Feast your eyes on these beautiful eggplants, which I believe are the “graffiti” variety. Whatever they are, even in December they looked so pretty and fresh on display at the Adonis Middle Eastern market near Montreal. My husband, who was born in Rhode Island, fell in love with the place when we were dating and INSISTS we go there whenever we are in Quebec.

The baklava section is ridiculous. In typical Montreal foodie fashion, people here complain that “Adonis isn’t as good as it used to be,” but for those of us who are starved for interesting food, it is a paradise, and besides, they say that about everything.

Pistachio-filled pastries, glistening with honey. Writing this is making me nostalgic.

My husband bought several of these small, spicy, meat and pine nut-filled pies, which are among his favorite foods in the universe. We tried to bring some home a few years ago but they were confiscated at the border because they didn’t want any Canadian meat entering the United States. He was devastated.

We made our way to the endless nut counter, where there is a mind-boggling selection and the nuts are always fresh. Not expensive, either.

We bought a pound of these lightly salted pistachios from Iran. Now we wish we had bought more of them.

Before driving back to my sister’s, we stopped for lunch at a favorite restaurant: Cote St. Luc BBQ. This is not barbecue in the traditional American sense. The most popular meal, pictured above, consists of what Americans call rotisserie chicken (but a million times better), killer fries made from scratch, cole slaw, a bun, and classic Quebec-style sauce for dipping everything in. This plate has what is called a “dark quarter,” but you can also get white meat – which I would never do for this meal, but whatever…

More nostalgia for me, when I saw a display of macaroni and cheese dinner at another grocery store. This stuff is hugely popular in Canada, and is simply referred to as “KD.” It was nice to see the packaging reflecting that national quirk.