Things from Florida, and Canada…

My parents are in town… And with them they brought presents. Mostly old presents.

• Like the pair of brown sandals my mom picked up from me at JC Penney over a year ago.
• And the black sandals she bought for me last Christmas.

Both of which I left at my parents house last Christmas. (both of which will come in handy since I can’t wear flip flops at work anymore…)

They brought a few Christmas gifts – a set of Tervis Tumblers, and snowmen decorations that my mom buys my sister and I every year – that I had left.

They brought two shirts that I had forgotten I even left there. Including a Columbia shirt.  I love Columbia clothing, especially in the summer. How I forgot about this shirt, I have no idea.

They brought a shopping bag full of paperback books. Mass market paperbacks that I’ll read every once in a while. One book per sitting. So, it will last me a month or two.

I also got a sweet new pair of Merrell sandals. (Guaranteed my parents did NOT pay what Zappos is asking!) They are super comfy!

They also brought two cans of pure Canadian Maple Syrup. Yay!

And they brought me one of the most delicious things ever made. Okaramel. aka Caramel Butter or Velvet Caramel. Made by the monks at the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac at Oka. I don’t really know what you’re supposed to use it for – I always put it on toast. But I’m sure there are a thousand uses for it.

I’ll probably look into the other options at some point. But now I’m going to bask in the delicious glory that is three, that’s right, THREE 900g jars of Okaramal. That’s nearly 6 pounds of Okaramel. The last jar I had was maybe 1/4 of this. And I finished it three years ago at best.

If my apartment looses power, you bet your butt that I’m going through hell & highwater to save these jars. I will try very hard to NOT eat all three jars in one sitting with multiple loaves of bread.

I also got a new silver Inukshuk.

What’s an Inukshuk? It is commonly a stone figure, used to “point you in the right direction.” It’s an Inuit cultural symbol. See more here…

This is not my first Inukshuk. My parents bought me one on their last trip through Canada, similar to this one, though made of polished stone, quite a few years ago. So technically, I now own Inuksuit.

I’m cool with this. Because who doesn’t need someone or something to point them in the right direction once in a while? I have Little C now, but really, I’ll take all the help I can get.

I was also loaned a stack of pictures of Little C for me to scan into my laptop. Including the picture from the very second I first held Little C. And some other cute ones I haven’t seen yet!

Decided.

I finally spoke to my mom tonight. First time in 5 days or so. My mom confirmed that they ate at the restaurants I mentioned here. And when I asked if they ate at Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ, my mom said Yes! It was just as we all remembered. Delicious. I nearly cried. And then she went on to tell me that she and my dad shared a piece of Sugar Pie for dessert. I’m sure that by telling me not only was it JUST like we remembered, but by telling me THEY SHARED A PIECE OF THE PIE I WOULD KILL SOMEONE FOR, my mom hates me and is trying to make me miserable. Would anyone like to bankroll a trip to Montreal for a meal at Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ for me? No? Great, I remain miserable….

Bonus point to my mom for telling me they did actually stop at the Oka Abbey and hopefully purchased loads of Caramel Butter for me to devour like a crazy lady. Caramel Butter? Think that caramel apple dip on crack and then some… It’s the almost as delicious as Sugar Pie… I didn’t ask how much they bought for me, I’m considering it an early birthday surprise when they get to the ‘Burgh next week.

I just realized I forgot to ask my mom to get me Madelines from the shop across the street from Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ.  Crap. I’m a failure.

The saving grace of the phone call was the discussion of what to get My Little C for her baptism. Pretty much immediately after I posted this post, I started to wonder what to buy or make (obviously) for My Little C . After thinking on it for a while, I decided I wouldn’t make something. I wanted something that would eventually help explain to Little C that I love her to death, think about her just about every second of every day, and will always be here for her, no matter what.  And, I’ve found it!! And my mom thinks it’s great!! But I can’t post it here right now because it’s going to be a surprise for Little C, Lili and NE.  So I’m moving forward with it. Yay!

I’d still kill someone for a slice of Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ Sugar Pie. I’m not kidding. Dang.

Coinkydink…

For those of you confused, I did spell it right. See more info on it here.

This post totally got away from me the second I put in the picture. Crap. Please be patient with me.

Anyway, my parents are on a tour of sorts of Canada. If you only knew how often we visited Canada when I was a kid, you’d understand that this is totally normal and not a “big vacation.”

However, they are doing something a bit different. They left Florida last Sunday. By Monday night they were in Northeast PA, staying overnight. They then drove to Quebec City. They plan to then go to Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Then come to da ‘Burgh to see me. Talk about a sad end to a vacation…

I am not sure of the real reason they went to Quebec City, but they did. I’ve been there, and it’s fantabulously gorgeous, so I hope they enjoyed it.

