Canadian Food and Childhood Visits to Canada

To continue on the earlier note about differences between the US and Canada (Smarties are chocolates, not those sugary-fruity plastic wrapped excuses for candy) I'll fill you in a little more on the childhood vacation trips I went on. From the time I was 4 and moved from a small town in Quebec to a nameless suburb of Chicago my family have gone up north to visit family and reconnect with Canada. That involved the 7-9ish hour ride (depending on who drove) to the Detroit/Windsor and rarely the Port Huron/Sarnia border...filling up on cheaper American Gas before crossing, and once in Canada stopping for some poutine (french fries with cheese curds and gravy...a Canadian fast-food staple) and an amazing burger at Harvey's and/or a Double Chocolate or Maple doughnut at Tim Hortons.



In Canada we would eat/bring back some of the following: Werthers (may have been available in the States...but I remember getting them fom my relatives), Wine Gums, and real Smarties, Ketchup and All-Dressed Chips, Bits and Bites, VH Sauce, Five Alive, Aero, President's Choice Maple Syrup, Nanimo Bars, Buttertarts, and Kraft Peanut Butter (with the two bears). I must be leaving something out but that's a pretty good list of things that I missed living in the States.




Going to Canada seemed somehow like returning home...and because I moved around a lot I didn't really feel like I have a true hometown like someone who was born and raised in the same town could say. I spent the most time going to school in a Chicago Suburb but I didn't live in the same house or town full-time for very long. It's been interesting being back in Canada...and so is figuring out where home is.