Guest Post - Jessica from Laces and Lattes. A food journey through Canada

I am so pleased to introduce my first guest blogger. Jessica, owner and author of Laces and Lattes kindly agreed to write a post all about Canadian foods. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

This is Jessica from www.lacesandlattes.com. I was so excited when Tracey asked me to write a guest post for her blog talking about Canadian cuisine because I lived in England for a semester last year and I had a lot of fun comparing what I ate at home to other cultures. 

I should tell you first off, after the list I am about to share with you, you may think that Canadians have no sense of healthy living or food choices. Wrong! The area where I live is surrounded by gorgeous farmland and there are fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere! I just need to walk up the road a bit and there are fresh eggs and small quaint vegetable stands at the end of farmer’s driveways where you can drop a few coins in and walk away with the best that Ontario can offer! Our national foods, however, are a different sort. 

 • Maple Syrup. And by that, I mean the fresh stuff from the tree, not the sugary confection in the grocery stores. When I was a child, my grandfather owned a “sugar bush” and I would wander from tree to tree, gathering sap in steel buckets and carrying it to the boiler. After it was complete, we would drink fresh, hot syrup – absolutely plain. Perhaps not great for cavities, but an absolute party in your mouth! To be truly Canadian, it is a treat to make ‘Snow Taffy”, which is to pour hot maple syrup on (clean) snow, wait until it hardens and enjoy! I love maple syrup as a natural sweetener, on top of pancakes and waffles or on top of oatmeal! 

• Bannok – I lived in North Ontario for a summer, surrounded by huge rock faces, wild blueberries and the best camping trips in the world. Bannok is an Aboriginal recipe and is a versatile bread that is perfect for camping trips. It can be made in the oven, or you can put the ingredients in a bag, find a clean stick and roast it over the fire. Delicious with fresh Ontario berry jam!

• Poutine: Many people scratch their heads at this National treasure of ours. It sounds wretched but it actually delicious and our best poutine can be found in Quebec! It is piping hot French fries, covered in fresh cheese curds with hot gravy poured over top, which melts the cheese. Artery clogging delight. 

• Kraft Dinner: I have written on this subject before, and unfortunately, our national food doesn’t change. Kraft dinner is pasta shells with a fake cheese sauce. Many people love it and children love it with hot dogs cut up into it. Me? I let them enjoy it. It is not our best food forward. 

• Beaver Tails: Bought at every skating rink and ski lift, Beaver Tails are an oblong shaped pastry dough that is fried and covered in sugar or other topping such as peanut butter, jam, nutella or fruit. Enjoyed mainly during winter sports. (And for good reason, year long consumption would cause a heart attack!) 

I hope you have enjoyed this “drive through” snap shot of popular Canadian cuisine. I love travelling around the world and trying new foods and bringing back a piece of each region to create my own version of Canadian cuisine.  

Exciting news for foodies!

I am thrilled to announce some very exciting news :-). As I know a lot of readers love reading about food as much as they do about travel (I know I do!), for every country I have visited and all future countries I visit, I am going to have a guest post from authors who really know their stuff about that regions food!

For most people, travel and food go hand in hand and although I love eating and experiencing traditional and cultural foods, I am much better at writing about travel than food. Each guest post will explore the traditional foods and specialties of a particular country/region and hopefully will inspire all you foodies out there to possibly try to recreate the dishes at home. I know I will!

The next post will be a fabulous guest post from a Canadian blogger and will explore the traditional delicacies and foods of Canada. I can't wait to share it with you!

Montreal - J'ai adore cette ville!

The city of Montreal is in the province of Quebec and is also the largest city in Quebec. The official language of the city is French and it was fascinating to immerse ourselves in the French-Canadian culture. Old and new mingle side by side in this cosmopolitan city with cobbled streets and modern skyscrapers forming the backdrop of the city.



We decided to visit the Basilica de Notre Dame, a beautiful ornate church situated in the historic district of Old Montreal. The interior was very ornate and the grandeur exuded from every pore of the building. This, coupled with the magnificent stained glass windows depicting scenes from Montreal’s religious history created a lavish display.  Celine Dion married husband Rene Angelil here in December 1994.





Also situated in Old Montreal, is Place Jacques Cartier, a beautiful, atmospheric square. Named after Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, the streets are lined with restaurants and street performers. We watched a very brave fire eater, brave not only for breathing in fire but for standing performing for hours in the bitterly cold weather!




