Category: RV-howto

If you want comfort food, you should try poutine. Poutine is a dish of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. It’s like your favorite meat and potatoes.

The dish originated in Quebec in the 1950s and is now a symbol of Québécois culture. it is COMFORT FOOD! As shown here (in Saint John), local is GOOD!

History

According to an article by Allrecipes, “Poutine is a Quebecois slang word that means ‘mess.’” In essence, it’s a beloved comfort food from Canada.

Although there are a few Canadian restaurants claiming to have created the dish, the following is believed to be the truth about this famous comfort food.

“Fernand Lachance, restaurateur and owner of Le Lutin qui rit in Warwick, Quebec, created the dish in 1957 at the request of a regular customer named Eddy Lainesse. This dish has become the epitome of comfort food.

“Warwick is located near Victoriaville midway between Montreal and Quebec City in a region dotted with dairy farms and famous for its fresh cheese curds which Mr. Lachance displayed in small cardboard boxes on the café’s counter,” according to a 1997 article that appeared in The Globe and Mail. “Craving something rich and tasty, Mr. Lainesse suddenly had a brainwave. Why not put the cheese and fries together?” This rich combination certainly qualifies as comfort food.

As the legend goes, Lachance exclaimed, “Ca va faire une maudite poutine!” (Roughly translated: “It will make a damn mess!”). This ‘mess’ turned into the ultimate comfort food for many.

Nevertheless, he quickly added the “damn mess” to his menu. By 1962, he was topping the fry/cheese curd mixture with gravy to keep it warm.” Of course Allrecipes offers a recipe you can make yourself. If you have one, send us your receipe! Enjoy your homemade comfort food!

I love travelling and visiting new destinations with their unique cultures, including their history, food, architecture, and art. And of course it is fun to purchase products that encompass these unique attributes to take home. But trying to find something different from the trinkets mass-produced for tourists can be difficult. But it is worth pursuing. Look for handmade products and artisan foods local to the region.

Look for Local Products

Years ago, my wife-to-be and I discovered that when traveling we enjoyed investigation the nooks and crannies related to the locals. This included food – what they ate and restaurants they frequented, as well as other unique products.

Here’s an example. This past Christmas week we visited Colmar, France and some some of the surrounding towns and villages. Many of of them had outdoor Christmas Markets in the old parts of the towns. These made it fun to walk around these mid-evil town areas, which were typically closed to cars during the holiday. We sampled Vin Chaud (hot wine), delectable foods, and artisan stalls without having to dodge cars. Unfortunately, like everywhere these days, many of the products for sale were mass produced for tourists. But we discovered that if you took your time, you could find unique treasures such as pottery, woodwork, local foods, and artisanal wine.

You can also find surpises in places where with still family-run businesses that have around for a long time. Montmarte outside Paris is a good example with its small shops. Many family run food businesses continue to make generations-old recipes, such as Les Petits Mirtones. We stopped there on one the tours we went on – a wonderful Patisserie, Cheese, and Wine Tour. Their fruit tarts were amazing.

When was the last time you stopped by a pastry shop to taste unique and fresh delicacies? Ahhh, with a café or espresso?

The holidays are wonderful times for family and friends. Unfortunately they are often the busiest travel times of the year. Trying to control your ability to get from point A to point B may sound easy, but it’s not. Besides traffic and delays, managing your pets complicates things and adds stress. This is particularly true when you would like to kennel your dog(s), and there’s no availability.

For example, for Thanksgiving this year we had no family coming to town or “orphans” who would come over to be with us. We got an invite from a relative on the Cape (Cod), but had nobody to take care of our dogs. Our favorite kennel was full, and all those kids who used to be around the neighborhood years ago and available to let out and feed them have, alas, grown up and left.

Driving down to the Cape with the RV would have been a no-brainer other than where we could park, on the street or in somebody’s driveway. But our RV was at the mechanic’s for some repairs.

As a last resort we took a look at hotels on the Cape within our traveling path that were dog friendly. Several were listed but when I called, they were either full or wrongly identified as dog-friendly. That’s not uncommon. But there was an exception. The Best Western in Hyannis said they were pet friendly and only required an additional charge of $30 (we have two dogs and that was it). That worked. However, we were still worried about the potential holiday traffic.

On the Road Easiest Day

Driving to the Cape on Thanksgiving morning was only a 2 1/2 hour ride. Not too bad, even with a couple of the usual highway accidents. The one draw back was the hotel room would not be ready until 3PM. So, the dogs got to stay in the car with frequent walks with all of the friends and relatives at the party. Not bad!

After dinner, we drove to the hotel which was clean and totally receptive to the dogs. We really appreciated that. After a good night’s rest for all, the next morning we took advantage of the hotel’s full breakfast. Good and easy way to start the day for returning home. One of the best we have had when staying at hotels. The drive back to NH was uneventful with the dogs snoozing all the way home in the backseat.

Just another example of dogs and their owners loven’ traveling together!