O Canada!!

It's that time of year again...time for my annual "Get to know and love Canada" post.
Today is we celebrate the 144th birthday of the greatest country in the world (sorry my American friends...we love you but you're missing some very important things...)

So today, I'm going to share with you, somethings that are uniquely Canadian. These are expressions or items you will only find in Canada or ones that have slowly migrated south but originated here.

For example....

in the fall we don't clean our gutters...we clean our eavestrough (or eaves). To us, a gutter is that thing at the side of the road where you find drunks and rats.

When we buy a case of beer we order a two four - a case of beer has 24 bottles Oh, and for most of Canada we go to the beer store to buy beer...yeah, a whole store just for beer! And it's actually called the Beer Store. (imagine the simplicity)

If you go to the liquor store you can buy a Mickey - a 13 oz bottle of booze. Or a 40 pounder - a 40 oz bottle.

We can buy 4 litres of milk (which is just over a gallon) in bags. Yep, not a jug or carton...bags - 3 small ones to be exact.  You put the bag into a milk jug and voila. And because we Canadians don't like waste...these milk bags are so strong and durable that when empty you can cut them open, give them a good wash and they are the Best. Storage. Bags. Ever. 

Further to our milk - we buy Homo (homogenized) milk, not whole milk.

Butter tarts. Sure to send you into a diabetic coma, even if you're not diabetic but OH so worth it. It's similar to pecan pie (without the pecans) but most simply put - it's butter and sugar and egg (and often with raisins) and the most delicious thing to ever come out of our country. If you visit our country you MUST have one.

Other uniquely Canadian foods include poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds - not my personal favorite but widely loved)

Smarties (our version of M & M's) Caramilk Bars (a chocolate bar - another Canadian term used in place of candy bar - with caramel inside. How do they get the caramel inside the Caramilk Bar??)  Ketchup chips - needs no explanation - ketchup flavoured potato chips.

Knapsacks. Every August I buy the kids new knapsacks for school. Our word for a backpack.

Skill Testing Question. (2 x 3) + 4 =   
In order to win a draw, lottery or prize in Canada one must first answer a skill testing question. It's almost always a basic math question like the one above. It's the law. Yep, a law.  And it's supposed to be answered without mechanical assistance (no calculators allowed)

We don't pay an electric bill, we pay a hydro bill.

Last but not least, two videos for your enjoyment. Leave it to a beer commercial to boost our national pride.

Happy Canada Day!!!