I am sure that there are many benefits to being over 55.  I know that I once accidentally purchased something at Zellers on Seniors Day and received a substantial discount.  The irony of this transaction was that I was buying a sports bra to wear to my Zumba class.  Then there is the privilege of being a part of the breast and (even better?) colon screening programs!  Of course I am grateful that I have already lived a full rich life but in truth I would not say that I have reaped extraordinary perks.  That is until now….as I have discovered something known as The Seniors Menu!

I researched the rationale behind Seniors menus to find this:  Senior citizens who have healthy diets can extend their lifespan and improve their quality of life. By planning a weekly menu that’s packed with nutritious foods and avoiding high-calorie, high-fat foods, seniors can enjoy their later years as much, if not more, than their youths.  Wow-I am all over that! And so it was that we were dining at Mr. Ribs in Neepawa on last weekends visit to the Lily Festival.

Their menu is huge and I was having a hard time making a decision with pages of choices and then I spotted the section which included most of my favourites but at a reduced price (and I assumed a reduced portion).  Since I enjoy tastes of many little things (I truly have a tappas heart) I was sure that I could find something from this filtered list.

We were in a Greek restaurant and I have always loved Greek pork chops so I made my selection.

With this wise decision made, D ordered the Greek salad.  Knowing that I had a pork chop coming, I moved the bowl of cream of vegetable soup across to D to eat on my behalf.  I did have a taste and it was exceptional.  When my diminutive portion arrived, my jaw dropped…..

But I had this all figured out.  You marry a hunk of a younger man like I did

and when all the food comes to the table

you split it down the middle!  We each had a thin cut but beautifully seasoned and grilled pork chopped and I ate my salad and 1/3 of his.  He ate the garlic toast and then the strawberry pudding that was included in my lunch and I picked at a couple of French fries and voila, we were both happy.  Kind of like Jack Sprat and his wife-hey wait a minute….

I am a person who notices things-I do not mean that I make a mental note if you have dust bunnies under your couch or that you forgot to wish me a happy birthday.  But, I can spot a heart shaped stone on a beach walk and detect  the smell of lemon furniture polish on fine wood.  I love the detail in things and the little touches in hospitality.

This weekend, D and I ventured on a short road trip to the west of the province and my senses were bombarded with beautiful details.  Our first stop was in Neepawa for The Lily Festival where I was able to walk amongst fields of them and enjoy a couple of favourite varieties up close.

I also visited the home of Margaret Laurence (one of my favourite authors) and toured the famous and beautiful town cemetery trying to imagine a Stone Angel there.

Later that day, we continued on to Minnedosa and discovered that it has its own beach on a little lake which really reminded us of the rural lakes in Minnesota D spent his childhood summers.

Our lodging for the night was Tilson Place, a hundred year old historic home with turrets and gargoyles,

wrap around porches porches and underground tunnels.  D had selected the Princess Sylvia Suite with its own soaker tub,

turret dining space,

cozy TV spot, fireplace and  balcony.

Our stay was comfy and delightful.  One of the reasons why I enjoyed my time to such an extent was taking in the details of the home.

Of course I cannot forget to mention the second B of the B&B experience.  Breakfast with the other intriguing guests around the big old dining room table was comprised of coffee, juice, fruit salad,

banana bread, hash browns and

two stratas-one with Greek ingredients and the other ham and cheese.  I could not decide between them so had a small piece of both!

We spent in a perfect weekend in a perfect place.  If you are ever needing to get away from it all, Tilson Place in Minnedosa is the spot do so.  Tell then Food Musings sent you.

Kath’s quote: “Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram; The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun, and with him rise weeping.”William Shakespeare

Love-that is all.

And so it was that we were finally at this inauspicious but surprizing little place.  I loved everything about it from the moment we pulled up.  There were a plethora of white varieties of flowers in the window boxes (that Chef was just remembering to water) and when we stepped inside I was dazzled by one of my favourite colours of blue (in fact I have painted our Victorian screen door of our house, exactly the same colour).  So too, my favourite colour coupling is blue with a rich chocolate brown and this is precisely the colour scheme of Horfrost.  Our table was waiting for us: set with two place settings and a chilled glass bottle of water at the ready.

We started with a cocktail-D choosing the Blue Cucumber Gin and Tonic and I the White Wine flight.  D, who is crazy about traditional G&Ts thought that the refreshing infusion of cucumber was the perfect enhancement. I have had beer flights previously, but never a wine flight.  The tastes of a German Riesling, a Californian Chardonnay and an Australian something or other (three wines are hard to remember!) were a delicious way to stimulate the taste buds.

I chose the Pig Cheek to start.  From taste and appearances I would say that half of the bounty had been smoked while the other half marinated.  Both portions were quickly sauteed to bring out a salty surface.  The marinated half was tender and succulent and the smoked half was firmer but equally tasty, in its own right.  They were laid upon a bed of arugula and then topped with a drizzle of maple syrup.  Sweet and salty-I was in heaven!

D selected the bison, mango spring rolls.  The ground bison was beautifully enhanced by the tropical fruit and the tiny, crispy wrappers.  He was well pleased.

Then came an amuse bouche-Cajun, honey chicken wings.  I was needing to pace myself by this time but did enjoy a meaty bite.

