Category Archives: miscellaneous

Something ELSE You Won’t See in Ontario

31 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in miscellaneous

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As I read a comment left by Paula on last Tuesday’s post, Something You Won’t See in Ontario, I was reminded of something else that you won’t see in Ontario.  This one saddens me as well.  Let me tell you how I discovered this very wrong use of words “brown bread” in Ontario!

It was probably my first year that I was living in Ontario.  I was going to college at the time, living in Cambridge.  Someone invited me out for breakfast (one of my favourite meals to eat out) at a diner and I decided to go.  We were giving our order when the waitress said,
“Would you like white or brown bread?”  I got very excited as I heard her say brown bread, so I ordered it.  I was so happy to find a place that had brown bread.

My friends and I chatted while we waited for our food.  Then it came.  I could hardly believe my eyes.  That’s when I saw it.  Whole wheat bread.  It wasn’t brown bread at all!  I could have cried, but I didn’t.  As I went from restaurant to restaurant I began to learn that no one had brown bread even though I was repeatedly asked if I wanted some.  I didn’t even find it in the stores or bakeries.  Sometimes I wanted to explain to them that they didn’t have brown bread, but I just accepted the fact that when I was asked if I wanted white or brown bread they really meant whole wheat bread.

Last year I was out with some friends for supper and I told them my little story.  This is what he told me:

“You see, they use to only serve white bread.  When they started to serve whole wheat bread, they started off by saying whole wheat, but then they started to say brown bread because it was easier to say.”

Oh, so people just got lazy and shortened it up by calling it something that it actually isn’t.  I’m sure if you are from the Maritimes you know what I am talking about.  And even those of you who aren’t from the Maritimes might know what I am talking about.  But for those of you who have no sweet clue what brown bread is I will fill you in.

Brown bread is delicious.  What makes it so?  Molasses.  That’s right.  Brown bread has Molasses in it (you might want to refer to the above mentioned blog post for the other thing not found in ON – molasses, which started this whole thing).  The best is to eat it when it is warm with some butter on it.  Yum.  You can also put raisins in it, but then it would be raisin brown bread.  I prefer it without the raisins.  Anyway, needless to say if you have never had brown bread, you need to find yourself a loaf and dig in.

If any of my readers has an awesome recipe for brown bread they would freely share, please do so in the comment section.  Not everyone has access to this wonderful bread and we need to share it with others!  Plus, I would like it too!

What are some other things that you can only see/find in the Maritimes?   I’d love to hear what you have to say.  Leave me a comment below.

P.S. The picture is not mine, but the brown bread looks delicious!

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Something You Won’t See in Ontario

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in baking, miscellaneous

≈ 5 Comments

Most of you know that I lived in Ontario for the past 9 years (I moved back to the Maritimes in August, 2011).
While I was there I might have had one medium size carton of Molasses that lasted me for a while.  I do love Molasses, especially on homemade bread!  Delicious!  The thing was that it is not that popular in Ontario.  Not in the K-W area where I was, anyways.

No one shared my love for Molasses, so I didn’t have it that often.  No going into a restaurant for breakfast and finding some Molasses (Yup, I know of some places here in the Maritimes that have it).
No one eats it for pleasure on bread or licks the knife after spreading it on the bread, or some even lick the plate clean (please only do this in the privacy of your home!).  “What? You use molasses for more then just cooking?” would be a question I have gotten in the past.  That’s if people even use it for cooking.  To my recollection I don’t remember having many homemade molasses cookies while I was there!

One day while getting groceries at Price Choppers (who can tell by the picture above that’s where I was?) here in good ‘ol Nova Scotia, I was checking out what was in the isle when I found Molasses – a ton of Molasses.  Not just a few cartons, like you would find at a Price Choppers in K-W but a whopping 6 – 7 different sizes and even a couple different brand names.  My favourite is the jug of Molasses on the left side of all the wonderful options of the goodness.

I remember my first week at ADC, where I’m studying, when a fellow student said, “Oh, I wish I had some Molasses.”  Another student piped up and said, “Check the fridge, I think I saw some in there.”  Music to my ears.  Where else would you find Molasses in a student lounge other then at a Maritime college.

If you have never had Molasses besides in baking go out and by yourself a nice fresh loaf of bread (or better yet, make your own), slather on some butter and load it with Molasses.  Sometimes it is nice dipping the bread in the molasses too.  Be sure to have enough bread so you can get the extra that drips from the bread.

Do you like Molasses?  If so, what’s your favourite way to eat it?  I’d love to hear what you think about the stuff!  Leave me a comment below.

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