Uniquely Canadian businesses

You can find American stores and restaurants wherever you go in the world. Moose Jaw and Regina have loads of businesses I'm familiar with--Shell gas station, Pizza Hut, Safeway grocery store, Walmart, Sears, etc. But there are also many that I was unfamiliar with until I moved to Canada.


We flew Air Canada when we came for Eric's job interview. They are Canada's largest airline, and fly to destinations all over the world.





Boston Pizza has fantastic pizza, but you can also get salads, pasta, and burgers there. In the US, it's called Boston's The Gourmet Pizza.





Tim Hortons--the place to go for coffee and doughnuts! Now they also serve yummy soups and sandwiches at lunchtime. Tim Hortons holds 62% of the Canadian coffee market (compared to Starbucks, in the number two position, at 7%).







We do most of our grocery shopping at The Real Canadian Superstore (called Superstore) because it is the cheapest. It has everything, however, it can be stressful because it is huge, you have to bag your own groceries, and the lines are often long.





So if I'm wanting a more relaxing shopping experience, I'll head to Safeway (where the kids can "drive" a car-shaped cart) or Sobeys (especially if there's a sale). Groceries are bagged for us, and we can usually get one of the workers to help us out. Sobeys is the second largest food retailer in Canada.






Shoppers Drug Mart is Canada's largest pharmacy chain.







Canadian Tire specializes in tires and automotive parts. But we also visit their excellent garden centre, and head here for various tools, paint, outdoor gear, or kitchen equipment. The store is also known for Canadian Tire "money" which can be earned through purchases made, and redeemed in the store.







Zellers is a discount department store similar to Target.





The Brick is one of Canada's largest retailers of furniture, mattresses, and home electronics. We bought our living room furniture here.






Chapters is a big bookstore--there's one in Regina, but you can also order online. It's a lot like Barnes and Noble or Borders in the US or Waterstone's in the UK.




Petro-Canada is a Canadian gas station.








Same as Exxon in the US. Esso is the name the company uses in every other country where it operates.






Any others I've missed? I know that out here on the Canadian prairies, I'm only seeing a small slice of Canadian businesses. Also, did you notice the logos are mostly red and white? I wonder if this is because of the colors of the Canadian flag.

Inspirational!

You must watch the short video on the Team Hoyt homepage. Team Hoyt is the inspirational story of a father, Dick Hoyt, and his son, Rick Hoyt, who compete together in marathons and triathlons across the U.S. According to the website, Rick is a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, but his mind is sharp and he's a graduate of Boston University. He can communicate with a special interactive computer. Incredible!

Adventures with sushi

I got this great sushi recipe from Liza, who spent a year teaching English in Japan a while back. She assured me that it didn't call for raw fish! The kids weren't interested in helping me, but Eric was! Here's the recipe with some step by step photos:

Sushi


You'll need 3-4 cups cooked rice. I found this Japanese rice in the Asian aisle at Superstore. It's important that the rice you use becomes sticky when cooked. The directions on mine said there was no need to wash the rice, but generally, you wash the rice several times by filling the rice bowl with water, stirring vigorously, and draining. Make sure you add the correct amount of water while cooking--my first batch ended up way too soggy so I had to start over.


Rice vinegar and nori seaweed. While the rice is cooking, mix together 4 tbsp. rice vinegar (not the preseasoned kind), 4 tbsp. sugar, and 2 tsp. salt. When rice is done, pour sauce over rice while it's still hot, gently lifting and stirring rice with one hand and trying to fan the steam away with the other hand. You will need to stir for about 5-10 minutes or so, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice gets very heavy and cools down. It can be tiring for the arm. :) Remember to do it gently, not vigorously.



Prepare the ingredients you want to fill the sushi. Options might be--mock crab cut into strips, tuna fish, egg omelette sliced into strips, peeled and seeded cucumber cut into strips, carrot sliced into strips and microwaved for 15 seconds or so in a wet paper towel (to soften), cilantro, or anything else you might like. We chose mock crab, cucumber, and carrot.


The next part is easier if you have a little bamboo mat that's intended for sushi rolling, but you could use a piece of wax paper too, as we did. Start by placing one sheet of nori (sushi seaweed) on bamboo mat or wax paper.



Cover the bottom 3/4 of seaweed with rice--not too much but enough to cover the seaweed pretty well.



Lay the fillings in a horizontal strip across the rice, about two inches above the bottom edge of the seaweed. Try to keep the fillings in as narrow a strip as possible.



Start rolling the sushi from the bottom, lifting the wax paper or bamboo mat as you begin to roll.



Like rolling a sleeping bag, you want to make as tight a roll as possible, so go slowly and use your fingers to tuck in your fillings tightly as you roll past them. Of course, avoid rolling the wax paper or mat into the sushi. It is just there to keep your fingers from sticking to the food.



When you are done, the "naked" seaweed that was at the top should create a seam and actually stick to the rest of the roll, but if it doesn't seal well, you can always tuck a few pieces of rice in there like glue. It might take a few times to get the hang of rolling a tight roll.



When you are done, you will have a dense sushi log. Lay it on a plate, seam side down, until you finish rolling all the rest. This recipe makes about 6 logs, depending on how thickly or thinly you spread your rice (as you can see, we ended up with 4)



Before serving, slice the rolls in 3/4" thick slices and arrange on a plate. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger, if you have them.

A Visit from Grandpa Rich!

What fun to have Grandpa Rich come to visit us! His last few visits have been in the winter, so we enjoyed lots of time outdoors. He was a great sport and joined in with a Japanese meal around a coffee table, a visit to the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa, and lots of painting! The kids also had a blast playing in his camper set up in our driveway.



Grandpa Rich turns 65! We celebrated with angelfood cake, strawberries, and whipped cream.



He was a huge help in doing some needed painting on our house!



With Will in Mortlach on a hot chocolate stop



With Kate



With Will



Saying goodbye



Our family