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Let's watch one of the funniest Christmas fails ever, the artichoke fiasco on Canadian News

“I thought it smelled like a barn."

via Global News/YouTube

Newscasters can't stop laughing after trying Leslie Horton's awful artichoke dip.

Eight years ago, Calgary traffic reporter Leslie Horton unleashed one of the most disgusting concoctions ever tasted on live television, and people still can’t get enough of the hilarious video. The team at Global News Calgary was sharing holiday recipes and Horton wanted to bring a fruitcake from a local supermarket, but her sister had a killer artichoke dip that she begged the reporter to make.

What could go wrong with a reliable artichoke dip recipe? A lot, evidently. “It didn’t work out. I’m telling you right now, this did not work out,” Horton admitted while presenting the dip to meteorologist Jordan Witzel and anchors Scott Fee and Amber Schinkel. “I thought it smelled like a barn,” Fee said. “Is it edible?” The crazy thing is that although they were warned about the dip, Schinkel and Witzel still had a taste.

Witzel was brave enough to eat it on a cracker and immediately regretted it. "It's not that bad. It's — the vinegar," he said before spitting it up in a napkin. Schinkel thought the same thing: “That’s like all that I can taste is vinegar,” she laughed. “It burns.” But the funny thing is that Horton swore there wasn’t any vinegar in the recipe. So, where did the strange taste come from?

Horton was utterly puzzled that the artichoke dip didn't taste right. "Do you think something is off? Like, maybe do you think the artichokes are off? Well, ok, I didn't have a lemon, so I just cut up an orange and put that in there. And then, I didn't know what spices to put in, so I put celery salt and oregano in it," she said while holding back her laughter.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Later, Horton admitted why the artichoke dip had such a strong vinegar taste. She used marinated artichokes instead of fresh artichokes. Marinated artichokes are usually made with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, herbs like oregano and thyme, salt, pepper, and sometimes a splash of vinegar; hence the strong taste.

Apparently the key is to NOT use pickled artichokes!! @MoonLghtwrkrs
— Leslie Horton (@global_leslie) December 16, 2016

“It was just another kitchen experiment gone wrong for me, but this time my co-workers were unfortunately subject to my free-wheeling in the kitchen,” Horton later wrote on Twitter. She also noted that she brought the dip to a work potluck, but nobody touched it.

At a Christmas party....everyone keeps pointing out this artichoke dip.... I wonder why!?!? 😆😉 pic.twitter.com/0J5J7CYNdg
— Leslie Horton (@global_leslie) December 18, 2016

After the video was posted on YouTube, it quickly went viral. Since being posted in 2016, it has 22 million views. Horton said it was “an honest moment of good fun, caught on live TV,” she told Global News. “My co-workers’ reactions were priceless. We all have fails, and viewers like to know their morning team is just like them.”

Here’s the correct artichoke dip recipe that Horton swears is delicious.

2 cans artichokes drained and chopped

1 can chopped green chilies drained

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

½ freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese

½ to ¾ cup Mayo

Combine all ingredients and cook in oven until hot and bubbly. Serve with crackers and veggies.

From Your Site Articles

comedy

Education

Student flies 400 miles to college twice a week because it's cheaper than renting

We're living in strange economic times.

Photo by Bambi Corro on Unsplash

Can flying to college twice a week really be cheaper than renting?

Some students choose to live at home while they go to college to save money on living expenses, but that's generally only an option for families who live in college towns or cities with large universities where a student can easily commute.

For University of British Columbia student Tim Chen, that "easy commute" is more than 400 miles each way.

Twice a week, Chen hops on a flight from his home city of Calgary, flies a little more than an hour to Vancouver to attend his classes, then flies back home the same night. And though it's hard to believe, this routine actually saves him approximately $1,000 a month.

