Canadian Pride?

Warning: this is going to be a monstrous post.

Savory and Sweet: Edible Canadian Flags

Yesterday was Canada Day, but boy-oh-boy did it not feel that way. I really tried to make it feel like Canada Day in that I dressed myself head-to-toe in red and white (literally, I had red/white on my head and feet).  I also packed picnics made of these beauties I alluded to yesterday on the blog; this made sure that my eats were at least festive.  

Feature above and to the left: savory Canadian open-face sandwich. Made with this lentil bread as the crust and topped with sundried tomato spread (not homemade, from a farmer's market) for the red, and half goat's feta cheese and half dairy-free sour cream-style spread (Vegenaise) for the white. 

To the right, we have a sweet version of the same lentil bread (just added some cinnamon replaced 2 tablespoons of water with maple syrup), topped with cashew cream (minus the lavender) for the white and strawberries attached with some strawberry jam for the red.

However, my Canada Day still did not feel very Canadian. This flag sort of sums-up how the day felt:

Image source here.

This flag represents the day not just because it represents Gay Pride and because July 1 was also the PRIDE Parade (more on that later in the post), but because I like to think that it also represents the diversity of Canada, especially Toronto.  I saw so very few people celebrating Canada at all.  No fireworks, no "Oh, Canada" song, no abundance of red and white.  Toronto really is a hub of all cultures... and maybe "Canadian culture" has been since placed aside? Or has become the norm that "Canadian culture" means celebrating everything and therefore nothing? Hmm...

In all fairness to the city, yesterday was jam packed with other events. While I didn't see a lot of red and white, there sure was a TON of people dressed in rainbow clad (and not just at the parade!) and even more people wearing either Spanish or Italian soccer/football jerseys. After the Euro Cup final game concluded, the streets downtown became instantly rowdy; with all the Spain-team worshiping people cheering and honking their horns in delight. Moreover, while I was celebrating my friend L's birthday last night, we went to the most culturally unique restaurant that I've ever been to in Canada (one in which you weren't allowed to wear shoes, practically sat on the floor, and had no idea what food you were ordering or eating, food pictured below). Enjoy some stereotypically-Canadian cuisine on Canada Day... nope, not this year.

I guess it just boils down to me being a little sad that the celebration of Canada got a little lost in the kerfuffle of yesterday's events. Maybe next year, Toronto. Anywho, here are three pictures from the PRIDE Parade (which was a HOOT, by the way. Very fun times indeed) and a picture of the strange dish I ordered at L's birthday dinner (it was a hard boiled egg, wrapped in acorn squash, and topped with Thousand Island salad dressing... weird, but surprisingly tasty).

There was LOTS of dancing and people scantily clad. Oh, and even some full-on nudity.

Loblaw's float: a rainbow of fruit and veggies!

There was even a wedding on a float. Beautiful.