The French know how to live. Stopped into a grocery store in Quebec last night. They

[applegrove]

had little fresh veggies already cut up and packaged. They had fancy cheeses for a great price. They just do the little things better.

[BiggJawn]

1. In my country, they also do this.

You won't find 'em at Aldi's, though. Maybe Kroger's.

[emilyg]

4. Kroger, Publix.

[Bucky]

7. little sliced up veggies are like 5 times more expensive

[emilyg]

18. That's why I don't buy them.

[ornotna]

2. That's pretty cool

Down here I can get bread that's already sliced.
Now that's what I call living.





:P

[petronius]

34. I bought a couple of gallons of beer the other day, and it was all divided up

into neat little single-serving containers. Top that!

(Actually, it seemed like a wasted effort, since I had to just keep opening them...)

[applegrove]

64. LOL!

[elleng]

3. I recall a HUGE variety of cheeses in French grocery store,

on vacation there years ago; country of origin, of course!

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kedrys]

6. Er, we're not actually French

We hate them almost as much as we despise the English for conquering us back in the 1750s. :P

However, yes, we do everything better up here. :) :hi:

[Bucky]

8. Quiet you, and back out to your reservation before we call out the Mounties.

*harumph*

[jberryhill]

26. That's okay. Canada's not really a country anyway

Do the French Canadians also have floppy heads like normal Canadians?

[MrMickeysMom]

47. ...

:rofl:

[siligut]

9. While in Paris I shopped in a market and they had prepackaged bouquet garnis

I was so impressed. I wanted to buy them as xmas stocking stuffers. :P

[Bertha Venation]

10. What are bouquet garnis?

:hi:

[siligut]

12. Herbs tied up in cheese cloth

Bay, parsley, thyme, rosemary and maybe others, and they are used to flavor meat and vegetable dishes. :hi:

[Bertha Venation]

13. Cool! I want some.

That is, when I have the energy to cook again. :)

[siligut]

15. You can make them yourself

Or I saw a few places online that sell them. It is a neat idea for cream soups and sauces, because you get the flavor without the little flecks. Maybe take energy from something you don't enjoy, like housecleaning, so you can use it to cook. :-)

[Bertha Venation]

16. An excellent idea, dear siligut!

:evilgrin:

Oh - wait - I'm not doing any housecleaning lately . . . perhaps skip the grocery shopping? No, wait, that wouldn't work . . . sigh.

:)

[siligut]

17. Sometimes people need to be told it is OK to take care of their own happiness

It is smart to hire out for some things. Maybe use a delivery service and order groceries online, but not from Amazon, I just read. But here, in the NW, our grocery stores will have someone shop for you and deliver for a small fee. Mostly what you need to do is take care of yourself, treat yourself well. :)

[Bertha Venation]

20. So Mrs. V. keeps telling me, too.

It's good advice. :)

[LynneSin]

11. I defy you to walk up to someone in that store and call them 'French'

:rofl:

I believe they are Québécois

[Arugula Latte]

14. I will never forget the moment I realized that.

My parents took my sister and me to Europe when I was 15 (lucky, I know). We were on a train and I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich (I guess I was steal eating pork at that time). I expected the American version -- cellophane around mushy bread, processed lunch meat, oil-based fake cheese product. But no. I got a beautiful crispy baguette, finely sliced high-quality cheese, ham carved off the real deal. That was '81, before the food revolution had caught on in the USA. It was truly eye-opening.

[Arugula Latte]

40. Oh, and fine Dijon mustard.

Not that bright yellow stuff.

[grasswire]

19. Trader Joe's has lots of cheese for good prices.

Kroger's isn't cheap, really.

I've been waiting for them to free-sample the new Rogue River bleu variety. It's $24 a pound.

[progressoid]

21. I know French people that would cringe at the idea of them being French.

They're just Canadians that speak broken French.

[arbusto_baboso]

22. Quebecoise I believe is the proper term.

But yes, they are NOT French.

[Swede]

27. Kinda like Americans speak broken English.

Very progressive.

[progressoid]

41. Yup.

[applegrove]

65. Actually some of the words french canadians use are old french. Words like char (quebecois for

car) are old french from the 1600s.

[elleng]

23. FUNNY! Just noticed

'deleted message' after my post #3! WONDER what it was!!!

[baldguy]

24. Sounds like Wegmans.

[MorningGlow]

42. I thought the same thing :) n/t

[jberryhill]

25. Yes, they do. That's why they live in France instead of Canada

[Swede]

29. applegrove,like me is Canadian.

French Canadians call English speaking Canadians "l'Anglais" amd English speaking Canadians call French speaking Canadians "the French".

[applegrove]

30. I live in Ottawa which is 1/3 french. We use the word french to describe these people too.

[jberryhill]

33. What other words do you use to describe them?

I'll bet you have some good ones.

