34 posts tagged “canada”

Been busy with other stuff tonight and I just realized the time. I'll have to use my car post as my Nablo of the day. Back to quasi-theme posts tomorrow. By the way, there are still a few post suggestions given in a previous post that I can use, but feel free to throw more at me if you wish.

Given that this is Remembrance Day, let me leave you with this video from Veterans' Affairs Canada.

Hmmm, sorry, vox's video thingy isn't working. Please go here.

Nablo1109

Thanks to Tom for making me think to check out someecards for this auspicious occasion.

This drives me nuts, and I came across it again today. Someone (coughAmericancough) online will mention Canada Day. Another someone (hackAmericanhack) will not know what CD is. First Someone says something along the lines of "it's like our 4th". Ummm, hello. It's called a birthday. July 4th is the US's birthday. July 1st is Canada's birthday. Of course, I've also heard the following, when a someone uses the words "Canada's birthday": "Canada has a birthday"? And then follows it with "like our 4th"? GAH! Don't get me started on the someones who don't know we have Easter and Christmas, too.

Should I have known what an ookpik is? Thanks for pointing out my apparent non-Canadian-ness, savage chickens. I'm gonna have to go cry into a maple leaf now.

Chickenookpik

More on the heels of my post last night.

Sometimes I hate that I pay so much attention to the news - I just get myself all riled up. What a crock.

If you could see any movie, tv show, play or sporting event "on ice," what would you choose to see performed on ice skates?

Definition

prorogue this

Funny-pictures-cat-tells-you-to-kiss-his-bottom

4 comments

CBC.ca explores what is considered quintessentially Canadian cuisine. After this opening paragraph, I'm copying right from the feature, unless you see pink italics. There is too much information there to include all of it. I recommend going through it as there is some really interesting information along the different tabs of each page of the feature.

 - Canada's native people have heavily influenced this nation's cuisine. There's pemmican (dried meat mixture), buffalo meat, wild turnips and wild rice to name a few. Some original native recipes include roast polar bear, boiled reindeer, sweet pickled beaver, squirrel fricassee, fried woodchuck, stuffed whale breast, steamed muskrat, boiled caribou hoofs and baked skunk. I only included this last sentence so that I could use the phrase "sweet pickled beaver".

 - Ordering the Winnipeg goldeye and the tourtière with a side of poutine followed by Nanaimo bars for dessert will probably get you blank stares south of the border. But here in Canada, it will produce a fine meal of smoked fish, meat pies, fries with cheese curds and gravy, and layered chocolate buttercream squares. I can't even say "Nanaimo squares" without drooling.

 - In many ways maple syrup is synonymous with Canada. Canada has been a leading producer of the golden liquid ever since the native people first taught settlers how to tap maple trees and boil down the sap. Canada produces about 85 per cent of the world's maple syrup. During the spring, the maple sugaring season, an average tree produces between 35 to 50 litres of sap, which will produce between one to 1.5 litres of maple syrup. I've heard this last fact before, but it still amazes me how much it takes to produce so little.

 - It's Quebec's gastronomic contribution to Canadian cuisine: poutine. The holy trinity of fries, gravy and cheese curds has come to represent fast food at its finest or, as some may argue, at its worst. Today poutine is available in some of Canada finest restaurants. High-end versions of poutine use rendered duck skin, goat cheese and even foie gras. Rendered duck skin???

 - "It's a nice little tart without much pedigree but I know you'll be amused by its lack of pretension," is how artist Charles Pachter remembers one particular butter tart. Canadians are serious about the pastry, which dates back to the turn of the century. The butter tart has become part of the national psyche. It's also one of the few genuine Canadian recipes that exists. There are many variations on the butter tart and serious debates have been waged over what makes a proper butter tart. The seemingly innocuous question of adding raisins to the butter, sugar and egg mixture gets Canadians hot under the collar. I'm not a fan of butter tarts, but I give a hearty thumbs up to the pooh poohing of raisins, the devil's candy.

 - Spring in Eastern Canada means picking fiddleheads. The deep green plant is an edible wild fern that resembles the spiral end of a fiddle, hence the name. The native people introduced fiddleheads to the settlers and they have become a popular delicacy, particularly in the Maritimes. The fiddlehead fern, which tastes like a cross between asparagus, green bean and okra, is an annual industry worth $2 million in New Brunswick alone. There are a lot of vegetables of which I am not fond, but I seem to enjoy those that regular veggie eaters almost spurn. The fiddlehead is one of those.

 - There are more doughnut shops per capita in Canada than anywhere else on the planet. Canadians eat more doughnuts than any other country's citizens. Although the doughnut is often seen as an American icon, it has become Canada's unofficial national snack. The popularity of the deep fried treats has to do with Canada's love affair with coffee. Coffee and doughnuts go hand in hand. And since coffee is Canada's number one beverage, its partner in crime, the humble doughnut, ranks up there in popularity. Hey, IG, you've mentioned moving to Canada before. What more do you need? You will have to learn to spell it properly, though.

BobnDougMenu

Nablo1108.120x240

Beavers back in Britain (what does Canada get in return? A bunch of snakes?)

Nablo1108.120x240

Canada signs free trade agreement with Colombia (I'm sure the story isn't nearly as interesting as the title - I'm just linking in case anyone is actually interested in reading it)

Nablo1108.120x240