Canuck Corner: A New Week!

[Sarah]

Funnybone's right...
We need to start a new one of these. However, I don't really have a topic to start this new thread off. As for the Rolos, have you tried a Bulk Barn??
So....topic, topic, topic...who's started their CHristmas shopping?? I usually order a whole bunch of my stuff on line. I'm just not in the mood to try that this year. Actually, I'm making a good number of my gifts (I've been in the Christmas gift mood for a while)

What are the rest of you doing? Any suggestions for my father ;)??

Sarah

[funnybone]

"Bulk Barn" - I miss that place. Every time we get back to Canada, I MUST go to one of those stores. The kids don't mind because they raid the candy bins, and I find all kinds of things. We don't have anything like that here. Even the grocery stores don't have bulk items (unless they have prebagged them).

[kima]

I have never heard of Bulk Barn- is that an Eastern Canada franchise?
We do have 7-11s and Walmart (who the heck doesn't?) so I will look for Rolos there.
I keep Xmas very simple- just a few gifts for my daughters, my mum and some close friends. Often my husband and I don't exchange gifts!! We like to buy things for each other when the spirit moves us!! We make donations to our favorite charities instead.
I did find some cute PJs at La Senza today for my DDs. Very reasonaly priced and they look cute and comfy!!
What grocery store chains do you all shop at? Here on VI I really like Thrifty's- they are very community minded and have great selection and the service is always great. I don't belong to Costco but sometimes shop at Canadian Superstore. I like some of the President's Choice products and that's the only palce we can get them. The produce is cheap there but usually of very poor quality and not much in the way of organics.
One store I don't care for is Safeway- way too expensive and I don't care for their brands (hope its okay to say that here!).
So where do the rest of you shop. I understand it varies from region to region but probably someone will find the same stores as someone else or pick up some ideas. Is there anyone else from Vancouver Island here???

Another topic I would love to discuss. Has anyone driven across the country (in either direction?). It is something we want to do soon- not sure wether it would be best to fly east then rent a car, or drive both ways etc. I want to see the Maritimes so badly!!! Get the fold out couch ready Alisa (scared you didn't I????):D :D

[kima]

Oh yes I wanted to ask you Sarah, if its not too nosy, do you order on line from Cdn companies or from the US as well. I have not done much internet shopping and wonder if it is worth ordering from the states.
Does anyone know a good Canadian site for kitchen stuff or anything FOOD related?:)

[Alisa]

Hi Maureen!
I'm making an assumption that Canadian Superstore is the same chain as Atlantic Superstore here. It's part of the Loblaws Franchise anyway. This is where we do most of our grocery shopping, and it actually has an excellent selection of produce and tons of organic stuff - have you looked at President's Choice Organics?? I love PC products.
We also have Sobeys, which is a Nova Scotian grocery chain - it's just as huge as the Superstore but not as convenient for us. I shop at Costco too, but I find their food expensive.
I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of a great farm market - everything's grown locally, it's amazingly cheap, and the selection rocks.

Next topic. I haven't driven across the country since I was a child, and I remember the prairies were beautiful for the first hour and then it got painful. I've driven from St. John's to Toronto a few times since (35 hours non-stop) but I wouldn't want to do it frequently (from here it's "only" 21 hours.

As or the fly/drive question, it depends on those magical time/money factors. I don't have a fold-out couch, but for you Maureen I'd get one!
Alisa

[Sarah]

Where do I shop?? Zehrs, Zehrs, Zehrs! I'm also enamoured with PC products (especially the new organic line, but the corn puff stick to my teeth...ugh!) I've never heard of Canadian Superstore, unless it's Superfresh here (not that it is...I won't shop there) Not sure about the origins of Bulk Barn. It may be an Ontario thing.
As for driving across Canada, I've been all the way out to St. John's, and as far west as Banff, I think. Something in the rockies. I was 8. I've also been as far north as Churchill, Manitoba. I'd like to see the west coast, but I'm not sure I want to drive!
Kima, I've used 2 Canadian companies...Chapters and Ticketmaster.ca. From what I understand, the Eaton Centre just got a Williams Sonoma, so I want to go and check that out! :)

Sarah

[Alisa]

Sarah,
In Ontario Superstore is Loblaws.
A.

[funnybone]

Originally posted by kima
Oh yes I wanted to ask you Sarah, if its not too nosy, do you order on line from Cdn companies or from the US as well. I have not done much internet shopping and wonder if it is worth ordering from the states.
Does anyone know a good Canadian site for kitchen stuff or anything FOOD related?:)

I'm not Sarah, but I do order online here in the US and in Canada. I have even ordered from www.chapters.ca when I couldn't find what I wanted here (such as a Canadian cookbook).

I do know of a Canadian site for kitchen things, but I have not used them. I believe I came across them on the Robin Hood site. It is www.goldaskitchen.com and it definitely is Canadian. Good Luck. If I remember others, I will let you know.

