Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Swarvin' in Newfoundland!


ElsieD

Recommended Posts

We are just outside of Lewisport on the way to Hillgrade where we will have lunch.  We stopped at this place where they sell all kinds of seafood.  Pictures are a bit dark, but that is one big lobster!  Also beautiful scallops, carb, mussels, etc.  We stopped here once before on another trip and they put out free buckets of mussels.  I bought some summer savoury to bring back with me.  The last picture is the view from the back of this place.

20190730_115854.jpg

20190730_115926.jpg

20190730_120022.jpg

20190730_120240.jpg

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That looks like a dangerous (to the bank account) place. It's a good thing you aren't planning to cook for yourself on this trip!

 

Going back to breakfast: I have trouble resisting those waffle-making machines and the product they turn out. About the only thing that stops me is when the pats of butter are ice-cold and unable to melt properly. 

  • Like 1

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The seafood is vacuum packed and frozen.  Something you don't see much and I admit, hard to see in the picture but in front of the scallops there were smoked capelin.  To the right of that is frozen lobster, the frozen meat of 1 lobster per package.  Also for sale were various fresh items, such as lobster, halibut, mussels etc.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lunch today was every bit as good as we hoped it would be.  We both had the seafood chowder, shared an appetizer portion of scallops then we each had a sandwich.  We ordered a crab salad one and a lobster salad which we shared.  We both had blueberry cheesecake and coffee for dessert.  The chowder is very rich and chock full of fish, lobster, crab and mussels.  No spuds were sacrificed in it's making.

20190730_133903.jpg

20190730_134029.jpg

20190730_135001.jpg

20190730_140731.jpg

  • Like 9
  • Delicious 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

At lunch, we had to wait before we could get seated.  When we did, we shared a table with 3 other people.  They ordered some deep fried calamari and I know a few of you will be horrified to learn they dunked the rings in ketchup!!!  When we left Gander this morning, it was hot outside so I had hoped that we could have lunch on the pier.  But it started to rain just as we go there so no lunch on the pier for us.  The restaurant has an underwater camera located next to the pier and it displays what's happening in the water on a TV in the restaurant.  John took this picture.

Screenshot_20190730-161705_Video Player.jpg

  • Like 12
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are now in Twillingate at our hotel.  Somehow the one-bedroom apt. I thought I had booked had morphed into a regular room.  We managed to straighten that out and are now ensconced in the unit I thought we were in.  After checking in, we went to Auk Winery.  I was sure we had been there before but it didn't look like anything I remembered.  @suzilightning  Do you recall when you were there last year that it resembled a souvenir shop more than a winery?  On the way back to our hotel, I took this picture.  Someone built what looks like a miniature village and it is on his front lawn.

 

Tonight we are going to a concert to see The Split Peas.  We saw them last year and really enjoyed the show so decided to go again.  When I called for tickets to be put aside I found out that I was talking to, as she put it, "one of the accordian players". She informed me that at half-time they would be serving tea, but the toutons I was so looking forward to had been replaced with jam-jams.  Seems they can't find anyone to make the toutons anymore.😟  I don't know anything about jam-jams but I don't expect I'll enjoy them nearly as much.  Maybe @chromedome can tell us something about them.

20190730_154606.jpg

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And finally, a picture of Twillingate as you come into it.  I had a better picture but my thumb managed to cover up a good part of it.  The town's original name was Toulinquet.

 

We have no plans for dinner tonight.  We did not finish lunch until 2:30 so aren't very hungry.  There are a couple of restaurants on site so we may get a bite after the show which ends at 9:00. We'll see.

20190730_154326.jpg

Edited by ElsieD
Fixed a typo (log)
  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ElsieD as I remember a large part of the winery was gift stuff;  the tasting area was to the back and the wines for sale were to the right.  Then there was the restaurant.  Enjoy  the concert and look for the human sized lobster trap on your right as you head out of town.

  • Like 2

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

Tonight we are going to a concert to see The Split Peas.  We saw them last year and really enjoyed the show so decided to go again.  When I called for tickets to be put aside I found out that I was talking to, as she put it, "one of the accordian players". She informed me that at half-time they would be serving tea, but the toutons I was so looking forward to had been replaced with jam-jams.  Seems they can't find anyone to make the toutons anymore.😟  I don't know anything about jam-jams but I don't expect I'll enjoy them nearly as much.  Maybe @chromedome can tell us something about them.

 

Jam-jams are a soft, jam-filled cookie made by Purity. They're sold in the small "Newfoundland" section found in many Walmart Supercenters and other Canadian supermarkets. They look like this:

 

image.thumb.png.a9dd86dff266aea816b3d94db156d2e5.png

 

They're not bad for what they are, but certainly don't measure up to fresh-made toutons.

  • Like 2
  • Sad 2

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That lunch looks absolutely awesome!

