Nanaimo

This is pronounced Nan-I-mo, for those of you none Canadians reading this. Among other things like having Thanksgiving in October (why??), Canadians also have their own desserts unheard of in the rest of North America. One such dessert is the Nanaimo Bar:



I FINALLY went to my neighborhood's weekly Farmer's Market at this great place called the Wychwood Barns:



I've heard about this Market from many a people, and my roomie Alia and I thought today would be the day to go! Even though the sky looked a bit cloudy, as soon as we got there we were regretting not bringing our sunglasses as we took off our sweaters. The Market is year-round, so in the winter, they take over the inside of the Barns. Today, all of the stands were set up outside, with a band playing and kids running around. As most of you know, I get extremely excited about food, so walking up to this Market I was hiding my intense happiness at walking around the booths.

Now, Canada is not that different from 'The States,' as I've learned to call it. BUT, there are small differences that jump out at me that I find really interesting. One is the difference in Farmer's Markets. Actually, since my Farmer's Market experience is mainly within California, I will specify that there are differences between Canadian and Californian Farmer's Markets. Later on in the summer, there will be less differences, but right now, these Farmer's Market's have a big emphasis on baked goods and bread products. Usually in California, the Farmer's Markets mostly have produce. All kinds and endless amounts. There wasn't much produce just yet, but there were many booths with breads, muffins, and cinnamon rolls! This leads me to the Nanaimo Bars.

We passed by a booth and were looking at the delish goods and my roomie Alia said something about these chocolate things with a strange name. I had her repeat it a couple of times, and then she asked if I'd ever had one. Obviously not because I'm not from here. So she said she'd buy one, and the lady asked if we wanted to try some. Alia said "oh I was just going to buy one because she's never had one." The lady looked at me as if this couldn't be possible, and Alia answered her stare by saying, "yeah, she's American." All of the surrounding people turned and looked as if they'd never seen an American before, and watched me while I tried the bar. One woman standing next to Alia asked her if I'd tried a Butter Tart before, another Canadian staple. I don't know why she didn't just ask me, but maybe she felt more comfortable talking to a Canadian. The bar is delicious, as you could probably tell from the picture above, very rich and chocolate-y.

I only brought 10 bucks with me, which was just as well because I would have bought many things, none of which would have been fruits or veggies. I did buy a small basket of apples, so I'm proud of that. The only strawberries were going for 6 bucks for a small basket!! I was like, these better be half dipped in gold because that's a rip. But it should also be noted that most, if not all, of the strawberries in stores here are from good ol' California, so obviously I'm not used to paying a lot for strawbs. It will get better in the weeks to come, and I will probably write more about it, since my love of food overtakes most things.

My next post will be about the World Cup, and the much anticipated first game between England and the US which I will watch in Ottawa with my great friends Helena and Peps. I have 10 bucks riding on this game with the same Brit who said I may not be hearing from him for a while if England loses. We shall see Paul, we shall see.