Kijiji Calgary helps Newfoundlanders find Jiggs dinner

A couple of Newfoundlandersliving in Calgary had a real hankering for turkey, pease pudding andsalt meat.

Sothey went searching for it onKijiji, posting a want adtitled,'Newfie Lady To Cook Sunday Dinner.'

"Newfoundlandtradition,every Sunday we get together with the family, have turkey and all the fixings," saidJoel Whalen, who posted the ad with his three roommates.

"Just a great meal and a good opportunity to spend some time with your family," he told theCalgary Eyeopener on Wednesday.

Whalen said they would cook the meal themselves, but they're in the process of moving and their kitchen is not yet fully equipped.

'Mother hen' volunteers

Turns out there are plenty of people in Calgaryfrom"the rock" willing to cookwhat's known as aJiggs dinner for completestrangers.

Whalen says heeven received an offer for a free dinner, butdecided to go with one of the first people to respond to his ad.

"She seemed very excited to help us out."

Lacey Haskell, originally fromCorner Brook, said she wantsto help these guysout becauseshe's a "mother hen" and knows what it's like to miss Newfoundland.

"I remember when my fiancand I first moved here from Calgary, eight or nine years ago," said Haskell.

"You get here, you're kind of all alone, you feel all alone."

She says in the last few years, grocery stores in the city have started carrying thestaples needed to make a Jiggs dinner, with theexception ofsavoury fromMt. ScioFarm.

"Everytime we go home we stock up."

Haskell says she has a "freezer full of salt fish in her basement" and is plans to whip upthe dinner at her Calgary home on July 5.