How does that math work? Well, each round trip flight costs around $150, so twice a week puts him at $1,200 a month for flights. Meanwhile, according to CTV, rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is around $2,100 (though according to reporting in the Vancouver Sun, the average 1-bedroom apartment has actually hit a whopping $3,000 a month). Chen had actually been living in Vancouver previously, but gave up his rental when he went on vacation. When he returned, the price on the place he'd been renting had gone up to $2,500.

"I thought, why don't I just stay at Calgary and then just fly here, it’s like a one-hour flight, that’s like the same as taking a bus,” he told CTV.

Chen lives with his parents in Calgary and only pays a small amount for utilities, so despite the cost of flights, commuting by plane is ultimately far cheaper than living in Vancouver.

Plus, imagine how many frequent flier miles he's racking up.

— (@)

Chen is not the first student to commute to college by commercial airplane. An engineering student who was accepted to a one-year master's program at University of California, Berkeley, flew to school from Los Angeles, where he had an affordable place to live and where he planned to return when his program was finished. Once he crunched the numbers, he realized it would actually save him money to commute by plane to the Bay area and take the train from the airport to campus three times a week rather than live in Berkeley.

In all, that student spent $5592.66 over the 10 months it took him to complete his program, which was less than what he would have paid for just two months living in Berkeley.

We're living in some strange economic times, where people are having to get creative about where and how they live. Some people have discovered that unconventional lifestyles, such as living on a cruise ship, in vacation rentals or at an all-inclusive resort can be less expensive—or just as expensive—as traditional rent or mortgage payments (plus relevant living expenses). And now that more people are able to work remotely—one of the few positives to come out of the pandemic—such alternatives are more doable than ever.

Of course, the "time is money"consideration is real, and the hassle of going to the airport twice a week in the morning and evening like Tim Chen does might not be worth it for some people. But with rent prices nearly 30% higher than they were before the pandemic, more people are in need of creative solutions to cost-of-living conundrums.

Even if that means living at home and hopping a flight to school several hundred miles awaay.

From Your Site Articles

economy

Culture

Someone placed funny, fake historic plaques on park benches around this Canadian city

via City of Calgary

Graffiti is an underground form of expression that can be seen as anything from criminal destruction of property to art. Most of the time that depends on whether it was your wall that was defaced.

While most graffiti is painted over, some of it is so powerful that it becomes a beloved part of the community. Many of street artist Banksy's pieces are still up and have become popular landmarks throughout the world.

But what about little nuggets of fake history placed on park benches around Canada? Where do we sign up?

— (@)

An anonymous person in Calgary, Canada has made such lovable pieces of illegal art that after the city tore them down, public outcry made them put them back up.

Recently, six signs appeared attached to ark benches at Bowmont Park that hilariously commemorated events that never happened.

"Humans first invented fire right here, 1903."

"Nothing of note happened here — or at least that is what they want you to believe."

"The bench marks the farthest west that Christopher Columbus ever travelled. September 1494."

"At this date in 1806, explorer David Thompson forded the Bow River with a herd of 14 African elephants."

"Benjy, the first hamster to fly solo around the world, took off from this spot in 1937."

"This bench marks the first confirmed UFO landing in Calgary, 1963."

via City of Calgary

Unfortunately, after a few days, they were removed by the city. But local residents loved the signs so much they demanded they be reattached to the benches. The city agreed they were being a bit too harsh and decided they should go back up.

(Isn't the good-natured common sense of Canadians amazing? Imagine that happening in America.)

— (@)

"Due to our policy around commemorative plaques and graffiti, we removed them," the City of Calgary tweeted on Wednesday. "But we heard from Calgarians that you loved the sayings and you wanted them to stay.

"As the city, we have to err on the side of caution — but in this case, it was a bit too cautious," the statement continued. "Listening to what's important to Calgarians is part of our job. If we can make changes for a better outcome, that's what we'll do."

The city's decision was backed up by the mayor who believes we need all the opportunities to smile that we can get in 2020.

"We need a bit of whimsy in our 2020 world and certainly at the city we encourage citizens to do a little bit of guerrilla art and a little bit of fun things to make their neighbors smile," Mayor, Naheen Nenshi told the CBC.

