The jolly fat man is here ... oh yeah .. Santa too
Since we will not be rolling down the highway making new (for us) discoveries until after US Thanksgiving, next weekend; we are left to ponder the more mundane differences between our life in an aluminum box on wheels and our life in Brockville. Many are obvious….missing family and friends……..sunshine ;-)…..etc. However, we are always puzzled at the wonderful selection of good wines at even the most modest of corner grocery stores. Our nearest Winn-Dixie, which must surely be one of their “B” or “C” stores has three complete isles of wine selections, albeit US-centric selections. The wines are not the usual “depanneur-plonk” found in grocery stores in Quebec but, a wide selection up to and including Opus One (a great, and expensive, California Cab). And, you have to love the promos. “Buy 3 bottles from the same producer and get the 3’rd bottle free”. I’ll bet that doesn’t apply to the Opus One! “Today only…….40% off all magnums”. As Yakov Smirnov, the Russian comedian, used to say…………”You gotta love this country”.
But………….try and buy good cheese. Impossible!!! And what the heck is Monterey Jack anyway? US cheese seems to have a high rubber content and, it all tastes the same. We bought an “aged cheddar” the other day that tasted like Velveeta. Oh what we would give for a nice ripe piece of Boursault or Epoisses. If anyone knows where Americans hide their good cheese, please let us know because it certainly has eluded us. With all of the security paranoia, maybe they think that terrorists have hatched a plot involving raw milk!
We always used to think that Thanksgiving was a much “bigger deal” in the US than in Canada. However, in this neck of the woods, they seem to have skipped right over it and gone directly to Christmas. All the decorating is in the Christmas theme with nary a turkey in sight. Could it be rampant commercialism????? Thanksgiving is still a week away but, you would think that Christmas was next week by all the “decked halls”. But………..NO SNOW!!!
1 comment:
You have called to light one of our great shames. We are a country in which the majority of cheese sold is waxy American cheese wrapped in single serving slices. My wife lived in France for a little while, so I hear about this deficancy from time to time ;)
We do sell good cheese. It's just that not many of us like it...so we hide it away in specialty shops and high-end fro-fro grocery stores.
Post a Comment