[applegrove]

35. No. We have done much to get along with each other. I went to french immersion school despite

the fact my parents only speak english. All to create understanding and keep Quebec in Canada. But there are many, many, french outside of Quebec in the rest of Canada. So that is likely why we describe them and us(we call ourselves english) by the language spoken. Formally it would be french canadians and english canadians.

[auntAgonist]

39. My children attended French Immersion at school.

We have "French Canadians" married into our family. That is how they refer to themselves.

aA

[laundry_queen]

43. Yes, lots of French Canadians outside of Quebec

My maternal grandfather and his whole extended family (hundreds of people) moved out to the prairies back in the early 1900's. Some settled in Manitoba, some in Alberta (and I'm sure some in between). I live in a community that was mostly french when I was growing up, but now it's more of a suburb. Went to French Immersion. Went to french university. All here in Alberta. There are large french communities all over the country, not just in Quebec. And yeah, we just say 'the french' or 'french canadians'. I don't think I've had anyone say 'the quebecquoise' because half my family is french canadian and aren't in Quebec, it would just be weird. We all speak french, btw. Funny aside - in French Immersion they teach the parisian type of french, not 'french canadian' french. So between school and my family I speak a special hybrid, LOL.

[applegrove]

44. I've lost my french. It does come back when I'm immersed. But right now I could not speak french at

all.

[laundry_queen]

45. I know what you mean

I had about 10 years where I didn't speak it much save for family reunions. I totally lost it. Now that my kids are in Fr. Imm. it's all coming back to me :)

[jberryhill]

55. Now that's a stereotypical Canadian answer

Canadians are not the friendliest people on earth, bur nobody beats them at being polite and civil.

[polly7]

57. Are you being serious? nt.

[jberryhill]

59. I'm not always sure /nt

[applegrove]

61. The sarcasm smilie is your friend.

[jberryhill]

62. Did Mark Twain use smilies?

I don't use them on principle. At some point you have to confront your own sense if integrity and your sense of humor and decide that "fuck em if they can't take a joke" are words to live by.

[polly7]

63. And, fuck em if they can't make up something that even resembles a joke.

But I have a question. Why do illiterate sport fishermen vacation in Vancouver?

[jberryhill]

31. My condolences

Do the French ones have floppy heads like the rest?

I gotta get me Audubon's Field Guide to the Canadians.

We don't learn much about Canada, because it is only visited by illiterate sport fishermen.

[polly7]

50. Did you make it up all by yourself ?!? Impressive shit. nt.

[jberryhill]

52. No, plagiarized from an old National Lampoon piece

"Foreigners Around the World"

"It's hard to tell a Canadian from a normal boring person, unless they are dressed to go outside..."

And, yes, I'm looking forward to my second visit to Vancouver later this month, and thinking of getting to the Montreal winter festival this year. I have a permanent scar from a youthful ski accident in Quebec (Mont Sutton), and visit Ontario from time to time.

I love Canada, and have collected each of the cigarette pack pictures, lol.

[polly7]

53. Never met a Candian, but that there's funny. Love National Lampoon.

[jberryhill]

54. Fixed on edit

"Good points: They keep French people as pets."

Oh, and I've been to Turks and Caicos, which is pretty much Canadian.

[polly7]

56. Illiterate sport fisherman? God, we get so many of those.

Anyway, have a good time in Vancouver!

(j/k, so you know.)

[madinmaryland]

28. Huh? I thought the Quebecois were Americans who couldn't vote in our elections.

:shrug:

[jberryhill]

32. It's the same as Puerto Ricans, but they don't do good auto body work, I think

[polly7]

51. No, Lower Canada (Quebec), consisting of mostly French descendants, fought

against the American invasion.

[kentauros]

36. Other than maybe some of the Mediterranean markets here in Houston,

I can't think of a single grocery chain that doesn't do this. Although I haven't been to a Fiesta in ages, so I don't know if they do this or not...

Thanks for reminding me, though. I think I'll go to Phoenicia this weekend :D

[JVS]

37. Seen it in the US too.

If you want to spend $10 on a veggie tray, nobody is stopping you.

[whistler162]

38. They make pretty good toast and fries also!

Get you to a Wegmans. All sorts of cheeses cut to order.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

46. ?

if you say so . . .

have be seeing this for years at all local stores and national chains here in my very rural, redneck, southern backwoods area.

:shrug:

[applegrove]

49. I found cleaned and sliced up peppers. I've seen cut up veggies for dip but never fresh cut

peppers. They were great. I had them with guacamole.

[polly7]

48. We have them here too in SK, but I find them to be dried out if I don't

get them almost right off the truck. Good cheese too, but Québec cheese has to be the best (so my bil in Mansonville tells me). I just noticed this thread, a young friend of mine is headed back to University in Chicoutimi, this is his third year and he's absolutely in love with Québec. Total french immersion for him at the age of 22, but he's really excelling at it. I wish I remembered more of it.

[Recovered Repug]

58. If only they weren't so,

well...French.

[seabeyond]

60. little ole amarillo texas has it. if we have it, i am sure it is about thru out u.s. nt