Food for Canadian-Themed Party?

Uff. Hate to deal with a crabby moose with mastitis or hoof rot.

Boozy moose milk. I like the sound of this. I could see making it with bulk tank milk.

I’ve only had British and Canadian Twix. I like British Twix better than Canadian Twix.

British chocolate at the candy bar level usually tastes better than most candy bars in the States and Canada, in my experience

Way, way late to the party, but, I once helped a Polish girl move from Frostburg MD to Erie PA. She drove her car with her boyfriend and they had me and a friend of mine drive the U Haul full of furniture. In an amazingly shortsighted decision she decided to put a full cooler of pierogi’s in the cab of the U Haul that were supposed to be served when we got everything to Erie. I got to central PA and out of boredom tried one of these foreign looking things. It was delicious! So I tried one more and my friend had one too. I was from Montana and he was from Appalachia and between the two of us we had absolutely no knowledge of pierogis, until we had eaten half the cooler of them.
I pulled the U Haul over at that point and carried the half empty cooler to the Polish girls car and told her to carry them the rest of the way. She was not happy with me or my friend when she saw the level the pierogis had dropped to in that cooler…
But man, those were excellent pierogis!

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I believe you. Save for Aldi, our chocolate selection in the US is weak. Great dairy from the Brits. Love to see our dairies downsize and focus on the best. Still have some holding one, and Amish, who just keep going.

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I wouldn’t describe US candy bar selection as weak! I love trying regional candy bars, like Goo Goo Clusters and Big Hunk.

Canadians have Skor bar but they don’t have Heath.

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Oh, I hear you. The big guys are pretty weak. I have a store run by the nicest Mennonite family in town that makes some of the best candies. They used to carry Sen Sen.

I just love dark chocolate. Hershey’s doesn’t do it. I don’t have to tell you that.

I’ve been buying a new dark Hershey bar that’s pretty good for a candy bar under $2.

I like low brow and high brow candy. Kind of on a diet right now, though, so avoiding sugar

Trader Joe’s has a superior version of peanut butter cups, and their bar chocolates are excellent as well. There’s even a sugar-free dark chocolate bar (I can’t recall what the artificial sweetener is) that is good.

To this German, Hershey’s tastes like vomit. Although TBF I’ve only had their (sour) milk chocolate.

You’re definitely not alone and it’s a subject under constant scrutiny. Although it was alleged that it’s down to the presence of butyric acid, this is disputed.

Yah, I think I saw that article way back when. I’m partial to Belgian chocolate, but now we’re getting really OT :wink:

Happy Canada party!

They don’t have anything. Not just the taste I hate, but the texture. Waxy , sour milk, chocolate. Bleh. Their dark is better than their signature bar. I just think it sides on waxy.

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Nanaimo Bars. They are delicious.

Here’s a recipe.

Here’s a recipe for homemade graham crackers.

I see the brand of jam I referred to (Malkin’s) is now called Canada’s jam. Fine product.

Might be regional. Not a common brand in Ontario.

Greave’s Jam from Niagara on the Lake is a pretty well-known brand here, as well as Rootham from Guelph.

E D Smith had been our equivalent to Smuckers, but many orchards were ripped out to make vineyards, and ED Smith isn’t what it used to be.

This is a modernized take on the Nanaimo bar, with dark chocolate, which is less sweet.
https://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/desserts/salted-almond-nanaimo-bars/amp/

Nanaimo Bars made with walnuts are called Tofino Bars on Vancouver Island.

https://www.ontariopork.on.ca/recipes/peameal-bacon-blt-sandwich

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How about Ragoût de Boulettes, the French-Canadian version of Swedish meatballs? I can’t post a link to the blog post so here is the recipe:

Ragoût de Boulette du Jour de l’An

My parents were part of the French-Canadian diaspora: the first generation to move from the mill towns of New England where French was heard more often than English and where school—Catholic school at least—was conducted in both languages. Growing up in Delaware I spoke French almost exclusively at home until I started school where there was no language but English. Gradually the language of the home became English—as sadly it has in those mill towns as well. Nevertheless, my mother did cook many traditional French-Canadian dishes although their context was sometimes lost. It was not until, as an adult, I started exploring my Canadian roots that I learned that the ragoût she made from time to time was associated with New Year’s Day, Le Jour de l’An.

