le weekend.

well,

it's debatable whether or not this was influenced

by my friday top ten...

but i ended up eating indian, quebecois, and mexican 

over the weekend.

i've officially found and declared my 

favorite indian restaurant in montreal

(only had to try two!)

so indian food & seinfeld was on the schedule for friday date night :)

saturday, we were invited 

to a family friend's house.

a french woman that's lived in canada for 40 years,

and her husband, quebecois born and bred.

we drove an hour out to their little country home.

it was nice to have a little change of scenery.

the last time we left montreal was at least a month ago,

when all the leaves were orange and red and still on the trees. 

we enjoyed an apertif

(need to find out the quebecois word for cocktails)

and shared stories.

i have to say, it was funny speaking with a french woman

who didn't necessarily identify herself as french,

having lived 40 years in canada.

i don't think i've ever met a french woman

who wasn't french to the very core.

does that make sense?

it was less intimidating in a way.

the man's accent was hard to decipher sometimes,

but actually light in comparison to some i've heard.

we sat around the cutest tiny wooden table and ate lunch-

the woman served us

'quebecois style'.

apparently it's the custom for the cook 

to serve your guests' plates (in the kitchen)

-as opposed to buffet style-

a funny little quirk.

on the menu:

red pepper soup 

homemade croutons and rolls

tomato breaded chicken, broccoli & homestyle potatoes

and of course

maple syrup sugar squares for dessert.

which made me smile.

i was wondering out loud last week,

what constituted canadian cooking...

i think i've found my answer.

while the recipes might not be all that different

there is one common and necessary ingredient:

maple syrup.

i think it's the only food item that's cheaper in canada than the states...

sunday night was 69 cent taco night at 

3 amigos

in the latin quarter in montreal.

we went with a group of 7 other french people 

who are working and studying here.

69 cent tacos are alright,

but it was far from cafe rio or Anahuacalli.

all in all, a cuisinar-ily diverse weekend.

how was your weekend?

xo

alli