Sean was making a shopping list for groceries. Then this conversation happened:
Me: “You wanted yoghurt. Is that on your list?”
Sean: “Yes.”
Jenn: “Do you have enough granola for your yoghurt?”
Sean: “We have that coming out of our wazoo…”
Me: “Is that what that was?”
Jenn: “Wazoo flavoured granola…”
Me: “What other flavour could you want?”
Port Dalhousie sits on Lake Ontario near St Catherine’s, Ontario. It’s a gorgeous place with a beautiful beach, marina and waterfront area that boasts not one, but two, lighthouses. It also has a carousel with a calliope!
We visited fairly late in the afternoon, so the carousel was closed, but we walked along the pier in golden autumn sunshine and watched the sailboats, fishermen in small boats, and windsurfers enjoying the beautiful weather.
My first impression walking along the pier was that the waterway and marina reminded me a lot of Port Fairy in Victoria, Australia, not far from Warrnambool, where I work. It’s another very pretty spot with a marina on the moth of the Moyne River that I have blogged about before.
After walking along the pier, we sat on the beach and had the most Canadian of sandwiches: crusty white bread, old cheddar and Montreal smoked beef with mustard. Those sandwiches were incredibly good.
Our picnic was also attended by a lone seagull and a very attentive wasp. Thankfully, we did not provide any food for either one of them.
Having just finished winter in south-eastern Australia, this was my first opportunity to enjoy time on a beach. It felt so good to get my bare feet in the warm sand and squidge it between my toes. That’s one of the things I love about summer afternoons, even though I don’t really like hot weather. Yesterday’s 23C was just perfect for a beach picnic.
Driving out, we passed some lovely pubs and shops that I would love to go and visit sometime. A very old brick building serves as a coffee house that looked incredibly inviting.
I am already thinking that I’m going to have to make another trip to Canada.
Damn. That’s just heartbreaking.
Yesterday’s lunch was loaded fries: fries topped with chili con carne, cheese, sour cream, and shallots.
These were totally worth the $10 I paid for them. The fries were fresh and hot, the chili was just spicy enough, the cheese got all melty, and it was frickin’ delicious. I also didn’t need to eat for the rest of the day.
Yesterday, I encountered yet another food item that I had never seen before.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that I may lead something of a sheltered life when it comes to frozen drinks, but the blue raspberry slushie was entirely new to me.
It’s vivid blue. It tastes like raspberry cordial. It’s semi-frozen. As weird as it looks and sounds, it’s delicious and refreshing. I was so surprised, I forgot to take a picture for Instagram.
I don’t know if I could drink a whole one, given that it’s ridiculously sweet, but another warm day could easily induce me to try.
This is not my photograph. I borrowed it via Google from the wonderful folk at slush world.co.uk and have acknowledged it here in the sincere hope that they do not sue me. Thanks in advance!
When. I posted some of my pictures from the Clifton Hill entertainment area near Niagara Falls, Ontario, one of my American relatives posted a response saying that he really appreciated the American decision to make the area surrounding the falls a national park so that the area would not become commercialised, as the Canadian side of the falls had done.
I agreed with him. It’s lovely that there is parkland surrounding the falls area, and that people are encouraged to enjoy the natural beauty of the falls. There is a small wooded area where one cat watch the squirrels and chipmunks play, and monuments to various historical events and figures that are significant to the area. It’s really very nice indeed.
On reflection, though, the two sides are not so different. On both sides, people can enjoy the scenery without directly encountering any kind of commercialism. There is parkland for sitting, having a picnic, or just taking some time out. On both sides, without walking too far, people can find a gift shop, a casino, and various other opportunities for dining and retail therapy. Both casinos and their advertising are quite visible from the falls. Both sides have a Hard Rock Cafe, and I have visited and eaten in each of them. Both are excellent. Both sides run a cruise on the river that takes people right up close to the falls to witness their power and grandeur face to face. Both sides are fantastic, and I encourage everyone to visit both so that their experience of Niagara Falls is complete.
Clifton Hill is actually several blocks’ walk from the falls themselves, and doesn’t overwhelm one’s perception of Niagara Falls as one of the world’s natural wonders at all. You can visit Niagara Falls, CA, without going anywhere near there. There is lots of fun to be had at Clifton Hill if one is so inclined, and it’s also possible to enjoy the sights and sounds of the area without spending any extra money. Yes, it’s commercialised to a greater degree than the area surrounding the falls in New York State, but there is commercialism on both sides.
When it all boils down about which “side” is better, my decision isn’t based on opportunities for dining, gambling or any other entertainment. It’s quite simple, really. The view from the American side is impressive, but nowhere near as stunning as it is on the Canadian side. Even the American side of the falls looks better from Canada.
I declare Canada the winner, eh.
It was 18 months since I last had poutine, so at my first opportunity in Welland, Ontario, I ordered a poutine with bacon and extra cheese.
Oh man, it was good. Delicious, cheese curdsy, saucy fries topped with extra cheese, bacon and shallots. I enjoyed every moment.
The good news is, I’m only in Ontario. The poutine is only going to be better in Quebec.
Yes, please!