They are in the land of Poutine right now, and yet that isn’t what I am jealous of…

My mom called on Wednesday to tell me she tried to type an email on a hotel PC and all of a sudden the text turned to French. I have no idea why, who knows, but she gave up. Poor mom doesn’t know how to read/speak French, and I’m sure the random switch was a shock… Still, no idea how that happened…

She called to tell me she saw kids from Stanstead in Old Quebec. Who would have thought my parents would randomly choose to go to Quebec City in mid-July and see them? Well, me, now that I’ve thought about it… (that’s your Coinkydink btw) But really, that is really kind of cool. To me and my mom, anyways…

And then she told me she and my dad were going to St. Hubert Bar-B-Q. Oooh, and this is where my jealousy begins. Hard core.

For dinner. For the classic “Hot Chicken Sandwich.” For those of you not in-the-know, a “Hot Chicken Sandwich” is a piece of white bread with pieces of freshly cooked, hot chicken spread across it, topped with another piece of white bread. Top the “sandwich” with green peas. Yes, peas on TOP of the sandwich. Add some fries on the side, for good measure, then you pour gravy over the whole thing.

The St. Hubert version is okay. Not great.  But if you want the real thing, you go to Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ in Outremont, Montreal. That’s the REAL Hot Chicken Sandwich, folks. We have talked to people that work there and I think I heard a story about a family member talking to an owner or someone high-up, about how they cook the chicken etc, yet we still have no idea how they make the chicken taste so freaking spectacular… No one in my family has EVER tasted chicken like they serve at Laurier… Don’t believe me? See here and here. That’s the best reviews I found. And believe me, I tried to find a website, more detailed reviews, photos and such.(Yes, I’m calling mom tomorrow to ask her to take pics of the sandwich and restaurant.)

However, there’s something even better at Rôtisserie Laurier BBQ. If you can get past the sandwich, and if I can get past the that and 1/2 chicken meal my dad always orders that I’m seeing in my mind…

It’s called “Sugar Pie.” Served by the slice for dessert. I can’t believe I couldn’t find a review of it online. I can’t even begin to tell you how freaking wonderful it is… The best comparison I can give you is Pecan Pie, minus the pecans, yet the texture of the pie is different.

Let’s put it this way – for at least one birthday in my early/mid teens? My parents bought me an ENTIRE Sugar Pie to use/eat as my birthday cake. And I ate it, sliver by sliver, tiny pieces. To make it last longer.

If I really, really had cash to spend? I’d spend every birthday I’ve had for the past 5 years, and the next every-single-year-birthday eating dinner there, Hot Chicken Sandwich, with a Sugar Pie in its entirety. No, I am not kidding. Even in the slightest. I asked my mom to find out if they will ship me a Sugar Pie. And, not kidding, a hot chicken sandwich. I know they won’t, but what’s the harm in asking, right?

I have wasted many hours in years past for pics, reviews, recipes etc. for both the Laurier chicken and the Sugar Pie, and failed like someone who never looked at a computer. Seriously.

Ok, so who’s going to send me to Montreal for my non-existent birthday coming up soon? Anyone? No? Well, we all better hope Laurier will ship me all my food loves.

Voici mon secret…

“Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.”

Yep, I have a secret… Yours truly can speak French. Not fluently, but if I tried, I could manage. I don’t try. I’m terrified of trying. But I can read and translate and listen and do the same… I’ve read The Little Prince, by Antoine de St. Exupery in French – and wrote a paper on it in French.

The French language has been a big part of my life. Every summer in high school, I spent the entire month of July at the Stanstead College Summer Language Adventure (sounds so much better in French – Sejour Linguistique). I was a student for 3 years and a counselor for 1. And those experiences really impacted me. I’ve talked about it before in my post on JP.

The idea is that you learn the language. Yeah, I didn’t. The Quebecois kids were always more willing to speak English than we were French. But, god, I have some AMAZING memories. When I was there, during the week you took classes in your secondary language. For two of the 4 weekends, you went on camping trips. I climbed Mount Washington on one of those trips. One of those weekends, you went to a city that spoke your second language. I got to see Quebec City, which is a gorgeous city, including the Chateau Frontenac. Beautiful.

I also got to run around my favorite Canadian city, Montreal. And take my friends to my favorite place there. A place that isn’t there now. So depressing. My dad went here when he was a kid….

Ben’s Deli was where I learned my love of warm pastrami on rye with mustard. To date, only Smallman Street Deli compares. But it’s still not the same as Ben’s… I’d do almost anything to have Ben’s back and go back there again… all I have now are memories and one t-shirt.

The one thing that reminds me of ALL of this, is this one song. It reminds me of every summer. For some reason, the DJ at our little ‘dances’ played this every summer….

(music randomly selected by Mindbling)

If you want lyrics and translation, let me know. Trust me, internet translation blows. So I have something set up for it.