Now this is a truly Canadian treat, eh? Perfect for when the Amazon tribe visits.

Poutine for Two

2 Orders of fries 1 pack of St Hubert brand sauce ( a thick chicken based gravy with pepper and onions will do) 1 cup of fresh cheddar cheese curds

Place the fries in two bowls. Add a layer of cheese curds and top with hot gravy.  Don’t forget a tray of meatballs and a vegetable tray.  Serve with a Labatt Blue Pilsener Larger.   Of course, in Canada, you can order Poutine to go.  It’s a wonderful country!

Ontario Hot Beaver Tails (Yes, you read that right) <http://www.canajun.com/ottawa/tourism/>

Janet and Robbie skated hand in hand down the Rideau canal.  Ahead of them, Ryan skated along with Reb on her shoulders.  Near by the bells rang on Parliament Hill, their green, copper roofs visible against a blue sky.  Ryan circled back to them.

“We’re hungry,” she stated. “You two are always hungry,” Robbie laughed. “Is this another example of child abuse?” Ryan teased. “No, this is an example of my daughter seeing a food stand just ahead.” Ryan smiled.  “Well, that might have been a factor.” The family skated over to the stand and Robbie ordered four beaver tails and hot chocolates.  They sat on a picnic bench and enjoyed their hot treat.  Robbie looked around at her family with pride and thought that life couldn’t get better than this.

Beaver tails are a great treat when you are cuddled up together by the fire watching a snowstorm.  In winter, the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa (Canada’s capital)  is a must.  It is a 8 km long skating rink and along the embankment you can buy a beaver tail and hot chocolate to go.  Don’t forget Ottawa’s Winterlude celebration.

Beaver Tails

½ cup warm water 5 teaspoons dry yeast 1 tsp sugar 1 cup warm milk 1/3 cup sugar 11/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs, 1/3 cup oil 4-5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour oil for frying granulated sugar and cinnamon

Mix warm water and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl and add yeast.  Cover and let sit for five minutes. Then stir in the sugar, milk, eggs, oil, salt and the flour to make a soft dough.  Knead for six minutes.  If needed add extra flour at this point to make the dough firm but elastic.  Place in greased bowl and cover.  Let sit for 35 minutes at room temperature. Deflate dough carefully.  Pull off a ball of dough about the size of a ping pong ball.  Roll out to make an oval shape and pitch the end to make the shape of a beaver’s tail. Place on a wax paper until the other beaver tails are made.  Heat a deep frier. (if you don’t have one use a wok) Test the heat of the oil by dropping a bit of dough in.  It should sizzle and expand.  Place tails in and cook until a golden brown, then drain on a paper towel.  While they are still warm dip them in a mix of sugar and cinnamon and serve.

They go great with a hot chocolate laced with cherry brandy.

Manitoba Metis Meal <http://www.travelmanitoba.com/>

Robbie and Janet had spent all day walking the hills and plains around the historical settlement of Batoche in Manitoba.  Here the Metis, Louis Riel, and his followers had made a stand against the RCMP.  The Metis was a culture that had developed when French fur traders married into First Nation tribes.  Robbie planned to tell their story in film.  “Robbie, whose side will you take?  Louis Riel was hung as a traitor and yet he’d formed a viable territorial government and had stood up for the rights of the Metis.  The French and the Metis thought that God talked to him.  He had even taken some training to be a priest.”

Robbie shrugged.  “True.  Yet, he rebelled against the young nation of Canada and English Canada thought he just heard voices and was crazy.” Robbie picked a piece of prairie grass and stuck the end in her mouth.  “It’s not an easy question. Like all people who change the course of history, he was part saint and part sinner.  I guess the message I want to give people is that it didn’t have to be this way.  If each side had listened to the other and respected each other’s ways, the rebellion might never have happened.” Janet sighed.  “Bigotry, racism, hate, dressed up as Godly virtues.  I think I side with Riel.  As a lesbian, I know what unjust bigotry is all about” Robbie drew Janet close and gave her a long hug.