This afternoon a bunch of people came to Sean and Jenn’s for the “Meet the Aussie” pot luck supper.
It was a really great time. Everyone just chilled and chatted and ate – holy Toledo, did we eat. There was so much good food, and a number of things I hadn’t tried before.
Pumpkin tarts. Oh. My. Goodness.
Those are amazing. I only had one, mainly because I was minding my manners. I could have eaten ten without any trouble.
Butter tarts: these would be more aptly named ‘Caramelised buttery fruity deliciousness tarts’.
These are really good, but the pumpkin tarts were better.
In return, I made two classic Australian desserts: a pavlova and a chocolate ripple cake.
Both were a huge hit. I think I scored a million brownie points with the pavlova. It was pretty darned spectacular, even if I do say so myself.
And, in a ‘karma smiling on me’ kind of way, we had an extra guest visiting in the yard with us. This little guy sat on the fence for some time, and kindly did not run away when I wanted to take his picture.
All the Canadians thought it was funny that I was so excited about a squirrel, until Sean explained that we don’t have them in Australia.
The following conversation was all about Australian wildlife and all the dangerous critters we have. That’s more fun than telling ghost stories around a camp fire because it’s all true.
As the sun went down and the temperature dropped, people went home and we finished the day very well fed and very tired.
Today Sean and Jenn are hosting a pot luck supper for their family and friends to “meet the Aussie”. I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone.
My contribution will be two classic Australian desserts: I’m making a pavlova and a chocolate ripple cake.
Yesterday we went shopping for ingredients.
Challenge #1: There are no chocolate ripple biscuits in Canadian stores.
Solution: I have substituted chocolate chip brownie cookies instead. They are a bit softer, but given the premise that the nature of the dessert is that tje biscuits soften in the cream, that should not be an issue.
Challenge #2: There are no Peppermint Crisp bars in Canadian stores. I always top my choc ripple cakes with a smashed up Peppermint Crisp.
Solution: Grated Aero Peppermint bar. It’s chocolate and mint. It works. All good.
Challenge #3: My pavlova recipe calls for cornstarch. I am corn sensitive, in a nasty coeliac/volcanic/cramping/wanting to die kind of way. At home, we use a wheaten cornstarch whicj solves that problem. BUT
Challenge #4: We have a gluten intolerant person also coming today. Same coeliac/volcanic issues.
Solution: I found potato starch in the store, which has the same fine, silky texture as corn starch.
I was very relieved when beating the meringue mixture that it looked exactly like my pavlova meringue batter usually does with the wheaten or corn starch. The meringue stiffened up beautifully. So far, so good.
Once in the oven, it did exactly what it was meant to. It rose, it spread and it got all nice and crisp.
How good does that look? It’s just about cooked. Almost there…
Alright! It looks perfect.
Challenge #4: You have no idea how hard it was to find passionfruit here. Seriously.
When I did find some, the checkout chick didnt know what they were and had to call for a code.
Somewhat incredulous, I smiled and waited patiently. At least the folks who are here today will get to try something iconically Australian, the way it’s meant to be.
Wins all round. Yay!
I’m at Dagwood’s Sandwich Bar in Farmington Market, Detroit.
This place must have 200 different sandwiches on the menu board. If there’s nothing there that pleases you, you can choose your own fillings. Mind you, if there’s nothing on that board that appeals to you, you’re probably way too fussy and I don’t know how you ever manage to order off a menu.
I had the Chicken Caesar roll up sandwich and a pickle. It was so freakin’ good, I can’t even tell you how good it was.
It had been a long, busy day at work following several days plagued by severe headaches. I headed to the supermarket to get some things for dinner and to stock up on Tim Tams for my family and friends in the U.S. and Canada, as I am heading back over there in a couple of weeks.
I had ten packs of Tim Tams and a stack of other Aussie treats in my basket. A lady nearby looked into my basket and then looked at me, as though she were trying to shame me for my wilful flirtation with Type 2 Diabetes.
I could have called her out on being a nosy cow who makes assumptions about strangers way too quickly but, instead, I looked her right in the eye with feigned innocence as I took the last box of Tee Vee Snacks from right in front of her and said, “What? I’m hungry, okay?”
She couldn’t look away fast enough.
“There!” I said inside my head, “that will teach you to mind your own business.”
When I got to the checkout, the attendant was looking strangely at my stash and at me, but at least she tried to hide it. Once again, I looked at her and said, “Never can stop at just one, you know!”
She tried to hide her reaction with a smile, but it was awkward.
“Not really,” I continued. “I’m going to America and Canada in a couple of weeks and they can’t get Tim Tams there. I’m performing a mission of mercy.”
That time, she really was horrified.
“Those poor people!” she said. “Ten packets isn’t enough!”
“I know, right,” I said, “but I don’t want to be arrested for trafficking a drug of dependence.”
“Can they do that?”
“Yeah, twelve packs and I’d be a goner. They’d confiscate them all at the airport and arrest me. ”
Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open.
Never mind how tired I had been just twenty minutes earlier. I walked out of that store feeling like an absolute legend.
An Aussie Maple Leaf, adrift on the wind... 