Vieux-Port is the Old Port area of Montreal and located here is the ‘Sailor’s Memorial Clock’ or ‘Tour de l’Horloge.’ The tower was built between 1918 and 1922 to commemorate Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. The mechanism inside the clock is an exact replica of the one inside Big Ben in London. Situated on the banks of the St Lawrence River, there are 192 steps to the top to admire the wonderful views. Unfortunately, when we visited we were unable to climb to the top so settled on the views from ground level which were still superb.



We spent a really fun evening exploring the Latin Quarter of the city, or ‘Quartier Latin.’ Lots of cafes and boutiques line the sidewalks and we had a great meal in a lovely pizzeria. Situated around the Universitie du Quebec a Montreal, there is a real lively atmosphere around this cultural area filled with theatres, boutiques and cinemas.

(We stayed at Hostel Montreal Backpackers, 901 Rue Sherbrooke Est www.aubergemontreal.com)

Ottawa - a clean, crisp capital city

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada and home to Canadian Parliament. It is situated on the banks of the Ottawa River and is the 4th largest city in Canada.

Unfortunately, we were only here for a short one night stay but I would have loved to have stayed longer. I found the city to be clean and fresh and the views were stunning on an icy but beautifully sunny day.



Our stop was the Canadian Houses of Parliament. Situated on Parliament Hill, the Houses of Parliament consist of 3 separate buildings arranged around a central lawn. The Centre Block contains the Senate and Commons chambers and the East and West Blocks contain ministers and senators offices.



The Centre Block is fronted by the Peace Tower. I thought the Houses of Parliament were very impressive and I loved the architecture, in all honesty, I preferred them to the Houses of Parliament in London.

We climbed the peace tower and were rewarded with amazing views on what was a perfectly crystal clear day. That evening we ate at The Keg www.kegsteakhouse.com and discovered that the waitress was originally from a town near mine back home and she had emigrated when she was 17. Small world!





I would love to come back to Ottawa when the canal is frozen and becomes an ice skating paradise! Apparently, you can skate all along the canal and stop for a snack known as a 'beavertail' which is a deep fried dough topped with sugar, cinnamon or chocolate!

We didn't even scratch the surface of Ottawa and I know I must come back as there is so much to see. That yummy sounding beavertail is reason alone to come back!

(We stayed at Ottawa Backpackers Inn, 203 York Street www.ottawahostel.com)

Niagara Falls - breathtaking, beautiful and blustery!

Seeing Niagara Falls had always been an ambition of mine and they certainly did not disappoint. After doing some research we decided that the best view of the falls was from the Canadian side rather than viewing them from the American side.



 My first glimpse of the falls was awe inspiring as gallons of water ricocheted down into the Niagara River below creating an almighty spray which you could actually feel on your face the closer that you got. Niagara Falls consists of 3 waterfalls, Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls on the American side.



Horseshoe Falls fall around 173 feet and are around 2,600 feet wide. Many people have attempted to jump over the falls. In 1901 schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor went over the falls in a barrel and unbelievably managed to survive. Later, in 1960 a 7 year old boy, Roger Woodward was swept over the falls but thankfully was rescued and survived.

At night, on the Canadian side the falls are illuminated by floodlights and offer an ethereal, magical view of this spectacular sight. Almost at odds with this magical sight, the surrounding area of Clifton Hill I found very tacky and ‘Disneyesque.’ There were many motels, restaurants and shops on Clifton Hill but also attractions such as Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum which I found to be out of place around such natural beauty as the falls.



As it was out of season for the Maid of the Mist boat ride we opted to do ‘Journey Behind the Falls’ for an up close view of that thunderous water!  This attraction allowed us to witness one fifth of the world’s fresh water thunder down to the river below – the sound was deafening and the spray really soaked us! Hence why we were given very fetching yellow ponchos to wear!



 2,800 cubic meters of water falls every second travelling at 65 kilometres per hour! The Journey Behind the Falls tour lasts around 30 to 45 minutes and is well worth it in my opinion.



We also took a ride on the Skywheel (again I was attempting to conquer my fear of heights!) which looked beautiful all lit up at night and offered stupendous views across the falls. We rode on it at night and it was great seeing the falls all lit up by the floodlights from 175 feet up.



(We stayed at Lyons House Hostel, 5741 McGrail Ave, which I would not recommend. Bear in mind this was 5 years ago and I understand this place is now under new ownership. Great location but badly in need of a refurb when we stayed www.hostelniagara.ca)

Toronto - an urban, cultural and cosmopolitan city

I took this trip with a friend and the first city we visited was Toronto. We arrived in Canada at 3.45pm after a 7 hour flight from London Heathrow. We travelled around Canada via Greyhound bus and armed with our trusty Lonely Planet Guide (which literally became our Bible on this trip!) we headed out to explore.



