LUXOMME

I'm honestly not a coffee person. Not that I dislike it, but that I have no tendency towards it. Lately though, cold brew is something that's becoming more and more popular - and despite having had it before, I had never made it myself.


So I rapidly typed into google 'how to make cold brew coffee', and excitedly read through all of the top links.

There were a plethora of different suggestions. Coarse grind, medium grind, no grinding at all!

Okay the last one wasn't true. You need to grind the coffee.


According to all the links, making cold brew is very simple - no fancy coffee equipment required and definitely not that $1000 espresso machine that beckons to me each time I go to the store. If we are being practical, all you need is a bowl and some filter paper.

If you want to make your life a little easier, a french press is the way to go.


All you have you do is place your grind into a containing unit, fill it up with cool water and let it sit for as long as you want! Recommended time is 15-20 hours, so beware, this is not a drink for impatient people.


Now you're probably thinking 'Well, that's fine and dandy, but where's the lavender!'

Well, here's an example of a blogger fail. I actually threw in the lavender at the 10th hour of steeping and forgot to take a picture.

Lavender is a very soft flavor, but can be extremely strong and overwhelming in large quantities. I elected to add it later in the process - just long enough to release the flavors, but not long enough for the richness of the coffee to be overshadowed.


After I let it sit overnight, I slowly took the 'press' part of my french press, and separated the coffee grounds from the rich coffee liquor that I've been so patiently waiting for.


I grabbed a cup of ice.

And filled it with my hard (waiting is difficult) work.



I usually take my coffee black, but felt like a dash of cream today.


Then, after a whole day (and night!) of anticipation, I slipped to my room to enjoy my delicious efforts, accompanied with a side of ripe and juicy blueberries.

One thing I always look forward to during the Summer months is a good BBQ party.



My dear girl Hera here has never really experienced a Canadian BBQ party, having just arrived from overseas, so I gathered a few of my nearest and dearest and shuffled them all into my backyard for some good grillin' fun.





Since we are essentially playing with open flames, things can get pretty crazy at times.

Memorable quote of the night, 'Um, is the fire supposed to be that high?'.


Despite the fire hazard, Jane and Gary bravely manned the grill while I worked on the garlic pesto penne indoors, taking a break in between pasta stirs to go paparazzi on them and admire their skills.


On the grill today were smoked farmer's sausages (very Manitoban), grilled rosemary chicken, stuffed bell peppers, parmesan green beans, bacon wrapped scallops, and some perfectly charred corn on the cob.

Delicious.


So eager to dig in, we quickly set the table and didn't even notice that nothing was matching!




Not quite sure if we had made too much, or if my dining area was too small - we played a game of tetris on the table, trying to fit all the food in at once.






Feeling particularly exhausted and ravenously hungry from having to grill our own food, we spent the rest of the evening filling ourselves up with delicious BBQ, while watching the sun slowly start to set.

We wanted to go for a walk around the park while shadows of the sun were still around, but by the time we finished, we were all too full to move a limb. So instead, we retired to the other room to relax with a cup of tea and a riveting round of monopoly.

naomi

You've probably seen these two girls pop up in quite a few of my posts this past year. Well, after Summer started, everyone's been doing their own thing and we haven't had quite as much time to see each other as we would have liked.

Shauntel spends most of her time at the cottage, casually cruising around the lake on her boat, and tanning in between rides. Summer life is difficult to tear her away from, so when she finally came back into the city, Hera and I jumped at the chance of getting together.


I never quite understood the lure of patios because I've eaten outside before and it's really not that fun. Half the time I'm trying to keep my napkin from blowing away, the other half of the time, I spend trying to keep insects away from my food.

Sharing my food isn't really something I do.


The girls on the other hand ADORE patios.


Since I'm currently on a 'explore everything', and 'never say no to new experiences' streak, I begrudgingly agreed, with one place in mind.

Santa Lucia Pizza (St. Boniface), is a place I always drive by on the way to the mall. It's a restaurant with gorgeous indoor seating on the bottom level, and a fantastic patio which spans the entirety of the roof. Surrounded by huge panels of unobstructed glass, restaurant go-ers have a great view of the surrounding city, while elevated above the streets.



The weather in the city right now is gorgeous, which is not a word I use often on this blog to describe Winnipeg. But when it is slightly warm with a light cool breeze, I have to sing a few praises.

It's also perfect margarita weather.





While the girls sipped on their cool drinks, I stuck to my water and eagerly anticipated our food to come, which soon arrived fresh from the kitchen and straight out of the oven.



The girls shared a meat lovers pizza [11.45] and a lunch portion lasagna [8.95] , while I opted for a delicious greek salad [9.95] instead.

Both the salad and lasagna comes accompanied with generous pieces of fluffy and perfectly buttered garlic bread.









After this experience, I've had a change in heart when it comes patios -- which can be mildly fun as long as there are no pesky flies wanting to share.

So next time someone wants some patio time, please invite me along.

naomi
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More reviews of Santa Lucia Pizza can be found at the link below