[Sarah]

It may be a mistake for me to know about Golda's Kitchen!! Looks like a good site, and there's a real selection. Thanks for the info :D

Sarah

[Sandy1]

Haven't posted here in eons...but how could I resist the Canucks:)
I'm originally from Nova Scotia, grew up in Ottawa, Ontario and am now living in Canmore, Alberta (quite close to Banff).
And I've driven across the country; did it in May of 1999 and will be doing it again next summer(daughter getting married in Ont). This was an experience that all Canadians should have. It really gives you a different perspective on this country of ours (I guess I should've paid more attention in geography class!). What really surprised me was how beautiful Northern Ontario was (we took the longer, lake route); saw my first moose on the side of the road and at first I thought it was a statue advertising something;) city girl here!
Now I'm more blase about the wildlife; we've had bears, coyotes, lynx's, etc. in our yard! Someone even came face to face with a cougar in our neighbourhood.
As for shopping; it's IGA for me. The only other supermarket chain around here is Safeway and I've had a couple of bad experiences with their products so I avoid them like the plague.
Because Canmore and Banff are relatively small; the selection is limited but we do have a pretty good sized Health Food store which sells a lot of stuff in bulk and it's where I can get things that I'd otherwise have to travel to Calgary for.
So....if any of you are coming my way....got lots of extra bedrooms!!!!
Sandy.

[kima]

Welcome Sandy! I lived in Kimberley BC for many years so have ben through and stopped in Canmore many times! We always stopped at the Wendy's/ Tim Horton's on our way to Calgary. Beautiful place you live in!
I haven't been to the Superstore in awhile as it is a bit out of the wat so haven't seen The PC organic line- have to check it out!
I really am enjoying chatting with you all. Its funny how different things are from region to region. I know I will drive across this beautiful country one day- I get quite emotional just thinking about it!:)

[Luiza]

Originally posted by Sandy1
So....if any of you are coming my way....got lots of extra bedrooms!!!!


Sandy, don't make this offer -- I'd love to visit that area! :D

While we are listing grocery store names, here in Montreal we have IGA, Provigo, and Metro (with a few Loblaws in the outskirts). And Loblaws, Provigo, and Maxi (Costco-type store) are owned by the same parent company (on the subject of monopolies). For bulk stuff, we have a chain called Scoops.

Re. Canadian food related sites, somebody posted this link some time ago (Maureen, was that you?) : www.theepicentre.com (for spices). I haven't tried it but it looks good. Maybe I'll trek to their retailer in Westmount.

[Sandy1]

Hey Luiza and Kima....
you two are living in the 'bestest' places in Canada! Living in Ottawa gave me a lot of opportunity to visit Montreal; whenever we wanted to shop, party, fine dine...Montreal was the place to go; it made us feel so cosmopolitan:-) We stayed at Hotel de la Montagne..what a place to have a girls' weekend;)
And Victoria is where I would eventually like to end up. It is sooooo beautiful. As much as I love where I am right now; I would dearly love to leave the snowstorms behind me and still be able to live in Canada.
You want to drive across Canada and I just want to go to Portofino.
One question Kima. How do you handle the cost of the ferry to the mainland?
This is so nice; to find fellow Canadians ......
Sandy.

[kima]

Hi Sandy and All,
Sandy I hear you re. snowstorms. I grew up in California and Vancouver so moving to Kimberley was a real shock to my system in many ways. But I think the long cold winters are what did me in. We had snow on Halloween and didn't see the lawn again untilthe end of April. When I would visit my family in Vancouver I couldn't believe how green the grass was- it looked like it had been spray painted!! Guess I am not a winter person (everyone up there kept saying it was a dry cold and not so bad- to me cold is cold!!:) ).
Victoria is a very expensive place to live- a modest house cost over 200,000. Ferry prices just keep going up.We deal with it by limiting our trips over and I go visit my mum by going on as a foot passenger and then busing every where. I hate the traffic in Vanocuver so the bus is fine with me!! A round trip on the ferry for 2 adults plus a car is almost 100.00. My DH and I coach the track club here and the travel expenses we incur are horrendous. I love living here though so those inconveniences are worth it. I don't want a bridge to the mainland- don't want the "riffraff" coming over here!;)
I guess everywhere as its positive and negative aspects. Some days I really miss those incredible Rocky Mountains and all my wonderful friends in the Kootenays. The people there are so friendly and we had the best parties!!
Hope you are all having a wonderful day no matter where you live in this great place called Canada.

[Luiza]

Montreal is a very nice city -- just not the place to escape from snow! However, I doubt everybody would party so hard in the summer if they didn't have to live through the winter ;)

As for dry cold vs. wet cold, there really is a difference. Last winter I visited Greece, and when the temperature in Athens would drop below 8C (and that's +8, not -8) I would freeze. And Patras was a lot worse. It wasn't cold exactly, but somehow cold would seep into my bones and latch securely there. I was actually happy to return to a dry -13C in Montreal, go figure.

The weather in Vancouver sounds nice, but doesn't it rain there all the time? Or is that a myth? :)

[kima]

Hi Luiza,
I love Montreal!! Ok I was only there for a day but I sure enjoyed it. It rains alot in Vancouver, although this year has been quite dry. However here in Victoria we get very little rain by comparison (about half that of Vancouver). Something to do with athe rainshadow effect- I don't quite know what that it is but I like it!! In fact we have had so little rain that water restrictions have been in place since last spring. I often hear on the radio that it is pouring in Van. only to be basking in sun here!!Now if Victoria just had the bon vivant feel of Montreal......

[Sarah]

But I know about humidity! And the incredible humidity that we have around here all summer.
As a resident of Toronto when they called out the army to deal with the snow, I think it's best to say that we're just not prepared to deal with it the way Montreal and Ottawa are. I wear ankle high boots in the winter. Really, it's all I need...until we get that one huge storm every year.
But, with cold weather coming, I'm more likely to walk to work. I live close, but come up with many excuses as to why I should drive...until I have to start scraping windows...and clearing snow...and dealing with fogged windows...then I walk! Maybe I should live in a snow-filled climate year round for motivation ;)