They say April is the cruelest month, but whoever said that hasn’t been to Calgary in February. Am I wrong? Yup, we’re looking forward to springing into something like, well, spring! But why stop there? Couldn’t you use a little spring party?

Seriously. Look around. Are happy faces staring back at you or are you looking at the faces of people clearly wearing their Christmas visa bills, months of darkness and the unending cold?  Couldn’t you use a mood lifter? We’re not talking about a blow out bash – just a game changer, a spring party that refreshes and pulls the team together. Let’s face it, no one works well when cabin fever has set in.

Round here, nothing says “spring party” like cheerful colours, flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables. In fact, our bodies have different needs as seasons change from one to the next. Lucky for you, spring recipes include such tasty items as fresh strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus and lamb – to name but a few mouth watering delicacies. So let’s get our spring on!

A spring party can be a great way to bust out the winter blahs and get your team motivated and feeling ready for new beginnings. Spring is, after all, a season of growth, renewal, and new potential. Why not show off these qualities with your spring event? And why not incorporate early spring foods to get your gang enervated and enthused?

Here’s something worth noting: Not only does your food taste better if you buy it in the season it’s best suited for, it also holds a higher nutrient content. When food is at its peak, it’s tastier and more nourishing.

Your event doesn’t have to be elaborate. But it does need to be thoughtful and uplifting. It shouldn’t take a lot of work for you or anyone else on staff and its goal should be to come away feeling refreshed. How’s this for easy? Have a beautiful lunch catered featuring early spring staples including crunchy fresh carrots, cherry tomatoes and blueberries.

Not only are all these spring veggies and fruits low in fat and calories, they’re a good source of dietary fiber and provide you and your team with extra energy. We could all use that right about now. Their high fiber content also helps fill the stomach faster limiting the total amount of food consumed. Oh, and they boost energy production within the muscle cells. This gives us a natural feeling of vitality and the energy to become more active helping to burn more energy each day. And served as, let’s say a lunch, a meal like this a great way to energize and vitalize a group for the rest of the afternoon.

Need another reason for a spring party? Take 10 per cent off your spring party lunch or breakfast. Smiling yet?

Good. Then let’s bask in the love a little longer, shall we? Here is a very special spring lamb recipe from Chef Tony from our table to yours….

Dijon Crusted Crown Roast of Lamb

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 x 8oz rack of New Zealand Lamb cleaned and frenched
butchers twine
1/4 cup grain mustard
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
12 dried mission figs

Method

1) Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
2) Assure all fat and silver skin are removed from lamb.
3) Season with salt and pepper.
4) Using your hands, rub grain mustard all over meat of the lamb.
5) Roll lamb rack inwards and tie secure. There should be a hollow cavity in the center.
6) Insert 6 mission figs into center of each crown roast.
7) Insert fresh sprig of rosemary into top of crown roast and mission figs.
Roast lamb for approximately 20 minutes for medium rare

An interesting trend is starting to emerge in weddings. Once strictly a bride’s domain, wedding planning is increasingly involving both the groom and bride. In fact, according to Bridal Guide Magazine, more than 80 per cent of grooms are involved to varying degrees in the planning of their weddings. That’s a significant shift from, say, your parents’ wedding.

And why not? Weddings are a HUGE amount of work – infinitely more work than most brides realize when they start down the path of wedding planning. If you’re doing it yourself, there is plenty of stress, er fun, to go around, meaning having a good, strong extra pair of hands to help may not just be a nice thing to have, it could be downright essential.

Besides, a wedding is about two people celebrating their new beginning together. It  may be your day, and of course you want it to be perfect, but here’s the thing – having him help with the planning doesn’t have to change any of that.  In fact, it could make your life a lot easier.

Planning a wedding is a lot like a marriage. It involves communication and compromise.

When a groom and bride co-plan a wedding, it’s important to determine right up front who is in charge of what tasks. You can decide by consensus (all choices must be co approved by both but are sourced by the one or the other) or by absolutes (the groom and  bride each have final say over their tasks).

As a rule, men are more interested in certain areas of wedding planning (hello food and music) and are often more than happy enough to stay well away from other areas (hello flowers and decors ).

Your groom may be passionate about a particular choice or direction regarding the wedding planning, and if that’s the case, you need to assess if taking it the direction you’d originally planned is really that important. That, really, is between the two of you – but even if you’re not crazy about his choices, do enjoy the fact that he wants to be part of the wedding and not just some guy who shows up on the big day in a tux with a ring.

Okay, sure, often enough the groom’s involvement in wedding planning has a lot to do with his type of personality. And there are guys out there who just don’t have the “wedding planner” gene. But even the ones who are ready to jump in are also willing to leave most final decisions to their future brides. Chances are, they have not grown up with the same expectations of what their wedding will be as you have – and they know that.

But there’s no reason why your groom shouldn’t have some fun too. In fact, a site called The Man Registry that launched a couple of years ago is getting a lot of buzz because it specializes in all things pertaining to grooms, including gifts for groomsmen, bachelor party planning and gifts that go beyond traditionally bride-centric gifts.

Whether it’s dessert choices or picking the first dance song, remember that a wedding is a wedding for two. No wedding is as beautiful as that of a a groom and bride who have worked together for a day that is special for everyone.   Pull off a great wedding day that reflects both of you as you’d like it to, and you’ve taken a great first step to a wonderful, long and happy life together.