thinking of theandraces. But dog sledding is gaining in popularity and it’s a fun way to spend some time outside in the winter. Out of Canmore, Alberta alone, there are three dog sledding companies.

Itching to go

Howling Dog Tours is the company we chose to go with. They’ve been around for 15 years and now have a kennel with close to 200 dogs. The dogs are either Alaskan Huskies or purebred Siberian Huskies. The Alaskan Huskies are not actually a breed but a type of dog, bred to pull sleds. They are typically a cross between a Siberian Husky and either a greyhound or setter type dog. That surprised me. I expected to see all Alaskan Husky dogs. Seven of their dogs have competed in 1000 mile plus races , including Gizmo, one of the dogs that pulled our sled.

Along a trail near the Spray Lakes

Typically there are seven dogs pulling one sled with two adults and up to two kids depending on weight. If the track is fast and icy then only six dogs are used and if it’s slow and mushy then eight dogs are put to work.

These dogs love to run. That’s not to say that the guides (mushers) don’t try to give them a break on the hills by hopping off and running beside the sled – an exhausting activity I might add.

The dog sled ahead of ours

The tour we were on was two hours in length – plus a very scenic narrated drive of half an hour on either end to get up to the Spray Lakes from Canmore. Typically the company runs four tours a day – at 10 am, noon, 2 pm and 4 pm. The dogs run twice a day and have a rest in between. In any given week the dogs may run on three to five days.

The sled dog Honda, and a guide

Tundra and Wayco

Me with one of the very loving dogs

The actual tour starts with harnessing the dogs and if you’re interested, you can help. Then each dog is put on the line while one person sits in the sled – to prevent it from taking off – and another holds the line. In a matter of minutes you’re ready to go.

Initially we both sat in the sled, covered with blankets. It’s a real thrill when you first take off; that’s followed by pure enjoyment of being outside in nature with the wind in your face and the enthusiasm shown by the dogs.

About 20 minutes into the ride, John decided it was time to hop on the back of the sled. That’s where the real fun and the hard work lies. On the hills you typically try and help the dogs by jumping off and pushing the sled and then quickly hopping onto the runner before you take off flying again. Exciting to say the least on the downhill or on a curve.

Break time for the dogs – while we have hot chocolate and cookies

You can see where Howling Dog gets its name

One blue, one brown eye

I tried my luck on the back of the sled after our hot chocolate-cookie stop. Great fun and where I’d like to spend more time. I have a new appreciation for the shape that dogsled racers must be in.

Waiting to take off again

At the end of the 10 kilometer loop the dogs are given a big bowl of water and chicken bits to prevent dehydration. Without the chicken bits, the dogs might not drink. Then you can show them some love and give them a biscuit.

Dogs drink a water-chicken bits mixture at the end of a run to prevent dehydration

A well deserved rest in the truck

Truck used for transporting dogs and sleds

I was surpised by many things:

This dog sledding tour has just whetted my appetite for more. Now I’d like the real wilderness multi day experience, camping out under the stars.

If you decide to go dog sledding

– Wear clothes in layers and make sure you have a scarf or neck warmer to protect your face from the wind.
– Bring hand and toe warmers if you’re prone to frozen extremities.
– Be prepared to smell a bit doggie by the end.

The price oftwo hour tour is $149 plus tax per person. (Both my husband and I were given a discount.) It’s excellent value when you consider how much goes into keeping these dogs healthy and happy – and the shear number of bodies needed to run a dog sledding company.

If you’re visiting in the Calgary – Banff corridor or if you’ve got a case of the winter blahs and you’re up for trying something new, then I really do recommend a dog-sledding tour.

Have you been dog sledding?? Where and for how long?

Leigh McAdam

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About Hike Bike Travel
Avid world traveler. Craves adventure – & the odd wildly epic day. Gardener. Reader. Wine lover. Next big project – a book on 100 Canadian outdoor adventures.
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The concept of WordPress plugins was briefly discussed in an earlier article in this series, but they are definitely worth revisiting. Plugins serve as a critical part of your WordPress blog and so it is important that you recognize what they are, how you can get them, and what they can do for you.