Toronto is the largest city in Canada and reminded me of New York. It was very drizzly and grey during our visit but this did not detract from our enjoyment at all. I have to say that we found the subway system very confusing and it took us a while to get our heads around it.

 I remember the first time we used it travelling from Pearson International Airport to Downtown Toronto, a very friendly Canadian lady could clearly see the confusion on our faces and pointed us in the right direction! This set the tone for the many friendly and helpful Canadians we would encounter along the way :-).

Our first sightseeing stop was the CN Tower. An iconic landmark looming over the skies of Toronto, the tower looked majestic and awe inspiring against the cloudy grey skies. We stood at the entrance, glanced up and took in all 1,815.4ft of it! The CN Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere and the initials ‘CN’ come from ‘Canadian National’, who were the railway company who built it.



Entering the lobby there were statues of moose dressed as Mounties which made for fantastic photo opportunities!  We headed up in the elevator and in 58 seconds we had arrived at the lookout point and despite it being a rainy, grey day; the views over downtown Toronto were still fantastic.



 As a person who is terrified of heights but is determined to conquer my fear, we descended one floor and stepped onto the glass floor which offered views all the way down to ground level! I closed my eyes, stepped on and then opened them and tried not to panic! The glass is 2 and a half inches thick and can withstand the weight of 14 large hippos so it is pretty sturdy :-).



After our morning at the CN Tower, we headed off to locate the Canadian Walk of Fame. On the way we passed many beautiful and interesting buildings and I loved the way old and new buildings coexisted side by side and seamlessly blended into the landscape.



 The Canadian Walk of Fame was created in 1998 and recognises successful Canadians. Included are celebrities such as Pamela Anderson, Celine Dion and Shania Twain. To be perfectly honest, and I hate to say this as it is run by a non-profit organisation, I found it to be quite disappointing. Whether it was the weather which had made the ground spotted with raindrops or maybe our expectations were too high, I don’t know. I think we were expecting it to be more like the Hollywood Walk of Fame and it just didn’t live up to this.



Next up was the Bata Shoe Museum. Now as two girls travelling together, a museum filled with shoes was a very attractive prospect for us! The founder of the museum, Mrs Sonja Bata held a fascination for shoes that saw her scouring the world for shoes of all descriptions, shapes and sizes. The museum was fascinating; showcasing Chinese bound foot shoes, Egyptian sandals and Elvis’s original Blue Suede Shoes! This proved to be a great fun stop amid the hustle and bustle of the downtown area. That evening we ate at a Koran BBQ restaurant where you cooked your own food on a hot plate at the table.



After exploring the city we decided to have a bit of rural escape and visit Black Creek Pioneer Village the next day. Situated in Vaughan, Ontario, the village offered a fascinating insight into the lifestyles and surroundings of early settlers in this area.



Strolling around the village was like stepping back in time and reminded me so much of movies I have seen in the past. I could almost see the early settlers going about their daily activities as they tried to make a new life for themselves in this unfamiliar place.



As we wandered around, we explored all of the buildings including the town hall, the carriage works, the mill and the schoolhouse complete with dunce’s hats! In almost every building was a costumed guide who informed us of the history and daily traditions of the early settlers. That evening we ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory  www.oldspaghettifactory.net. Our day was a lovely escape from the frenetic pace of the city before we headed to the beautiful Niagara Falls.

(During our time in Toronto we stayed at the Days Inn Downtown, 1684 Queen Street East, www.daysinn.com).

Canada - a majestic land of lakes, mountains and prairies

Canada marked the start of a 3 month trip for me, travelling to Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal and then on to the USA.

The idea for this trip came from my childhood dream of doing the classic American road trip and I had also always wanted to visit Canada so figured this was the perfect starting point!



Canada is a country of undulating landscapes, breathtaking scenery and unique and interesting cities. It is the second largest country in the world by area and is home to Niagara Falls, the Canadian Rockies, The Prairies and many more magnificent attractions.

During my time in Canada, I immersed myself in the cool, urban vibe of Toronto, soaked in the political history and beautiful views of the river in Ottawa, felt the spray of  water from the breathtaking falls at Niagara and strolled the cobbled streets of Montreal. Magnifique!