North Dakota is "muy circa de Canada". Minot, where I was born, is
about 100 miles from the Canadian border. Now you have to have a
passport to cross the border. Not the border INTO Canada, but the
border to get back into the United States.

We used to go to Lake Metigoshe and cross into Canada on the lake. We
could buy candy and sweets at a teeny little store. Best was
MacIntosh Toffee. It came in a flat red cardboard box and it was a
slab of real toffee - not breakable (unless it was cold) you had to
bite it off. It was really hard on your teeth - removed fillings.
Eating it took patience. We also bought Humbugs. They were a hard
brown peppermint dusted with castor sugar. I think they may have had
horehound in them. They were wonderful on a sore throat.

When my dad would go fishing in Canada or cross the border for work
(he was a Law Enforcement Officer) he would bring bak great big cans
of Empress jams and preserves. Raspberry was my favorite, but
Strawberry was his. Once we got blueberry, but mostly it was
strawberry preserves with whole strawberries in the jam. He made bread
almost every weekend that he was home. Always white bread, his
mother's recipe. Still warm and sliced an inch thick with real butter
it was heaven with that jam!

After I was married and could go to Winnipeg, we would bring back a
dozen or so fat round unsliced loaves of "City Rye Bread" - some with
caraway, some without. It was dark brown, slightly sweet and chewy
with a wonderful shiny crust. I think it was something about the
water. They used to sell it at the airport.

Canadian cheddar cheese - extra extra sharp in big wedges. And Keen's
dry English Mustard and huge sweet Australian raisins . . .

Canada - Our Good Neighbor to the North. Responsible for my diabetes,
cholesterol level and dental problems. Gotta love 'em!
Lynn in Fargo