Upside down backward conversion apron (Canadians love their…metric system)
One of those lovely trip-ups of being in Canada is that everything is in metric.
If I go to the deli, I have to order 300 grams of meat versus by the pound. When I’m looking up recipes, they often use milliliters. And when I’m buying items at the grocery store, the sizes of boxes, bottles, etc, are pretty much never the same as what I’m used to because they’re adjusted to set ounce, pint, or gram mark instead.
And it’s not that I *can’t* convert measurements or that I don’t understand them. It’s just that I have to consciously think about the conversions and when it comes to things like how many milliliters are in a cup, it gets a little tricky. 
But even if conversions aren’t something you ever have to think of on the fly in the kitchen, this apron has a lot of other info right at your fingertips, too. There’s roasting times, steak wellness tips, freezing guides, cooking glossary, etc. It’s all printed upside down so you can flip it up and read it while wearing it.
Get yours from Vat19 for $25. You can see close-ups of the rest of the info listed, too.
Friends in high places – When Canadians share food
I live for food.
When I go out, it’s for the food. When I travel, I can’t wait to try the foods. When I meet up with friends, there’s guaranteed to be food involved. When I meet someone online from a different country, I want to hear about the food.
Food, food, food. So anybody that knows me, knows that food is the way to woo me.
Which is why back last year when I made a trip to Canada, I was sent home with a box full of food to try. And I received another box in the mail of other tidbits. Sauces, spices, snacks. The works.
Now I’m finally sharing with you, too, so you can see all the goodies I got to try out. They’re not all “Canadian-only” things, of course, but a lot of them I didn’t have access to where I was living or were different brands to try out, etc.
The O Dor Rooibos Marabout tea – I actually had one heck of a time hunting this down currently because I can’t really find it online any more. I eventually called my sister to pull the tin out of the cupboard and read me the bottom label (thanks again!). And when I looked it up after to try to find a description, even the main The O Dor site gives a very little…..intentionally saying that it won’t tell anything about it, ha. Anyway, it’s caramel and apple flavored with chunks of dried apple chips and toffee bits. Translate this Hebrew site for an awesome bit of sorcery. Tastes like Harry Potter! :P
Shahi Garam Masala – Indian spice mix
Saffron
Instant Miso Soup – Strangely good, by the way. I wasn’t expecting it to be decent prepackaged compared to restaurants.
Cadbury Mini-Eggs “Popping” – Pop rocks meet chocolate mini eggs. Awesome.
Wasabi peas – Weird, but strangely good. 2 out of 3 girls liked them and the other thought they were too hot.
Chiquilin hot paprika – The picture on the right is actually more orange-y than it really is, but it’s still a completely different color than the paprika I use at home.
Tamari soy sauce – Nicely protected in a sock, woot
Tim Horton’s coffee that says “OMG! tastes like Canada” – I don’t even drink coffee, but Time Horton’s is quite iconic for Canada
Miso gravy (awesome on potatoes and stir fries, by the way) and Cholula hot sauce (awesome on everything and because B’s new favorite sauce for a long while).
Some other things in the pictures that I didn’t have individual pictures of and I’m not sure you can tell from these:
- Balsamic vinegar,
- Hollandaise sauce mix
- Turbinado (I couldn’t find it locally and wanted to try it out for N’s sensitivities)
- Cadbury crème eggs for the girls to try
- Poach pods – Little green cups to poach eggs in
- Cooking magazine
- Almond flavored Pocky
- Wasabi paste and nori (seaweed) sheets so I could make my own sushi
- Various rices to try
Some of these were gone in no time, but some I babied and savored to the point that I even still have some of them a year later. I should probably finish them off eventually, huh? Hehe.
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