 

I could so go for a bowl (or three) of that chowder right now.

 

This really makes me want to take the 3 youngins' on a road trip out east.  Then again....10 hours in the car with 3 little rug rats under 7 y/o...............

 

;)

 

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, TicTac said:

That lunch looks absolutely awesome!

 

I could so go for a bowl (or three) of that chowder right now.

 

This really makes me want to take the 3 youngins' on a road trip out east.  Then again....10 hours in the car with 3 little rug rats under 7 y/o...............

 

;)

 

No youngins' … last year 2 days to the ferry to Newfoundland then 2 1/2 weeks driving and seeing.  If y'all can fly DO IT!!!!

Newfoundland is one of the most incredible places I have ever been ….from the wildlife to the food to the natural resources to especially the people.

I have been all over the contintental  US  but I so want to go back.

For any of y'all who want to explore and meet great folks....within a short season … please visit!!!!

 

 

  • Like 3

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, chromedome said:

Jam-jams are a soft, jam-filled cookie made by Purity. They're sold in the small "Newfoundland" section found in many Walmart Supercenters and other Canadian supermarkets. They look like this:

 

image.thumb.png.a9dd86dff266aea816b3d94db156d2e5.png

 

They're not bad for what they are, but certainly don't measure up to fresh-made toutons.

 

The jam-jams were homemade.  They sure didn't make up for toutons though.

  • Like 2
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, suzilightning said:

No youngins' … last year 2 days to the ferry to Newfoundland then 2 1/2 weeks driving and seeing.  If y'all can fly DO IT!!!!

Newfoundland is one of the most incredible places I have ever been ….from the wildlife to the food to the natural resources to especially the people.

I have been all over the contintental  US  but I so want to go back.

For any of y'all who want to explore and meet great folks....within a short season … please visit!!!!

 

 

 

It's a very special place for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It 's noon here and I finally have an internet connection.  We had a great time at the show last night.  Now, here is a coincidence for you.  In this hall there are four long tables, each seating 24 people.  We were the last two seats at the end of one side of the table and the rest of the table was full except for the seat ar the end and one across from us. 2 ladies sat down and someone asked where they were from.  One said Montreal, the other Ottawa.  We got talking to them at the break and to make a long story short, it turns out the Ottawa person lives in our  building, having moved in a month ago.  Small world.

 

Breakfast this morning was at the Cozy Tea Room in Twillingate.  I had toutons with partridgeberry jam and tea while John had the breakfast sandwich which consisted of a fried egg, bologna and cheese and coffee.  We were very happy with both.  The pair at the table next to us were from Huntsville which is also in Ontario.  They told us about some interesting things they saw in the Baie Verte Penninsula, the one peninsula we haven't seen..  I think that is where @chromedome lived for a time.

 

We are on our way to Gambo for lunch, heading down the Trans Canada highway.

20190731_095322.jpg

20190731_095328.jpg

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

It 's noon here and I finally have an internet connection.  We had a great time at the show last night.  Now, here is a coincidence for you.  In this hall there are four long tables, each seating 24 people.  We were the last two seats at the end of one side of the table and the rest of the table was full except for the seat ar the end and one across from us. 2 ladies sat down and someone asked where they were from.  One said Montreal, the other Ottawa.  We got talking to them at the break and to make a long story short, it turns out the Ottawa person lives in our  building, having moved in a month ago.  Small world.

 

Breakfast this morning was at the Cozy Tea Room in Twillingate.  I had toutons with partridgeberry jam and tea while John had the breakfast sandwich which consisted of a fried egg, bologna and cheese and coffee.  We were very happy with both.  The pair at the table next to us were from Huntsville which is also in Ontario.  They told us about some interesting things they saw in the Baie Verte Penninsula, the one peninsula we haven't seen..  I think that is where @chromedome lived for a time.

 

 

I have many family who live/have lived in Baie Verte, La Scie or Seal Cove, but I myself lived on the opposite side of White Bay, in a little place called Sop's Arm. When I lived there in the 70s the roads were dirt and power was supplied by diesel generators, as we weren't yet on the provincial grid. Sop's Arm itself supported three small stores and a fish plant, while the nearby communities (Pollard's Point, Schooner Cove, Jackson's Arm) tallied another fish plant, a store each, a small hotel and a pool hall/takeout.

 

My mom just got back from visiting there, and says the place is a shell. The fish plants closed years ago, the stores and other businesses are gone, and all the young people have moved away.

 

As for the "small world" moments, I've seen a couple of those at my restaurant. Two German couples overheard each other in my small dining room and got talking, only to learn that they lived on adjoining streets in their hometown. An older couple and a younger couple from (IIRC) North Carolina, of all places, discovered that their grandson and son, respectively, played on the same minor ice-hockey team and that they'd been to several of the same games without actually meeting. Go figure.

