How do you buy milk in Canada?

All about Milk.......in Canada!




When you live in Canada, you will be buying your milk in these kinds of packs.




Inside the big pack, are three little plastic packets.










Once you place the packet in the jug, snip a corner of the plastic off. These jugs are available at most supermarkets and dollar stores. Almost every single home in Canada has one of these!!

The milk is all set to be used for your tea or coffee, or to give to the kids. You don't have to boil the milk like we do in India.

Milk packs in a supermarket cooler.

If you notice, the blue packets have one percent written on them, the pink ones have two percent and it goes up to 4 percent and skim milk.

Whole milk has 4% fat content, which is what the percentage indicates. Babies two and below need the 4% milk as they need that amount of fat. But children age two and up, should use the 2% (at times you can get 3.5 %) or 1%, and for those who don't want any fat use the skim milk which by law is supposed to have .5% fat.

They also have buttermilk, fat free milk, soya milk, full cream, low fat, organic milk and milk that is light and made just for coffee or tea. The common brands are Dairyland, Neilson and Parmalat.

Prices range from $3.60 to $4.25 or so, depending on the store and if they happen to be selling milk on sale or not.

All this talk about milk....and I think I left mine out on the counter.....better go put it in the fridge!

catch you later,

Nalini

Sunday drive

We woke up last Sunday to a wonderful sunny morning...and decided to go for a long drive. At first we didn't know where to go, and then just ended up on Steeles heading towards the city of Milton. We drove on the backroads and did not enter Milton, but ended up driving around it. Here are some of the pictures I managed to take before the camera battery died out on me!





One of the bridges we drove under........................



The road is one straight road, but it goes up and down like this...............




One of the horse ranches we drove past...........

One of the many Harley Davidson bikers that you see now ........enjoying the sunshine and finally a chance to go for a fun ride on two wheels instead of four!

The Paper Dosa my daughter had at Anjappar Chettinad for lunch........this is made of rice and urud dal, fermented and kept over night, and then poured out over a hot plate stove and cooked into a crisp delightful meal. The dosa is eaten with chutney and sambar, two gravies that come with the dosa. (Chutney is made of coconut and other spices mixed together, and the sambar is a gravy made of lentils, tamarind and spices) Dosas are normally eaten for breakfast in South India...but you can eat them for lunch or just a snack too. This dosa was excellent...not oily and very crisp!

If you are an Indian in Canada......please let me know of other restaurants that you have been too......and what your feedback is.

Thanks,

Nalini

Bring out the umbrellas and rainboots!

The past week has been wet to say the least.........but thank goodness our newspapers have been coming to us dry, wrapped in sheets of plastic. The same newspaper that had a huge article on the front page about 'going green'. Looks like no one really practices what they preach these days!

With all the news about the Swine Flu going around.........travellers have been cautioned in Canada about travelling to the U.S and Mexico. Looks like there are two confirmed cases right now in Canada......but not serious and looks like the two patients are doing okay.

The past month or so, one piece of news that South Asians, especially Srilankan Tamils and Tamilians from India have had their eye on, is the war. The war in Srilanka that is, to those who don't know what I'm talking about. On one side is the Srilankan Army and the other side is the LTTE. With so many Tamilians from Srilanka here in Canada, there have been protests and demonstrations across Ontario to get the Canadian government to step in and help the innocents caught in the crossfire.

Today one of the protests turned violent with the protesters blocking city roads and the police having to push the crowds back to make room for emergency service vehicles.

Just found an amazing website for Indians living anywhere abroad. Check out www.garamchai.com

Tons of info in there about moving to different places and general contacts and links to helpful sites.

Went for an amazing drive to a place called Milton the other day. Didn't enter the city but drove around it and saw horse farms and ranches. Out of the books as they say! Stunning to say the least to see horses running around huge pastures on a sunny afternoon. All that was missing was our picnie basket and sandwiches!

We are missing out on one thing here and that is the IPL going on in South Africa. Go Chennai Superkings!

