It’s hard to sum up Christmas in November better than Jennifer Hamilton, a Calgarian who spent last weekend in Jasper taking in the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge’s signature event.
“We didn’t learn much about cooking, but we had lots of fun.”
Hamilton, along with hundreds of guests, spent the weekend frolicking through the lodge, attending workshops from some of the hottest celebrity chefs and Food Network stars of today.
The event, which is in its 26th year, is billed as an opportunity to bask in a holiday atmosphere and learn new Christmas recipes and decorating ideas from celebrity chefs and designers.
“The spirit of Christmas in November is to get people in the spirit of Christmas and to get them to learn,” explained Markus Treppenhauer, general manager of the lodge.
Over the decades, it has evolved from a small gathering to the week-long, celebrity-studded event it is today.
In the afternoon on Nov. 8, wine and food flowed freely as the approximately 500 guests wandered from workshop to workshop, sometimes picking up useful Christmas cooking tips, other times just watching the spectacle unfold.
Talk to just about anyone at Christmas in November, and they will rave about how much fun they’re having. Most say they have been returning for years, and talk about it as one of the highlights of their year.
“You only come once and you’re a regular,” Edmontonian Carol Bigam explained, with a huge grin on her face.
“It’s cool how the group all kind of comes together, and everybody’s all kind of friendly with each other,” Hamilton, the CIN rookie, explained.
That atmosphere is fostered largely by the presenters, who banter back and forth in a good-natured competition that manifests in sing-offs through the hotel walls and insults shouted from room to room.
At Lynn Crawford’s 1:30 p.m. workshop, for example, the host of the popular Food Network Canada show Pitchin’ In blasted Pharrell’s “Happy”, while cajoling audience members to sing and dance.
In the next room, Corbin Tomnaszeski’s workshop boomed out Queen hits in an attempt to top the fun happening in the room next door.
Crawford’s workshop was ostensibly a chance to watch her demonstrate some of her signature recipes.
“There’s recipes in the booklet,” Crawford told the crowd, and after a beat added “we’re not doing those.”
“If you think you’re going to rein Crawford in ... I’m like one of those wild elk out there,” she continued, as the crowd whooped in appreciation.
What she did do was host several competitions, pitting audience members against one another to see who could make the longest pasta noodle or best holiday cocktail.
No one seemed to mind.
During the cocktail competition, one contestant accidentally tore a limb off of the plastic deer decorating Crawford’s temporary kitchen. Her competitor lost control of her drink shaker, soaking an unsuspecting assistant in carrot-ginger booze in the process.
The mix-off ended with the two audience judges linking arms and chugging the rum-filled concoction from each other’s glasses.
“At this point we have to crown a winner, and the winner gets to take home the maimed reindeer,” Crawford shouted to the crowd, as she paced back and forth at the front of the room.
Later, as “Jumping Jack Flash” blared from the speakers, dozens of audience members stepped to the front to see who could make the longest pasta noodle.
Just as the contest ended, Tomnaszeski, leading a pack of participants from his workshop, marched into the room waving spoons and clapping. After disrupting things for about 60 seconds, they turned tail and marched right back out.
“Bye Corbin, I love you. Corbin, I love you. Bye,” Crawford yelled into the mic as the chef and his entourage marched out.
After the music died down and the giant noodles were put away, attendants cleaned up the aftermath of their fun-filled hour. A lineup snaked around the edge of the room, full of delighted guests waiting for Crawford to sign copies of her book.
The rest of the guests filed out of the room, many sporting beaming smiles, eagerly anticipating their next workshop.
Trevor Nichols
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