A few months ago, I received a phone call from a dad who’s girl was going through cancer for the second time. She had just turned 15 and was put on heavier medications to try to get rid of the cancer. As a result, she lost her hair and her will to live. She quit school, would not see any of her friends, cancelled a planned family vacation, and wouldn’t even leave the house. At one point she told her mom and dad that she was going to quit the chemotherapy and she didn’t care if she died. Absolutely distraught, her parents went to speak to Dan Mornar at B.C. Children’s Hospital. Dan told them of the Wigs for Kids program and they convinced their daughter to go down to Eva & Co. Wigs and see about getting a wig. The great people at Eva’s showed her different styles and textures and colours of hair and they came up with something she was pleased with. Eva’s told her that they would rush the making of the wig and she would have it within the week. Her dad said from that point on she was a different girl. She went back to school, went out with friends and even attended our last Wigs for Kids event. He just wanted to call and tell us that of all the wonderful things that B.C. Children’s Hospital did for his daughter, the wig had the greatest impact on her life.” - Bev Friesen

This true story shows just how important small things are in a child’s life. On March 29th, 2008, Bev Friesen and her friends will be hosting the 3rd annual Wigs for Kids silent auction at the Steveston Community Centre. Thanks to the generosity of many individuals and businesses, $70,000 was raised last year for the program which benefits kids from all over the province who have lost their hair to cancer or other serious illnesses. This year, they are looking for more donations to further this worthy cause. To find out how you or your business can help make a tremendous difference in a child’s life, please read on… Get the whole story

What appears on the wine label counts. You can learn a lot about a wine before you buy. The trick is to know what’s worth reading. Wine label literacy can go a long way to increasing wine enjoyment and decreasing buyer remorse.

James Nevison & Kenji Hodgson
Co-authors, “Had a Glass” Annual Series

Get the whole story

Wall•E, my new favourite robot of all time, has a girlfriend! OK, I admit it. I am a total sucker for Disney animated movies. And I’m obsessed with robots. So this is a perfect combination in my books, no matter what the story. When I saw the first teaser for Wall•E, right before Remy the rat-chef proved that anyone can cook, I was sold…and that trailer told us nothing about the story! With this new one, I can honestly say “to hell with Batman and Indiana Jones.” How the geniuses at Disney are able to make a boxy robot cute is beyond me, but then again they made Remy act both like a rat and a human at the same time so…

I wonder when they’ll start selling Wall•E model kits…

Had I lived in the 50’s, I woulda had to spend hours at the salon, exposed myself to toxic fumes, and given up my first born all in the name of gorgeous, completely unnatural looking hair. Flash me back to the present however and you’ve got Clairol’s Perfect 10 by Nice ‘n Easy claiming to give the natural colour I crave for $15.99 Cdn and a mere ten minutes of my time. Toss in the assurance that I won’t be falling into a chemically induced coma and I’m sold! But this one I had to see to believe. What have the scientists at Clairol come up with now? To find out, I put Perfect 10 to the test.

Read on to get The Goods on Perfect 10! Get the whole story

1. Pride
2. Envy
3. Gluttony
4. Lust
5. Anger
6. Greed
7. Sloth

Unchanged for 1,500 years, this list was due for an update. Considering only 40% of Catholics in Italy even make it to confession these days, the Vatican has finally realized that maybe, just maybe times have changed.

Wait just a minute though. Don’t think for a minute that this gets you off the hook. We’re not talking about replacing the old list. No folks, this is a whole new set of deadly sins to add to your worries. Why? Cause according to Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, there’s a “decreasing sense of sin,” in the modern globalized world (ya think?) and in order to address the “rather individualistic dimension” of the old set of sins, “the sins of today have a social resonance as well…”

Can you guess what the seven new deadly sins are?

To avoid your one-way ticket to hell, read on!
Note: IMPORTANT UPDATE at the end of this article… Get the whole story

Reena’s Tip of the Week:

Are you allergic to eggs or on a vegan diet?

No problem! Here’s a substitution solution to the all important baking ingredient: eggs

For the magic recipe, read on! Get the whole story

From the Mailbox:

In regards to washing blue jeans with vinegar so they do not fade, can you please outline how this is done? How much vinegar do you add to your washing machine or do you soak the jeans in a pail of water? Any help you can give me regarding washing clothes and not losing their colour I would appreciate.