 

My own best story of that nature came when I was hitchhiking from Regina to Calgary in December of '82. It was the coldest December on the Prairies in 50 years or so (trains were held up at Winnipeg because of a couple of rails failing due to the cold, IIRC). I'd spent several hours waiting for a ride at Medicine Hat, which is not a happy memory. Most of you will never have been to Medicine Hat, so for context...there's the bulk of the town itself, and a cluster of gas stations and suchlike, then you descend into a steep river valley. When you come up the other side there is (or was, at that time) a small patch of light industrial (welding services, body shops and such) and residential, but no place to warm up, grab a soup or coffee, that sort of thing.

That's where I was. So rather than face the trudge back down into the river valley and up the other side, a matter of probably 3 km, I stayed put. After a couple of hours I really regretted that (it was -45 or so without the wind chill) and all the more so when I saw the lights starting to go out in the gas stations as they closed for the night. I don't think I would have died of exposure, because I would have just gone and knocked doors until I found someone to take pity on me, but it was certainly a high-risk scenario.

 

To get back to the point of my story, I did finally get a lift from one of two gents ferrying pickup trucks from a dealer elsewhere to one in Calgary. It took just a few words to know that the driver was from Newfoundland, so we had the inevitable discussion of where my "people" were from. Turned out that's the same area he was from as well, and he asked my last name. I told him, and he asked was I any relation to old Elias, who was in fact my grandfather. Turned out the driver was one of my father's cousins.

  • Like 13

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

...Breakfast this morning was at the Cozy Tea Room in Twillingate.  I had toutons with partridgeberry jam...

 

I'm delighted that we got some toutons today as I've really been looking forward to them!

 

32 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

We are on our way to Gambo for lunch, heading down the Trans Canada highway.

 

I've got a Google maps page open and am along for the ride!

IMG_1138.thumb.jpg.1a8faed8b32cfdf59b18ed19ad0bc9e3.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 @blue_dolphin Yesterday we went toTwillingate via Lewisport.  Today we took the other route to Gander and then to Gambo which is where we are now.  After lunch we get back on the TCH and head for St. John's.
 
A couple of pictures, one is the lookout just outside Gambo and the other is an information poster listing various species of birds and plants native to the area for those of you interested in such things.

20190731_123120.jpg

20190731_123254.jpg

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lunch at Cashin's was a Turkey dinner for John and toutons and baked beans for me.  Strangely, my plate came with a couple of pieces of cheese and yogurt.  I guess the cheese isn't so odd but I thought the yogurt was a strange item.  The toutons look a little burnt but they didn't taste burnt so I was happy.  The food is always good there.  We then drove the TCH to St. John's and have checked into our accommodations.  We have a one bedroom apt. with a full kitchen should I feel inclined to cook.  That's  not likely going to happen.  The meals will get more interesting starting tomorrow night.  We have a bunch of reservations at different places but left lunch open for tomorrow as we were not sure as to what we would be doing.  Our apt. Is smack dab downtown and we can walk to all our eating spots except for Friday lunch.  I'm not sure what we are doing for dinner as we are both still full from lunch but no doubt we'll get something although I doubt it will be a full meal.

 

Edited to add:  that's how he likes his fries.

20190731_132700.jpg

20190731_132721.jpg

Edited by ElsieD (log)
  • Like 10
  • Delicious 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny about the pronunciation of 'toutons'.  I automatically gave them a French flair...too- tons ...and was surprised to hear them called ..well, I don't know how to designate the sound in simple letters, but it rhymes with how and cow.  Sound delicious.  But then you can't lose with fried dough...

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@chromedome  that hitchhiking story is really something.   That's one way to meet long lost relatives! 

 

I went  to Medicine Hat  once on a business trip (yes, really! And Lethbridge Alta. on the same trip.  The only memorable thing about medicine Hat that I remember was a suit I bought there.  I also remember being at the airport in Calgary waiting for my flight for Lethbridge when I spotted by SIL who had just come from there.  She worked for Molson at the time and was headed back to Toronto.  

 

I remembered that you had spent time on that peninsula but had forgotten it was on the other side.  The couple we spoke with at breakfast were quite enthused with the place.  Makes me wish we had gone there.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Funny about the pronunciation of 'toutons'.  I automatically gave them a French flair...too- tons ...and was surprised to hear them called ..well, I don't know how to designate the sound in simple letters, but it rhymes with how and cow.  Sound delicious.  But then you can't lose with fried dough...

 

Yes, toutons are really, really good.  They are served hot out of the frying pan and I practically swoon when my plate arrives.  They are typically served with molasses but most places will ask if you would rather have syrup or jam.   I wish we could get them in Ontario.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those of us Canadians who are a bit older will remember Joey Smallwood.  Gambo is where he was born.  For those of you who don't know anything or much about him, he was the premier of Newfoundland when it joined Canada in 1949.  It is said that he was loved and hated in equal measure.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...