Expanding and Customizing WordPress

The official definition coming from WordPress is that plugins “can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine.” In short, these are smaller software components that can add specific capabilities to a larger software application (like WordPress). They are not programs themselves, but they act as an add-on or expansion pack, so to speak.

WordPress plugins can affect just about every aspect of your WordPress blog. There are plugins to change how you interact with the administration control panel. There are plugins that help integrate your blog with your social networking profiles. There are plugins that change certain aspects of how your blog looks to readers. There are plugins that work behind the scenes to make for a better blog. They really can change just about anything.

A good analogy to consider would be car modifications. If you think of WordPress as your car, then plugins would be such things as car stereos, new paint jobs, new steering wheels, upgraded exhaust systems, rear spoilers, new tires, sportier suspension, and so forth. The car itself is still the same car, so to speak, but these accessories and upgrades can completely change not only how you interact with the car, but also the car’s performance and how it is viewed by people on the street.

Free and Paid Plugins

Just as there are both free and premium (paid) WordPress themes, the exact same thing can be found when it comes to WordPress plugins as well.

In addition to the free WordPress plugins that developers give away on their own websites, there is also the official Plugin Directoryon WordPress.org. There are currently over 12,000 free plugins available there.

Premium plugins are sold through a number of different marketplaces, like Clickbank, as well as through the sites and online stores of the developers themselves. Pricing can range considerably with many of the most popular and most powerful WordPress plugins selling for hundreds of dollars. Some of these, for instance, are able to convert WordPress into a true e-commerce solution, complete with PayPal and Google Checkout integration.

How to Install and Activate

The process of installing a WordPress plugin is easier than ever.

Log into the WordPress control panel using your admin account. Click on the “Plugins” area in the sidebar to reach the main plugins screen. From there, you can see a button near the top that says “Add New.” From here, you can search for new plugins or upload one that you have already downloaded.

In the past, it was your responsibility to download the plugin, extract it from its compressed folder (if necessary), and upload it to the appropriate directory on your blog using an FTP program. That is no longer the case. Even if you don’t use the search function, you can upload a new plugin in its compressed .zip format directly from the WordPress control panel.

After the upload has completed, you activate the plugin through the main plugins screen. Depending on the WordPress plugin, you may then need to configure its options through the Tools or Settings sections in the control panel. Be sure to read the specific instructions (usually found on the plugin’s website or through a “readme” file) for further direction.

The two things to keep in mind when cooking eggplant, especially firm globe eggplants, is that not only do eggplants hold onto moisture, they also absorb oil like a sponge. So if you’re not careful you can end up with something mushy and oily.

In this recipe, to tackle the first challenge we lightly salt the raw eggplant slices and let them sit out for a while. The salt helps draw moisture out of the eggplant. To deal with the oil absorption issue, instead of frying the breaded eggplant slices, we bake them in the oven, before assembling the casserole to be baked again.

The result? Wonderful! Cheesy, tomato-y eggplant parmesan that doesn’t weigh you down with too much water or oil.

Recipe revised and updated. Originally posted in 2005. Inspired by a recipe in the New York Timesby chef Gabrielle Hamilton, recounting a recipe from her Italian ex-mother-in-law.

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

Yield: Serves 8

First cut the eggplant and salt the eggplant rounds. Then prep the rest of the ingredients while the eggplant rounds are releasing their moisture.

Ingredients 2 1/4 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 clove minced garlic (about 1 teaspoon) 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), tomatoes diced, reserve juices 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs 1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided 3/4 cup flour 4 eggs, beaten (more if needed) 1/4 cup olive oil (plus more to oil the sheet pans) 1 1/2 pounds fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/4-inch slices

Method

1 Slice the eggplants into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick rounds. Lay the eggplant slices out on a rack over a rimmed sheet pan (or on several layers of paper towels). Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant rounds lightly with salt. Let the eggplant rounds sit and release moisture for 2 hours.

