Beavertail and Ceilidh Make It Right

The blog stalled a couple of days, thanks to the erratic Wifi connection, but I think we're back again.

For those who took Donald's Canada Day Quiz, you may remember that a beavertail is a Canadian confectionary, something we got to try on Monday. Sunday was ok--we enjoyed a sabbath of rest in the tent, listening to live video messages on sermonaudio.com. Knowing that it would be raining all day Monday, we decided to check out all the Green Gables shopping at the tourist traps all around our campground at Cavendish.

At the Boardwalk, we finally laid eyes on some real Canadian beavertails.


First, you fry the flat-shaped dough to a golden brown.


Then you butter it, holding it in yonder unwashed hand. If it's cinnamon-flavoured, dunk it into the pan of cinnamon powder, and you're done. That's for about $4 each. But we wanted peanut butter, chocolate, and Reese flavour, which costs almost $6.


So we get that fancy treatment. More squirt-squirt of this potion and that on beavertail on unwashed hand.


And, ta-da! Hey, that's M&Ms, not Reese as advertised! But it was soon all devoured--before we had time to go back for a refund. O well, another Canadian experience, I guess!

That evening, last night, we headed for the Murray Centre--as usual, by GPS--for a ceilidh. A ceilidh, pronounced "Kay-lee," is a traditional Scottish musical event, and it was historically celebrated by the Scottish settlers in PEI and the rest of the Maritimes in the midst of the brutal conditions of their new homeland. We picked this one out of many because it costs less ($7 per adult, $3 per kid) and had a more authentic ring to it than those in more professional settings. What do you know, but when we arrived, "Murray Centre" was the multipurpose hall of a United Church.



The performers, including a guest step dancer, are all amateurs from PEI's Long River area and include a college professor and her husband, a doctor's assistant, and a business manager. They entertained a crowd of about 100 with foot-stomping tunes, about half of them Americans who were on an Elderhostel educational trip through the Maritimes.



When asked to pin their places of origin on a world map during Intermission, we saw representation from all over North America, parts of Northern Europe, South Africa, Japan, and Singapore. The refreshments, ice cream (sandwich or fudgesicle $1) or home-baked cookies ($.50), were good and affordable. So everyone in the family got something, and we didn't need to share the ice cream or anything!



Well, a very Canadian, if somewhat Scottish (or maybe Chinese!), experience.