sam/stu

Okay guys,
This is our first Christmas in Canada :scared: so I am seeking some advice on the subject of munchies/alcohol.
Chipolata sausages ... do they exist?
Christmas pud?
Mince pies with lids (not 'tarts')?
Double cream for the Irish coffees and aforementioned pud or is it whipping cream and a sore shoulder?
Does the Beer Store and LCBO shut at 5pm on Christmas eve (seriously?) and when do they re-open?
And changing the subject totally, we are having friends round for a curry (hubbys cooking) on 30th and want to know where the best place is to get the herbs/spices etc. to fufill our yearnings. We are in Whitby but prepared to travel. Samosa's, bhaji's, naan bread, pilou rice etc. etc.
Thanks and a Merry Christmas to you all!

Mountain Girl

Hi Sam and Stu,

Merry Christmas to you

Its my first Christmas here too.

I am not sure about your neck of the woods towards the east coast, but I want to know if you can get

TWIGLETS here cause I luv em, ......... hate Marmite but LOVE twiglets.


Hope you find the stuff you need.

sam/stu

I can get TWIGLETS here but they cost me silly money.Have to be really sad and hide them from the kids!! I asked for a biiiiiggggg jar of Bovril from Santa, now I am seriously 'sad'!!
Merry Christmas to my 'twiglet' fiend!
Sam xx

Canada2006

for pilau rice:

heat butter/oil/ghee in a frying pan.
Add per person:
- 3 cardomen seeds
- 3 peppercords

fry 1 min

Add per person:
- 1 teaspoon flaked almonds
- half a mug of basmati rice

fry 1 min
- Add 1 mug of water per person, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until all the rice is soaked up.

Hope that helps!

wizzard

You can either go to a British Import shop and get shiftily imported stuff for a huge markup, or you can try some of the few UK brands that are imported into Canada in the mainstream. I don't know of any British Import shops in Whitby, if you are feeling like a drive there is one in old downtown Newmarket just north of Toronto, pretty easy to get to down the 401 then up the DVP/404. It's on Timothy Street just off Main Street South and has loads of UK imported stuff. I used to live around the corner and pop in for Walkers Crisps and the like. They usually have a big basket of Christmas puddings, mince pies, cadbury's selection boxes etc. Now I wish I had a car so I could go there.
If you try mainstream there are a few imported brands but they are pretty expensive too. There is one UK company called Wilkins(on) & son and you can get their Christmas puddings here. We only sell their organic one at our store and that's pretty pricey at $24.99 but they do make cheaper ones. I haven't found any regular mince pies yet, just ones made in bakeries. You should be able to get some good spice belnds at regular grocery stores, if you try some more health food store type ones they tend to have larger herb and spice sections with more obscure varieties. I know we have a few UK lines for sauces too like Pataks and Sharwoods. For a time we even had Shere Kahn which is made by an Indian Resteraunt in Rusholme Manchester which I used to walk past everydya on my way to University before I moved here.
You won't find specific double cream but you can get pretty heavy 35% type cream. We also have some good clotted cream from Devon.

sally h

Hi Sam/Stu
I found it hard to get mince pies...So I bought Robin Hood Pie crust mix.
Add a tiny bit of water, mash with a fork & roll into a ball. Dead easy, and dead easy to roll out! Bulk Barn sells mincemeat, which was around $4 for a very big tub. A&P wanted $10.00 for a jar of the stuff. Bulk Barn also has the largest selections of herbs and spices I've seen anywhere, at a fraction of the cost of the supermarkets.
Just dollop a teaspoon of mince in the pies, sprinkle some allspice/nutmeg/ or cinnamon on top. Seal on the pie lid, and make a tiny incision on the top. Bake for 20-25mins in middle of oven at 400 degrees. The edges should be a little golden, but the pastry shouldn't brown, or they are over done. When slightly cooled, sprinkle icing sugar on the top, through a sieve. One sachet of the pie mix makes around 10 pies, (English size!) Two sachets are in each box. Taste fab, even if I do say so myself!

I also bought some muslin, and made some mulled wine herb sacks.
Allspice, nutmeg, Cinnamon sticks, and cloves, tied up tight with a bit of cotton string. Chuck these in a pot with a cheap,(but not too cheap) bottle of red wine, 2 tablespoons of sugar, a cored apple sliced, and a sliced orange/Clementine sliced with the peel on. Heat it gently for 15-20 mins, and serve in mugs with the mince pies. Do not let it boil or the alcohol will evaporate.
I made enough to give as little gifts, ( around 20 packs of 3, and it cost me $10 for the spices. They were selling a little set in winners for $10 each.
To buy the spices at another store would have been around$25-$30 for the amount I bought.
Sorry to go on, But I love the Bulk Barn!

I haven't found a pud yet, but if you want a sachet of bread sauce, proper paxo stuffing, and English sweets and chocolates, also twiglets amongst other stuff, their is a dollerama store on Rossland, Oshawa that sells a lot of English stuff. I think it's after Rossland/Thornton, at the next junction, or the one after that. There is a CIBC there too, so you can spot it. That's about 5-10 minutes from Whitby.

If you have any luck today finding that pud locally, please let me know, so I can go and grab one!
BTW I was told whipping cream pours like double, and whips like double, but I haven't tried it yet!
Sally

Mike Gas

Canadian Super Store has Christmas Puddings

TLB

A&P sell 'real' mince pies - nearly $5 for 6!! They don't look as good as the traditional british ones so I'd make my own if I we you!!

Tracey

sally h

Thanks Mike, You've made me very happy!
Sally

Steve_P

Twiglets available at the British Pantry by Northland Mall.

Most likely will cost an arm and a leg and maybe even the firstborn child.

But you can at least get them, apparently.

http://www.members.shaw.ca/britishpantry//

Cheers
Steve

CDNReturner

Christmas Pud can probably be found in 'Loblaws' as I've found it in 'Zehrs' the last 2 years.

I found cocktail sausages (although pre-cooked already and haven't tried them yet) in the big superstore 'Zehrs' as opposed to my local 'Zehrs'. Also found sausage meat there. Ultramart (I saw this morning) and Zehrs both sell Paxo. As 'The Real Canadian Superstore' is same as Zehrs and is an even bigger version I expect you will find most of what you are looking for there.

Oh, and 'Zehrs' also selling Indian variety packs of bhajis, samosa's and a few other things for $9.99 around the deli section.

One thing I'm having trouble with (I'm not much of a cook anyway) is why the sausages say to boil them (yuk!!!) Noticed that on normal pork & beef sausages too.

Alberta_Rose

Safeways sell small Christmas puds..... I found a larger one at Co-op. (Calgary)

MikeUK

Christmas pud here in the GTA

Fortinoes, and A&P that I've seen

Mince pies A&P

Curry stuff see above, or just drive to bramladesh and hit any "local" corner store

and yes the Beer Store and LCBO still have prohibition hangovers so shitty hours

Rich_007

Har, cos the skins are often made of a material invented by military scientists, designed to be able to withstand nuclear blasts. Nasty stuff, worn out many a kitchen knife trying to hack through it.

Rich.

sally h

Sorry, it's not dollerama, it's dynamite dollar on Rossland,(I just drove by and saw I'd got the name wrong!)
Sally