2 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan on medium heat. Add the minced garlic and gently cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and their juices. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, lower heat to maintain a very low simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the minced basil and remove from heat.

3 Combine 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, and place in a shallow bowl or rimmed dish. Set up your station so that you have flour in one shallow bowl, beaten eggs in another bowl, and the breadcrumb cheese mixture in another, in that order.

4 Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spread a tablespoon of olive oil each over the bottom of two rimmed baking sheet pans. Pat dry the eggplant slices with paper towels. Working one at a time dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour, then dip in the beaten eggs, and then dredge in the breadcrumb parmesan cheese mixture. Place on oiled sheet pan. Drizzle a little oil over the top of each breaded eggplant round.

5 Place breaded prepared eggplant slices in the oven. Cook for 18 to 20 minutes, turning the slices over at the half-way point, until they are nicely browned. Remove from oven, and let cool to touch.

6 Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole dish. Place a third of the eggplant rounds in a single layer covering the sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Layer half of the sliced mozzarella on top of the eggplant rounds. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Place another third of the eggplant rounds over the cheese. Spread 1 cup of the sauce over the eggplant rounds. Layer the rest of the sliced mozzarella over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of grated Parm.

Add the remaining eggplant in a single layer on top of the cheese. Top with the remaining sauce and the remaining Parmesan.

7 Bake uncovered at 350°F for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into to serve.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

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Usually when we use canned tuna in a pasta dish, we use tuna packed in olive oil. It just disperses better in the sauce and is more intensely flavored. But today we had only albacore chunk tuna, so I added a little more olive oil to the sauce than I would have otherwise, and I added one minced anchovy. Anchovies are terrific for kicking a pasta sauce up a notch, and making dry tuna packed in water taste more like oil-packed.

Tuna Tomato Pasta with Olives Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Yield: Serves 4.

Prep the ingredients while the pasta water is heating. If you are subbing onions for the shallots, mince them and let them cook a few minutes before adding the garlic and red pepper flakes.

Ingredients 12 ounces shell pasta (conchiglie pasta) Salt for pasta water 5 Tbsp olive oil (or 3 Tbsp if you are using tuna packed in olive oil) 1/4 cup chopped shallots 2  teaspoons mince garlic 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2 5-ounce cans tuna 1 anchovy, minced (optional) 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

1 Bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil (add 1 Tbsp salt for every 2 quarts of water). While the water is heating, prep the ingredients and start the sauce.

2 Heat 3 Tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped shallots, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes at the same time to the pan. Let cook for about 30 seconds. Drain the canned tuna and add it to the pan. If you are using tuna packed in water and not olive oil, add 2 or 3 more Tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Break up any chunks of tuna with a fork or wooden spoon. Add minced anchovy if using. Let simmer for a minute.

3 Stir in the crushed tomatoes and olives. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to the lowest setting to gently cook while you cook the pasta.

4 Add dry pasta to the pot of boiling salted water. Cook uncovered at a vigorous full boil until al dente—cooked, but still a little firm to the bite, about 13-14 minutes.

5 Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce. Toss with chopped fresh parsley.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

Blogging is all about content, it’s all about writing. Yet it’s one of the things that most bloggers neglect and rarely try to improve. Truth being told, I’m more guilty than anyone else when it comes to taking time out to improve my writing.

A week or so ago there were a few comments left on some of the posts I wrote asking for me to improve my writing. More specifically, I was using the lowercase i instead of I in most of my posts and had not put apostrophes in certain words too.

