On Friday, we ventured into Ottawa to shop at the open-air farmers’ market, watch the Changing of the Guard on Parliament Hill, and try some traditional Canadian food.

Poutine is a common Canadian snack dish (originally from Quebec), made with French fries, topped with brown gravy, and cheese curds.

The group wanted to know if I was going to post a recipe for it. I suppose that if I loved the stuff I would do so, but frankly, I found it rather disgusting.

For that reason, here is the best I can give you as far as a recipe goes; Purchase a bag of frozen fries, a can of brown beef gravy, and a bag of cheese curds, which can be found at Whole Foods. Bake or deep-fry the French fries and heat the gravy, place fries on a serving dish, sprinkle with curds, then pour the heated gravy over the top. There you have it, Poutine, the favorite snack food of Canada. Enjoy!

I had expected the Changing of the Guard in Canada to be similar to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace in London. Again, not quite so. There was still plenty of pomp and circumstance, maybe even more, but don’t expect the same sort of stoic affair.

These guards not only smile and speak, but they will also pose for pictures with you as well. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that they aren’t actually “guarding” anything. The photo above shows the Canadian Guard, while the photo below shows the British Guard at Buckingham Palace.

[Read more →]