Have a great week!
Nalini

April in Canada

The month of April has been interesting to say the least. We grow up hearing about April showers bringing May flowers?? Well, so far we have had two days of snow, zero degree temperatures and wind chills of below 0. Does that sound like spring to you?

At least this week, the temp is up to 12 and we are actually enjoying some sunshine.

In the news this week: An eight year old girl went missing from school and a nearby video camera caught her on tape, being led away by an un-identified lady. Scary..when you are a parent to hear news like this. So far...no advance on the investigation and the little girl is still missing.

A 21 year old girl, was driving to work and slammed on her brakes at a traffic light. If she only knew what was in store for her at that split moment. Her laptop, that was lying on the backseat......came flying over and hit her hard on the back of the head. The poor girl never knew what happened and died. So now there are messages from the Police, and various other agencies....to strap down things in your backseat or put it in the trunk. Who would have ever thought that something like this could happen, right?

Some things I have noticed:

Last weekend I went to some stores to check out what was on sale as Easter just got over and they had to replace all those racks of Eggs, bunny toys, chocolates and baskets with something.

They replaced them alright.......with anything and everything to do with gardening and playing outside. I saw seeds for growing any kind of flower or vegetable, watering cans, garden equipment, hoses, lawn chairs, barbaques, sun tan lotions, sprinklers, footballs, frisbees, skipping ropes and even chalk for the kids to draw on the driveway or sidewalk.

My kids loved it! They make everything look so enticing.....and you see many families literally grabbing things and filling their shopping carts, quickly emptying the racks.

Another thing is that all Winter clothing is on sale, and Spring and Summer clothes have hit the racks. From shorts, t-shirts and spaghetti strap tops to sandals and flipflops (chappals) to racks and racks of swimwear.......the stores are ready for the next two seasons.

This is the ideal time to plan weekend outdoor trips and activities. We realized now, that because of the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG winter, people here utilize the spring and summer days to do anything and everything outdoors. From cycling to fishing trips, to picnics in the park to long drives out somewhere. You don't waste a single weekend because before you know it, it is September and too cold to be outside again. I now understand why Canadians, Americans etc all plan elaborate holidays in destinations with beaches and the hot sun........it is because they are trying to get as much of it as possible before the next Winter!

Just found a very interesting website....www.garamchai.com

Check it out for very interesting news and information about the desi abroad.

Movie halls have been filling up with kids this week.......with Dragonball Z, Hannah Montana and the Monster vs Alien movies all playing at the same time. On an average, you will spend close to thirty dollars for a family of four for a movie and a little more for popcorn and drinks. The theatres are free seating...so far I have not had an instance where we got seat numbers alotted. So, go a little early if it is a new movie or else you will all be split up!

Would anyone be interested in recipes on this site.........I'm thinking of adding simple recipes using ingredients from here for making Indian dishes and also simple Canadian meals too. What do you think?

We will Rock you - the music show

Wow...what a night! Now we know why Toronto is 'the' place to be for stage performances and musicals!!

With our family of four, and my cousins family of four (visiting from Dubai), we decided to go for a muscial show. Every day in the paper, there are ads for the shows playing that evening...and this week we had a choice of three. Dirty Dancing, The sound of music and We will Rock you.

The first was adults only, the second we had seen the movie enough times...and so We will Rock you it was. Also, all of us being Queen and Freddy Mercury fans could not miss out on that!

We booked our tickets online..it came to about $250 for the eight of us, orchestra pit seats....including tax. The show was at the Panasonic Theatre, which is on Yonge street...the longest street in the world (some trivia for you!).

The show started at eight pm. For the next 2 hours and 45 minutes we just didn't know how time seemed to fly by.........from the amazing acoustics in the hall, the lights, the strobes, the wonderful cast of actors, smoke machines and stage decor. The dialogue was quick and humorous.....lots of jokes that had references to Bryan Adams, Celine Dion and other Canadian singers. The dance routines and the singing was just outstanding!

Well, don't want to give too much away.....but if you do visit Toronto..........take in this show! Believe me, you'll have, the tune of 'We will, we will rock you', stuck in your head and feet all night long!


Rock on!