Thank heaven we had decided to split an entree because when the Hemp Tempura Pickerel arrived, I could not get enough!  When pickerel is perfectly cooked (and this was) the fish actually sparkles in your mouth.  The three sauce of garlic aioli, hoisin and chipotle were not crucial but still very much appreciated.

When asked by the attentive servers (who had some trouble keeping ingredients and pronunciations straight) to choose a side for our fish, we could not decide and so opted for both!  D loved the interesting take on an arborio rice which included roasted corn and a touch of cinnamon.  I was over the moon with the potato croquette and a new baby potato that was a kissed with a dollop of pesto.  But even the broccoli spear was perfect: it was firm and had  been drizzled with just a breath of butter, or so we suspected.  There was nary a salt shaker in sight, and none needed, as every item was sublimely seasoned.

We knew that there was homemade ice cream for dessert but we were absolutely satiated.  We were looking forward to get out to walk the dog as we had over indulged and needed an excuse to walk it off but we still had the drive home ahead of us.  This went quickly enough and it had been worth the effort.  If you have any excuse to head west, make sure that Horfrost is on your itinerary.  Better yet, just make the trip for no other reason than to experience one of Manitoba’s finest restaurants. 

D summed our dinner up in this manner: superb attention to detail; imaginative and inventive.

Kath’s quote: “The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living” -Dione Lucas

Love-that is all.

I think that events like Christmas and summer holidays are made more enjoyable because of the anticipation surrounding the dates.  I have waited over a year to visit Horfrost.  Portage la Prairie is a mere hour west of Winnipeg and would be an easy drive for dinner.  In fact, if we lived in any other major city in Canada , we would probably be used to driving for that amount of time to spend an evening out, on a regular basis.  But this is Winnipeg, where D and I often walk out for supper and if we do have to take the car, the drive is 20 minutes (max) to cross the city.  We often do eat at out of town restaurants, but they are typically to the north of us, en route to the our little beach house.

When D presented me with a rural road trip for Mothers Day-I jumped at the chance to spend time with him, visit the Lilly Festival in Neepawa and stay at a historic B&B in Minnedosa.  But I was also scheming, even months ago, to stop at Portage la Prairie on our way home with Horfrost in mind.  I even knew what I would likely order last week, as I started chatting in twitterverse about our weekend trek.

As circumstances turned out, Sister #3 beat me to Horfrost with her visit for lunch last week.  She subjected her colleagues to our automatic photo taking when the food arrives.  D says that he has not had a hot meal since I began this blogging adventure.

She enjoyed the Beef Tenderloin Burger-pieces of beef tenderloin steak, homemade bun, lettuce, tomato and house dijon sauce and

her friends had the Tofu and Mushroom Melt with Baked Tomato Soup with mozzarella.  I think that she enjoyed the expertise and attention to detail of Horfrost’s chef as much as we did.

But alas, we haven’t even gotten to my eating adventures.  As I said at the beginning of this, aniticipation can be wonderful-see tomorrow for Part 2.

Kath’s quote: “the most usual, common, and cheap sort of Food all China abounds in, and which all in that Empire eat, from the Emperor to the meanest Chinese; the Emperor and great Men as a Dainty, the common sort as necessary sustenance. It is called Teu Fu, that is Paste of Kidney Beans. I did not see how they made it. They drew the Milk out of the Kidney Beans, and turning it, make great Cakes of it like Cheeses, as big as a large Sive, and five or six fingers thick. All the Mass is as white as the very Snow, to look to nothing can be finer….Alone, it is insipid, but very good dress’d as I say and excellent fry’d in Butter.”-Friar Domingo Navarrete, 17th century

Love-that is all.

In “my green and salad days” I went on a European excursion; what seemed like a zillion countries over the course of a month.  Our first stop was Athens and in truth, I know that my parents would not have been impressed had they known that their 19 year old daughter was lodging near Omonia Square which (at that time at least) was the heart of Athen’s red light district.  We didn’t know this our first night and could not figure out why they were traffic snarls on the streets below at 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning.

In those days, Athens was pretty dirty and very hot and sticky and I was relieved when we departed for the breezy Greek Islands.  But in the mean time, there was a food which made Athens worthwhile-the yogurt!  We would make the yogurt shops our destination much like you would go out for gelati in Italy (and now Canada).  

The yogurt itself would be sliced with a cold knife into a perfect square and then the honey would be drizzled from considerable height to ensure an even coating across its waiting face.  The taste?  Oh my goodness, I remember that first taste so vividly: cold and silky and creamy and pungent and sweet all at the same time.

I don’t know why it took me all of this time to discover Greek yogurt again.  I can’t get enough of it with banana slices or blueberries or mango for my breakfast. But this week I also needed a quick and light dessert idea for guests.  I picked up an angel food cake and whipped some alfalfa honey into the yogurt.  With slices of strawberry, it became and alternate to (the sometimes too heavy) strawberry shortcake!

Yesterday, I taught an early morning seminar and missed out on my nutritious breakfast and settled for a muffin instead.  My carb and sugar high and then crash was disconcerting and I will be sure not to repeat that performance any time soon.

Kath’s quote: “Mrs. Beaver stood with her back to the fire, eating her morning yogurt. She held the carton close to her chin and gobbled with a spoon….’Heavens, how nasty this stuff is. I wish you’d take to it, John….I don’t know how I should get through my day without it.”-Evelyn Waugh

Love-that is all.