The mayor also said that the bench plaques' professional quality and wholesome humor were the big reason they were reattached to the benches.

"The news out there is tough," said the mayor. "So a little plaque about a flying hamster is a perfect way to kick off our Thanksgiving and I'm grateful for the vandal that put these plaques up."

It's the small things in life that can turn a run-of-the-mill park into a place that helps define the attitude of a community. Whomever the artists who put those up happens to be, you know what needs to happen now.

Get out your engraving kit and get to work on some more plaques.

From Your Site Articles

A generous photographer braved negative temperatures to take these free holiday portraits.

A severe oil price crash in Alberta, Canada, has left much of the area devastated — and at the worst possible time too.

The Calgary skyline. David Boily/AFP/Getty Images

One of Canada's largest oil and gas hubs, Alberta, and specifically the city of Calgary, has been hit hard by major price drops this year. Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off as a result; upwards of 30,000 by some estimates.

That's not the kind of news anyone wants to hear during the holiday season.

Photographer Ben Logan, a longtime resident of the area, wanted to find a way to give back to the city he loves.

"I've always enjoyed doing what I can for others," he says. "But volunteering at certain places didn't seem like it was enough right now."

So, with the help of his girlfriend, Logan had an idea: free holiday photos for families who might otherwise not be able to afford them.

"We thought we'd pick a spot somewhere, set up the camera, put up a sign," Logan says. "Just see who would come by and pick their day up a bit with a free photo."

He says there's something lovably cheesy and timeless about holiday photos and that even a relatively simple shoot with a professional photographer is more than most people can afford these days.

Initially, Logan prepared for only a handful of families to show. But news of the event quickly spread on social media and local news. Soon, he was prepping for over 1,000 people to show up.

Logan set up shop at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary on an icy December Saturday, and he waited.

The city was blasted with frigid temperatures that day, as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather, needless to say, put a serious damper on attendance. But it wasn't long before the first families started showing up — below freezing temperates be damned.

The first couple to arrive was bundled head to toe in winter gear. When they stripped down, they showed off sharp dress clothes for a (very) quick photo.

All photos by Ben Logan, used with permission

Others soon followed. Families with giggling kids. Couples in love.

People from all walks of life.

Logan says one man, in particular, stood out in his memory.

The man didn't hear about the photo shoot in advance, he just happened to be passing through. He's currently homeless and had traveled nearly 1,000 miles from Vancouver to see his dying mother.

"While he was walking around, he saw us and was able to capture a Christmas photo for her before she left us," Logan says. "That was pretty touching."

Though only a handful of families were able to brave the breathtakingly low temperatures, the event was a massive success.

Logan says when news began to spread about the photo shoot, a handful of local businesses decided to chip in: They donated a significant sum of money specifically for Logan to give to the Calgary Food Bank in the name of his project.

Logan will be out there at Olympic Plaza again, before Christmas, and he hopes for warmer weather this time. And either way, he plans to do the whole thing again next year. And every year after that.

"That was the dream behind it all," he says. "I would really, really love to do that."

Hopefully, things will have turned around for the citizens of Calgary by this time next year. But if they don't, Logan says he's ready and eager to spread holiday cheer to people when they need it the most.

We have a small favor to ask of you

calgary

“I thought it smelled like a barn."

We're living in strange economic times.

A severe oil price crash in Alberta, Canada, has left much of the area devastated — and at the worst possible time too.

So, with the help of his girlfriend, Logan had an idea: free holiday photos for families who might otherwise not be able to afford them.

Logan set up shop at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary on an icy December Saturday, and he waited.

The first couple to arrive was bundled head to toe in winter gear. When they stripped down, they showed off sharp dress clothes for a (very) quick photo.

Others soon followed. Families with giggling kids. Couples in love.

People from all walks of life.

Logan says one man, in particular, stood out in his memory.

Though only a handful of families were able to brave the breathtakingly low temperatures, the event was a massive success.