Living in close proximity to the US border can sometimes be very handy. While we don’t do a lot of shopping “across the river”, we do make a trip over once or twice a year to pick up some things we just can’t get here in Canada.
Come along while I share some of our favorite buys!
I must confess our trip over in the fall is more about the Mr. finding a new house for his Christmas village than about anything else! Many years ago he started his collection from Kohl’s and has added one or two every year since. He actually built me this buffet table, making me believe it was he knew I wanted it for our dining room. Yeah, not so much! His motive was really because his collection had outgrown the fireplace mantel!
Our first stop is always Trader Joe’s. They have such a great variety at really great prices. This trip we picked up Pumpkin “O’s”, Pumpkin Tortilla Chips, Fall Harvest Salsa (pumpkin, butternut squash & apple). Do you sense a theme here! Their Bourbon Vanilla is high quality and very inexpensive compared to our prices in Canada. This is one thing that even though I know we get here at home, it is probably half the price to buy at Trader Joe’s.
We always stock up on Yoplait Yogurt. For two reasons.
First, it is very difficult to find single serve yogurt here in Canada. They always come in multi-packs, and some times I just want a big variety. We can usually pick this up for .50 to .59 cents each.
Second, the flavours are to die for! I mean Boston Cream Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, and whipped Chocolate. Need I say more!?
I am a bit of a toast connoisseur. Kerrygold butter, I have heard is available in Canada, but I have yet to find it! It is definitely not a bargain by any stretch, but it is ALL MINE. I don’t use it in my baking. Just on my toast (and mashed potatoes).
The Smucker’s Fruit and Honey jam is a new find. And, I had a coupon, so my final price was around $1.25! Blueberry Lemon. My toast has never tasted so good!
With winter on our doorsteps it is time to break out the hot chocolate with a touch of flavoured creamer. It is a little guilty pleasure, and the creamer takes it up a notch.
Girl Scouts Caramel & Coconut flavour. Are you kidding me?! I was not leaving the store without some of that!
With the amount of baking I do during the holiday season it is nice to have a variety of baking chips on hand. While I get most of mine at right here at home, I will always pick up a few bags of the Toll House chips if they are on sale.
I already have plans for the Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate blend!
And finally. The pièces de ré·sis·tance….
…Ben & Jerry’s, “The Tonight Dough” ice cream!
My daughter was able to try this at a Ben & Jerry’s store when she was in Montreal during the playoff’s in the spring, to see the Canadians Play. I have been on the hunt for it locally ever since. No luck! We don’t have a Ben & Jerry’s location near us, and this flavour is not available in local grocery stores.
Found it at Target. Score! It is every bit as good as Jimmy says it is!
There you have it. Some of our favorite things to buy when we do a rare cross border shopping trip. Even though we are only about 10 minutes from the border crossing we don’t make the trip very often and it is fun to pick up things that we don’t often get to indulge in.
On the flip side of the coin, there are some things we enjoy here in Canada that our American friends cannot buy in their country. Take the Crunchie, Coffee Crisp or Aero chocolate bars. We used to go to a camp ground that had a Bingo game for the kids “Candy Bar Bingo” where you paid to play with candy bars, and won chocolate bars as prizes. They always asked us to make sure we brought those with us!
And I was suprised to learn that Kinder Eggs are actually contraband in the US! Don’t try smuggling one of those across the border!
Tell me, do you ever cross the border to shop. Either from Canada to the US or vice versa? And, what is your favorite find?
Oh, don’t forget tomorrow I dive in to another One Room Challenge! You won’t want to miss the before pictures of the room we are going to remodel in just 6 short weeks!
Until next time….
Maureen
Ooh, those sound good. We don’t live that far from the border, but the Trader Joes about an hour away is always insanely and scarily busy, so we almost never go there. I love Yoplait yogurt too, and have never quite figured out why we can’t get it here. Boo. 😉
Yes, Trader Joe’s can get really hectic. We always plan our trips for early on a Sunday morning and hit it just after it opens, so it isn’t too bad.
The border is an hour from our house and it’s often a fun afternoon or morning. My go – to purchase is always unsalted butter. It comes in quarters and is so easy for baking. Sadly with the dollar, it’s no longer as good a deal as it once was.
I used to stock on butter for baking too, but you are right. Cheapest I saw it was 2.99 at Walmart, but with the exchange I got it cheaper here on sale last week! I wish I could find the Kerrygold over here!
We make occasional trips for cross-border shopping and have to admit we never consider the exchange rate when we plan those trips.
I usually steer clear of many American ‘sweets’ such as cookies/cakes. They seem to be a nation paying no heed to sugar or fat content. (I feel free to say this as I’m married to an American!)
My big purchases are generally focused on buying products to be used for making Mexican dishes since my hubs hails from the south (Arizona, California, And Texas). He frequently flies to the US for business and to see his family so I get him yo pick up small things that will fit in business man’s luggage. Not much fits in those carry-on cases. *sigh*
I do love going through their grocery stores to see the different products. The strangest one I’ve seen? Ready-made/ready-to-serve baby food cereal in a jar!! You just had to heat it in the microwave.
Oh Jan, there chocolate & candy section can suck me in big time. I try to stay clear of that aisle! The variety is crazy.
I live 2 mins from the border here on the West Coast and always do a lot of cross border shopping. Admittedly since our dollar plunged I haven’t been down in awhile but I miss Trader Joes!
I wish Trader Joes would come to Canada!
Maureen, miss you on DPL… hopped over here to see what you were up to 🙂
I live 3 hours from the border so haven’t crossed in years.. but one of my favorite finds was Starbucks ice cream… not sure they still even have it?
So happy to hear from you! I will definitely be back on the DPL boards soon 🙂