Go for the Gold! Our Canada Proves That Dreams Really Can Come True Our Canada is celebrating the Olympics in Canada by featuring one special Canadian Olympian in A Child’s Olympic Dream. At age nine, Kelly VanderBeek fell in love with ski racing and set her heart on competing in the Olympics. At age 14, she won every qualifying race at Mont Tremblant, QC in order to represent Canada at the World Under 14 Championships in Topolino, Italy. And in 2006, her Olympic dream came true when she was able to compete in the 2006 Olympics in Torino, finishing fourth-place in the Super G event. This year, Kelly is preparing for her second Olympics, in Canada – the icing on the cake. Written by Kelly’s Mom, this inspiring story is about living for your dreams and never giving up! Just like Kelly, many Canadian kids dream big, and a lot of these dreams start in your local arena. Hockey Town tells the tales of the sights, sounds and goings-on at the local arena, a place where communities come together across Canada. It’s in this place that kids dream of being an NHL player or the next figure skating star, while parents volunteer to sell 50/50 tickets, coach teams and run the score clock. It takes an entire community to run a small-town rink and everyone comes out to support local teams, catch up on the latest local news or spend quality time with Mom and Dad. This story is sure to bring back memories of your own hometown arena. Also in this issue, we want to thank Canadians for participating in our Great Canadian Pancake Recipe Contest! Thanks to Burnbrae Farms and Naturegg for sponsoring this great contest, we received a fantastic response of unique and mouthwatering recipes. Next is the hardest part - our panel of judges will be narrowing down the entries and posting these recipes online. Then it’s Canada’s turn – head to www.ourcanada.ca to see the finalists, try out the recipes and vote for your favourite pancakes! The December/January issue is also bringing you the winners of our 2009 Celebrating Canada Photo Contest! This annual contest always brings in wonderful photos of landscapes, people and wildlife. Share in our congratulation of the winners and see their captivating photos. Our Canada is always full of fabulous user-generated content, and continues to create a great community online at www.ourcanada.ca. Chat with fellow Canadians about your holiday plans, share your favourite winter photos or vote on our contest nominees. Post your comments, share your photos, and enter our fabulous contests all online today!

Tempt Your Palate with Something New! More of Our Canada explores Tex-Mex, bananas, and sugaring time The Hungry Italian Sandro Lisi returns with the popular Food For Thought! This month, he features authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. After an inspirational visit to the Mayan Coast in Mexico, Sandro has brought back some delicioso recipes! From “Guacamole with a Kick” to “Shrimp and Scallop Enchiladas”, Sandro gives great tips on how to lighten up your favourite Mexican dishes – while keeping them tasty and healthy. If you’d prefer some authentic Canadian cuisine, The Sweetest Time of Year features Crystal Spring Farms in Quebec just before sugaring time! Canada produces 85% of the world’s maple syrup, and 90% of that comes from Quebec. Learn about the festive sugaring off and how the technology has changed. A Dream with a Peel features another Quebec product – bananas! While this may sound outlandish, one couple has done it. Since 1987 they have been nourishing banana trees and in the summer of 2005, they finally tasted the firm and sweet fruits directly from their backyard! As always, More of Our Canada features amazing cities and towns across Canada. In this issue, British Columbia is highlighted, featuring Vancouver’s Chinatown, the symbols of the province, and Kootenay Lake. It also includes the best places to visit, such as Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Back to Barrie tells the story of one man who grew up in Barrie, ON and returned to the town after 18 years living in the city. He shows off the highlights and the changes in this hometown story. Another small town is featured in Moments in Time. Olde Sandwich Towne is the oldest part of Windsor, ON, and is filled with murals to raise awareness of the town’s rich historical past. One of the oldest continuous European settlements in Ontario, it’s filled with relics from the past! More of Our Canada is full of wonderful reader-driven content, with stories and photos that capture the essence of what makes our nation great. This month we’re calling for your best pet photos and stories. We also want to hear about your favourite train trip, or one that went off track! Visit us online at www.ourcanada.ca and tell us your story.  Reader’s Digest is a leading Canadian multi-brand media and marketing company that educates, entertains and connects audiences throughout Canada.  It publishes five magazines, including Reader’s Digest and Sélection, Canada's most read magazines with 7.8 million readers a month. It has recently launched Best Health, a healthy lifestyle magazine for Canadian women and More of Our Canada, a companion magazine to the very popular Our Canada magazine. It operates four branded websites (rd.ca, selection.ca, ourcanada.ca and besthealthmag.ca) along with being a premier publisher of books, music and video products.