Helen from Mildmay, Ontario

For Reena’s answer, read on! Get the whole story

Vaid‘s Verdict: Unless you’re an ardent fan of the history of climatology, I suggest waiting until this is turned into a Discovery Channel special presentation.

Brian Fagan had a brilliant idea. But you don’t necessarily want to read about it. The Great Warming is a fairly long winded book on how global warming a thousand years ago, called The Medieval Warm Period, caused some empires to flourish and others to crumble. The Great Warming goes on to explain how this rise in temperature is being mirrored today and what we, the global warming enthusiasts, can learn from that history. Yes, it’s interesting and I’m sure within the hallowed circle of climatologists, it’s a breakthrough idea. For you and I however, it’s a bit like having to sit through an elective class in ‘Wind Patterns Over the Prairies’. Get the whole story

In a world saturated with less-than-original and often downright crappy campaign ads, it’s always nice to see someone do something different. Leave it to actor Jack Nicholson to come up with a whole new concept: Use clips from your old movies to convey the message. And it works!

Although Nicholson made his endorsement public back on February 4th, this YouTube video was only released last Friday (February 29th).

Trivia: Can you correctly name all the movies that the clips are derived from? Leave us your answers in the comments!

Get the whole story

Meatless burgers and Tofurky freak me out. So when presented with the prospect of trying something that both looked and tasted like peanut butter, but had not seen a trace of nuts for miles, I was a little weary.

Totally NutFree’s new FreeNut Butter is an all natural, Canadian made, soy butter. They’re marketing this product towards people with nut allergies, vegetarians and vegans, and most of all, people who are health conscious. It has the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Health Check symbol on the jar and every piece of marketing material they supply boasts how much better it is for you than regular peanut butter.

So let’s get on with first impressions. FreeNut Butter? Seriously? I understand what the company is going for with this name (it SOUNDS just like PEAnut butter, this is perfect!) but yet, when I gave the name to three guys, it was met with a barrage of laughter and a few “Are you serious?” type questions.

Moving right past the name however (cause really, it ain’t gonna change any time soon), I went ahead and tried it. Opened the jar…good sign, a freshness seal. Thought:

Sometimes I think this is just used for effect, cause frankly, if you make a product that can sit on the shelf for years before it expires, what level of freshness can there possibly be? But I digress.

With the freshness seal intact, I proceeded to peel it back and smell the FreeNut goodness. Looks like peanut butter. Smells like peanut butter. Now for the crucial taste test:

Hmmmm. Not so much.

While it tasted similar to peanut butter, it just wasn’t the real thing. The texture was actually stickier than peanut butter if you can believe it, and there was a slight aftertaste that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. After visiting the website and seeing that the company claims the product to be free of bitter and musty aromas (I should hope so…), but then says that the product has bitter and musty flavours (excuse me?!), I suppose this funny aftertaste was explained.

But wait…there probably aren’t a whole lot of people out there who sneak a spoonful of straight PB while their mom isn’t looking right? Better try the more conventional, FreeNut Butter on toast.

I have to say, it wasn’t half bad. I had some toast and FreeNut Butter for breakfast this morning and I was impressed. The funny aftertaste was gone and it tasted more like peanut butter than it did when I ate the forbidden spoonful. Score one for FreeNuts!

For someone who hasn’t tasted peanut butter in a while (i.e. people with nut allergies or vegetarians/vegans), this seems to be a great alternative. It tastes close enough to peanut butter that those who don’t know any better would likely be fooled. For someone who knows and loves a good PB&J sandwich on a Saturday afternoon however, sorry folks, this just won’t do it for ya. Considering the premiums one usually pays for healthier products, it just wouldn’t be worth it to me to have the seemingly healthier FreeNut Butter on my kitchen shelves.

So, the verdict is in. I would highly recommend Totally NutFree’s FreeNut Butter to anyone I know who is allergic to, or against eating, nuts.

For this tough nut with a discerning palette however, I say pass me the Skippy!

Next week, Stasia‘s got The Goods on Clairol’s Perfect 10 by Nice ‘n Easy!