Food so far

It's always fun to go to a new area and try the food there. Here's a bit of the food we've gotten to enjoy since moving here: 

1. Peaches and grapes and plums! It was great to go from my mom's peaches and grapes to my friend's peaches and grapes. I wish we still had some!

Speaking of plums, on Labor Day, we were invited to pick a ward member's house for a potluck and plum picking. We didn't pick any plums because we had some, but there was a treat with like a sugar cookie base and plum jam and then a crumble on top. When I said I liked it, she gave me the whole pan! And let me tell you, when you move to a new place, it is great to have food like this in the fridge.

2. Pastries at Boulangerie Premiere Moisson. Kevin went there once to get food when everywhere else was closed, and I've been two other times with some/all of the kids. They call pain au chocolat "chocolatin" here, and it is yummy! This picture was an almond pastry which was delicious and reminded me of Le Croissant in Logan.

While we were there the second time, a woman congratulated Kevin and me on having so many kids. Then the cashier said we could get little free treats for the kids. She probably doesn't give 6 away all at once that often, but she didn't mind!

3. Ice cream! We live very close to Le Bilboquet Outremont and we went there once. I think I packed too many light-colored shirts for Luke because he keeps eating things that stain his shirts (sometimes I catch it in time with stain remover, but not always!). 

4. Bagels! We met up for lunch with Kevin last week and went to a bagel place. We were first interested in going to St. Viateur, but it only accepted cash, so we went to District Bagel which was still not too far. Kevin got a lox sandwich and the kids liked a pizza panini. The bagels were good too, but it was clear that they weren't fresh. When I saw St. Viateur bagels available at Walmart, I figured that they would be as fresh as the ones at the bagel store itself, so I ordered some. And they were delicious! Just nice and chewy and with this nutty sesame flavor. I do hope to try some fresh ones sometime, but the toasted ones have been great!

5. Smoked meat. There's a place called Snowdon Deli which is close to the church, so we planned to go before Young Men's on Wednesday night. However, we saw that it closed early, so Kevin ran to a deli which was a little closer. The flavor kind of reminded me of hot dogs, which Lydia really liked. I liked it fine, but I think I like the meat from our smoker back home more.

6. After we went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts last Saturday, we went to a nearby restaurant called Chef Istanbul because it had a family platter. Everything about it was great. The owner was so kind to our kids and seemed genuinely happy to see a large young family. The sesame bread was so amazingly soft inside. The fries were perfectly crispy and paired well with a spicy fry sauce. The rice and salad and meat just all had the perfect flavors. And our kids loved it too! 

7. Another ice cream place! We walked to Ripples on Friday, and it was really good ice cream! I decided to try a soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in milk chocolate, and it was delicious! The soft serve was a little creamier than I'm used to, and the dip stayed soft and a little fudgy. The few bites of ice cream I got to try from the others were also great.

8. Apples! The kind that we have been trying from Walmart are called Rave apples, which I hadn't heard of before. They are crisp and taste like apple cider. We're going to miss them when we go home!

9. Baguettes! We have gone through so many 87 cent (now 97 cent, sad) baguettes from Walmart the past two weeks. So, so many. I figure it's healthier than snacking on crackers. Back home, I can tolerate the bread products in the Walmart bakery, but the rolls and French bread have this sort of sour, processed aftertaste I've never liked. And these baguettes don't have that taste. Does that make them healthier? Maybe! 

I promise I cook sometimes, even though our kitchen is tiny! But it sure has been fun trying local food too!