With regards to the apostrophes, I hadn’t reread several posts I wrote as I simply did not have the time (I was travelling) and because of this, the post quality suffered a little. However, with regards to using the lowercase i, I’ve realised that this is a very bad habit of mine. When I’m writing posts I have to make a conscious effort to put the capital I in the sentence. I find it strange I have this habit because if I was writing something down on paper with a pen I would never use a lowercase i. I think I have contracted some sort of typing laziness disease!

I will be doing my utmost to improve my writing style however I would be grateful if readers had some patience with me, I did major in Mathematics after all!! We’re hardly known for our superior English skills

It can be difficult to see what aspect of your own writing needs improved so i recommend a few things.

I also encourage you all to subscribeto Daniel Scocco’s new blog Daily Writing Tips(online since May 2007). It’s a daily blog which concentrates on helping bloggers improve their blog writing and includes topics such as grammar, punctuation and spelling.

If you have any writing tips for your fellow bloggers please leave a message.

Thanks,
Kevin

Nowadays, more and more people have started buying online products. This not only saves them a lot of time, but also saves energy and gives them a lot of options to choose from. If you notice, the number of e-commerce stores started in the last 3 years is numerous. It is now, not a tough job to set up an eCommerce store onlineand start selling. If you are familiar with WordPress, you can instantly start your site. There are many free plugins that will help you in converting your WordPress site into an eCommerce store.

Here are 5 best WordPress plugins for an eCommerce site.

This is the best available eCommerce plug-in for WordPress. You can either use any of the pre-built themes or you can also build your own theme. This plug-in also supports multiple payment gateways including PayPal, Google Checkout, Authorize.net and even manual checks.  With more than a million downloads,  WP e-Commerce is the best free WordPress plugin to create an eCommerce store.

This is a free tool with a simple interface to use. You can show various shopping options on your site using this. eShop also supports multiple payment options and shipping options. It is very easy to add products and change the settings using eShop Plugin.

Ecwid is yet another free plug-in which can change your site into a commerce store. This plug-in gives you complete options of an eCommerce system including product categorization, shopping cart etc. You can completely customize this plugin and use it with different themes.

This is really a cool plugin to have on an eCommerce site. In just a few minutes, you can completely set up your store on WordPress and you can also categorize your products basing on categories. It is also very simple to add features and specifications to the product like S, M, L, XL… for clothing etc. This plugin also gives you some extra sidebar widgets which can make it easier to filter and search for your products.

Though this is a little plugin, it is a very powerful one. You can instantly put products on your site. It is so simple to use and you can put both the physical products, which are to be delivered and digital products, which can be downloaded after payment. This will also help you in showing different currency options which can help you in getting customers from other countries too.

This is a simple plugin that will add and display the user’s cart items in the sidebar. The user can instantly add any product to the cart or remove any of them. This makes it easier for checkout. The plug-in comes with PayPal integration by default.

This is a guest post by Koundeenya, a freelance writer and a blogger. I am a regular contributor to Crunchyhubwhere I write about Blogging, Technology, Programming, Social Media, and Make Money Online etc.

Okay. So standing on top of an unpredictable camel’s back is probably not the safest way to ride a camel, but it does make for a priceless photo opportunity!

To be honest, this unusual photowasn’t our idea (we’re assuming there are thousands of similar “original photos” out there). We didn’t believe it when our camel guide asked Nicole to stand on the camel’s back. We actually thought it was one of those “lost in translation” moments.

It wasn’t – he was serious!

It remains as one of our favourite photos from our day exploring the incredible wonder of the world. We were thankful that our camel guide showed us the best spots for taking photos, strategically eliminating the crowds and unattractive urban sprawl that surrounds the Great Pyramids of Giza.

It was well worth the extra couple dollars.

What’s your most memorable travel photo?
Share your story or link to photo in the comments section below!

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Apple Chutney Recipe

Ingredients

2 large tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Method

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover and simmer over low heat for a few minutes more to cook off excess liquid; let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 2 cups.

Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to the source recipe here on Simply Recipes. Thank you!

Recipe from Raley’s supermarket magazine.

Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, says there have been ‘positive discussions’ in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear programme. Photograph: Reuters

Philip Hammond was speaking as he left Vienna after four hours of talks with his American, European and Iranian counterparts.

The final round of talks over Iran’s nuclear programme began on Tuesday, looking to reach a deal under which Tehran would curb its nuclear work in exchange for a lifting of economically crippling sanctions.

The direction of the negotiations was in some confusion on Friday after Iranian officials announced that their foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, would be flying to Tehran for consultations, then said he would stay.

“It was decided he would go back, but then he changed his mind and he will stay here,” an Iranian official said, refusing to say whether the U-turn was a good or bad sign for a successful outcome. Other Iranian officials were quoted as saying Zarif would only fly to Tehran if presented with a significantly new offer at the talks.

A western diplomat described the mood on Friday as “sombre and serious” and said experts from both sides would stay in the Austrian capital over the weekend to examine the outstanding gaps “and see if they can be bridged”.

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, was due to fly to Paris on Friday evening, the state department said, as well as his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, while Hammond left for London.

“We have had a series of useful discussions,” Hammond said. “These are very complex issues and there is still a very significant gap between the parties. We’re all going to go away and have further technical discussions with our experts and we will resume again over the course of the weekend.”

A state department official said it had not been decided when Kerry would return to Vienna. Flying only as far as Paris allows him to return at short notice while continuing discussions with the French, who have been the most reluctant among the western nations at the talks to offer concessions to clinch a deal.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Kerry agreed extra efforts were needed to reach a deal by the self-imposed deadline of Monday, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“The sides did not rule out the possibility of holding a ministerial meeting of the parties to the talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, if the prospect for progress appears,” the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier, Hammond had told reporters: “It’s clear that both sides want to get a deal done. But none of us want to do a bad deal and we’re very clear we have to get more flexibility from the Iranians. In return, we’re prepared to show some flexibility on our side. But time is short.”

He added: “The prize for Iran is huge. Access to very large amounts of frozen assets, the ability to trade freely with the world again, and the ability to reset relationships with the international community, so there is a huge prize on the table for Iran.”

Fabius urged Iran to seize the opportunity for an agreement. A comprehensive deal would bring to an end a 12-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

It really wasn’t that big of a surprise to anyone working in or around Internet marketing, but when DigitalPlaceMarketing.com announced in a recent survey that half of all the adults in the United States owned a smartphone and another survey from ABI noted that 45% of that number were influenced by mobile apps to make a purchase, marketing ears everywhere perked up.

It was confirmation of what we’d all really suspected for some time—that mobile app marketing was the wave of the future. Now that’s not to say this isn’t just another one of the fads the Internet is so fond of—remember how video was going to replace text?—but there’s even more evidence mobile apps are going to take a big chuck of advertising dollars.

Consider some of the bigger firms that have found recent success with this technique. Domino’s Pizza has been on board since 2011, when they capitalized on the fact that most of their target market has smartphones and loves to play games with them. Domino’s Pizza Hero walks the players through all the steps of making one of the tasty treats and then offers the option of having the finished product delivered directly to their homes.

Zippo, the famous makers of lighters, should be seeing a decline in sales but in effect the opposite is true. The reason? While no one can put their finger on the real cause with any degree of certainty, a new app the company uses that allow people to order a lighter with a modern and/or vintage design is attracting a good buzz. The association with this mobile app is thought to be partially responsible for the surge in sales.

The majority of people who use these mobile phones are also app users and the smartest companies have found ways to engage their interest so that they can sell more units. Even though this is still a new industry, there are some ground rules already being laid out and first and foremost seems to be a movement toward keeping things simple.

Users need to be able to sort through all the products that are available on the parent site quickly and easily. Designing mobile apps that lead to mobile sites means incorporating good product filters.

Remember, these apps need to go somewhere as well and that means you need to make it clear what the call to action is and where you need users to go so that you can close the deal.