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….

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.

There is something immensely satisfying about supporting a neighbourhood place like Luxalune Gastropub.  Most Winnipeggers know the story of the Warwaruk brothers and their efforts to save the family farm by opening Lux Sole (one of Winnipeg’s original Tapas restaurants), followed by their move to the Gastrobpub concept and Luxalune.

Last evening, through the one of the many advantages of social media, we were invited to and attended the launch of their new menu.   We got one of the last empty tables, as most of the enthusiasts were able to get there more prompt ly than us.

Our biggest decision of the evening was which on the many fine craft beers that Luxalune features, would we select.  I had tastes of a couple and decided upon a blueberry beer, selected both for taste and because I imagined it to be full of the anti-oxidants that I normally consume in my glass of red wine.

After which, no further decisions had to be made for the rest of the evening.  We sunk deeply into the leather couches and just accepted the food tastes that kept arriving at our table.  All tolled, we tasted samples of the Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip (with a nice little punch of heat) served with Lux tapas garlic bread, Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings (that were deliciously citrusy-tasting to us), Garlic Bruschetta Pizza (my fav of the pizza choices with feta and fresh mushroom slices), Caribbean Jerk Pizza (smothered with marinara jerk sauce, Cajun BBQ julienned beef and carrots!), Lux Poutine (which warrants special accolades below), Sweet n Savory Mahi Mahi Pizza (featuring a Thai peanut base and Cajun seared Mahi Mahi) and Marshmallows Pops (drizzled with dark and white chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of sugared peanuts) to end up.

I will say at this juncture, that we were very satified with our little tastes, as were the rest of the guests and could have easily departed for home but it was a rare date night with J1 and J2 and so we paused and then sampled a couple more.

Chris and his manageress Kim conspired to deliver us a new pizza invention that I believe they called Pouza (a word combination of poutine and pizza) that describes it literally.  Being the potato and poutine aficionado that you know I am-I was delighted.  

We had missed out on the Lux Enchiladas, as they were sampled earlier and so a full order arrived for us to sample.  We love the Mexican rice that is stuffed alongside the chicken, cheese and veggies  into a crispy baked enchilada.  Do you know how half of the fixings fall out onto your plate when you are trying to eat a Mexican wrap?  Well this is cleverly rectified with the inclusion of a handful of taco chips served alongside, so that you can scoop up every delicious bite.

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Last, but by no means least, were another order of chicken wings.  These were a combination of the Electric Honey and Lemon Pepper choices.  There are another 10 flavours offered from Dill Pickle (on the menu’s Sweet scale) to Crazy Mexican (on the Screaming scale). Dry ribs come in all these flavours as well.

Of late, I have avoided fried foods and pizza and am proud to say that I am 19 pounds closer to wellness, as a result.  Luxalune very strategically does not deep fry any of their tapas offerings including their wings and potatoes for poutine!  So I can indulge in a special treat, guilt free.  And when potatoes are not deep fried they are actually very good for you, as they are an excellent  source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C.   The wings are covered in a coating that creates the impression of deep frying but they are actually oven baked and beautifully done so.

I managed to assemble the team for a moment last evening, before they had to rush back to what they do best-taking care of their loyal customers.  Here are Chris, Lawrence, Kim and Tom.

On the horizon, is the arrival of Luxalune’s own brewed beer, which will come from their homestead near the village of Arden, between Neepawa and Minnedosa.  D loves the area and is treating me to the Lily Festival this weekend.  The matriarch of the family, who was there last night as well, suggested that we drop in on Lawrence-the farming brother (identified by his tan), but we think that we will just mosey along and enjoy all that a summer weekend in rural Manitoba has to offer.

Kaths quote: “Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth.”-Li Zhaoxing

Love -that is all.

I am so blessed to not live in the suburbs.  Not only do we have the river bank,  lots of green space, bike and walking trails, but we have our pick of some of the best restaurants in the city, all within walking distance.  On this day I was meeting a work associate, who had already started her summer vacation, but was including me in her day for us to iron out some last minute details.  The destination had to be one that made her feel as if she were truly on vacation (and perhaps no longer in the city).  The patio at Pizzeria Gusto delivers that wonderful feeling.

It was hot but breezy and we choose to sit without an umbrella.  This became a wise decision when the winds pick up and people were getting the surprize of a huge canvas umbrella crashing across their table. Gusto took on additional meaning at this lunch.

Both my lunch date and I are adventurous eaters and he have both dined at Pizzeria Gusto before, so we were looking for something completely different and our wishes were satisfied by the bistro’s eclectic offerings.

We asked to share both a salad and a pizza. Our salad choice was the Altezza, so named for the tail lights of a European sports car.  Beets are roasted and then married with arugula, goat cheese, toasted walnuts, a balsamic reduction and sea salt.  Orange segments were a lovely surprize addition to the menu description.  This proved to be a beautiful melding of sweet and salty tastes that is my palate’s favourite combination.

Also shared was La Coppa pizza. Now “coppa” of course is Italian for “cup” but can also depict a roughly made sausage.  In this case I think it aptly describes our rough looking pizza toppings of carmelized onions, pancetta, more goat cheese, the novel topping of thinly shaved raw brussel sprouts and a soft cooked egg!  The sharpness of the sprouts, offset the rich creaminess of the egg and cheese and the salty pancetta made for a full spectrum of tastes in each bite.  In truth, I could just eat the hearth fired pizza dough bare naked (the crust, not me).  The textured is firm and chewy and the sweetness of the grains, brought out by the flame is just my coppa tea.

There was no room (or time, unfortunately) for dessert.  Besides, the wind was picking up and we had enough excitement from the flying umbrellas for one day.

Kath’s quote: “A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do.”-P. J. O’Rourke

Love-that is all.