As one might well expect of a recipe that has been handed down through a half-dozen or so generations, this one has nearly endless variations, each staking its claim to true authenticity. Still, there are a few invariables: balls of ground pork and beef cooked in stock thickened with a slurry of toasted flour. Most often the stock was purpose-made from pigs’ feet, the meat of which was shredded and added to the meatballs. Today it is not unusual to find recipes calling for chicken, rather than pork, stock. Mostly because pigs’ feet are rather difficult to find where I live, I use a stock made from a pork shoulder bone. The flavor is similar but it lacks the gelatin that the trotters impart. I have used chicken stock when nothing else was available, but the result is—to my taste—a bit flat. The spices always include cloves with some recipes calling for cinnamon and nutmeg while others specify allspice. I use all of them!

Finally, there is the matter of what to serve with the ragoût. Boiled potatoes and beets, boiled or pickled, are traditional. Louis-François Marcotte, chef and owner of Cabine M in Montréal, whose recipe I have translated and adapted here, suggests mashed potatoes. My mother always served it with boiled potatoes and beets boiled separately.

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
Bread, preferably stale, 2 slices 100 grams 3½ ounces
Milk 125 milliliters 4 ounces
Onion, minced, 1 small 100 grams 3½ ounces
Olive oil 30 milliliters 2 Tablespoons
Ground pork, lean 900 grams 2 pounds
Ground beef 450 grams 1 pound
Allspice, ground 3 milliliters ½ teaspoon
Nutmeg, ground 1 milliliter ¼ teaspoon
Cinnamon, ground 1 milliliter ¼ teaspoon
Cloves, ground, divided use 5 milliliters 1 teaspoon
Flour (optional) 60 grams ½ cup
Oil and butter, as needed ~60 grams ~¼ cup
Stock, preferably pork 1 liter 1 quart
Water, as needed, divided use ~500 milliliters 2 cups
Toasted flour (see note 1) 60 grams ½ cup
Corn starch (see note 2) 15 milliliters 1 Tablespoon
Salt and pepper To taste To taste

Method

Cut the bread into small dice or chop in a food processor. Moisten with the milk and set aside.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, caramelize the onions in the olive oil.

Combine the onions, bread, ground meats, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1 milliliter (¼ teaspoon) of the cloves in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper then mix thoroughly with your hands. Rinse your hands, leaving them wet, and form the meat into balls about 25 millimeters (1 inch) in diameter. You should have about 40. If you wish, roll them in the optional flour to coat.

Heat enough of the oil and butter in a heavy skillet to coat the bottom by about 3 millimeters (⅛ inch). When it is nearly smoking, brown the meatballs, working in batches. As they are done, place them in a large Dutch oven or similar pot. Pour the stock over the meatballs and add just enough water to just cover them. Sprinkle on the remaining 4 milliliters (¾ teaspoon) of ground cloves. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer.

Put the toasted flour in a lidded jar along with about 125 milliliters (½ cup) of water. Shake vigorously to make a slurry. Add more water, a bit at a time, until it is about the texture of peanut butter. Stir into the stock. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thin, make a slurry with corn starch and water, stir in and bring to boil for a couple of minutes.

Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

NOTES

1: Toast flour in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat or in a 200°C (400°F) oven, stirring often with a fork to prevent burning. It should be about the color of bread crust.

2: Pigs’ feet add quite a bit of gelatin to stock. A slurry of corn starch and water added near the end of cooking approximates the texture of the original. It is, however, optional.

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https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/food_wine/recipes/2007/02/28/oatmeal_date_turnovers.html

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