Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

UPDATE 2025-Aug-27: I just noticed Sprague is in Real Canadian Superstore now ! Yesterday I reviewed Sprague Cannery's Minestrone Soup . If you haven't heard of  Sprague Cannery , they are a Canadian company making soups in Canada and extremely worried by Trump's tariffs: Tariffs may still feel abstract to many, so let me share something tangible to help everyone better understand the gravity of the situation. We employ 50 people at our Canadian cannery. A significant portion of our business is with US customers. For decades, we’ve operated under… — Sprague Cannery 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 (@SpragueFoods)  March 18, 2025 If you're trying to buy Canadian during these uncertain times, you can use the store locater  to find Sprague's products. You'll want to look carefully at which stores are listed because only some stores of a chain will have them (e.g., not every Save-on-Foods, just some of them). Sprague Cannery's soups are also a "premium product", loaded ...

UPDATE 2025-Aug-27: I just noticed  Sprague is in Real Canadian Superstore now ! The "buy Canadian" sentiment has surged since the threat of Trump's tariffs and some smaller companies like Sprague Cannery are extremely worried: Tariffs may still feel abstract to many, so let me share something tangible to help everyone better understand the gravity of the situation. We employ 50 people at our Canadian cannery. A significant portion of our business is with US customers. For decades, we’ve operated under… — Sprague Cannery 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 (@SpragueFoods) March 18, 2025 They have absorbed some costs but it's not sustainable. Initially I thought they were an eastern Canadian product not really available in BC (I certainly never saw them in Real Canadian Superstore, where I commonly shop), but it turns out they're just somewhat tricky to find here. While the store locater  lists common stores like Save-on-Foods, not every store will stock them. I live near Metrotown...

What's probably best about Mary's Organic Crackers (black pepper) are its attributes: organic, gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO. And if you go onto their website, you'll discover even more strict quality control: Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Whole Grain, Kosher , No Hydrogenated Oils, No Trans-Fats. It's one of the lowest-common-denominator foods that everyone can eat. The worst part is that it tastes mostly like sesame seeds--Where's my black pepper? You have to eat enough for it to catch up to you as an aftertaste of mild heat in your mouth.

This past weekend was a busy three days of meeting friends -- and eating! Friday's late lunch was at Seb's Market Café because my dining companion was of the opinion that the words "vegan" and "burger" should never go together, so Loving Hut Express was out. At around 2pm when we walked in, things were already winding down. It was two hours to close (they close at the early hour of 4pm) and whatever lunch rush was clearly over and the restaurant was basically deserted. It'd been years since I'd gone to Seb's. Strangely, the menu looks the same -- I could have sworn I had their Cranberry Pecan Sourdough Sandwich way back when. This time around, I tried the [Moroccan] Spiced Buffalo Burger ($12; grilled sweet onion, roasted root vegetables ) and a spinach-honeydew shake--the only one with a vegetable in it. The shake is made with either milk or juice (I opted for juice) and has three choices for optional add-ons (75¢ each): spirulina , pro...