HAD ANY GOOD lattes lately? If so, you may be ready for a new twist on the old routine: the breve.

Breve translates from Italian as ‘brief’ or ‘short.’ What that has to do with this drink beats me! It should really be called cremoso (creamy).

Wiki defines the breve thus:

Caffè breve (caf-ay brev-ay) is an American variation of a latte: a milk-based espresso drink using steamed half-and-half (a 50:50 mixture of milk and cream) instead of milk. The use of half-and-half increases the foam in the drink.

Sounds rich, doesn’t it? If you try one, don’t sue me if you wind up addicted! But for those concerned about stacking on the pounds, here’s a morsel of comfort. In her article at Cocoajava.com, Low Carbing at the Coffee House, Vicki Shaver says:

“Whether it’s a Breve Latte or a Breve Cappuccino, you will love this creamy version of the standard so much that you will never want to return to the land of skim! This is a low carb staple, and a must when turning coffee into dessert.”

4 Insider Tips for Getting a Good Breve

For daily coffee at home, we use our Keurig machine and a variety of K-Cups (extra bold). In coffee houses I almost never drink anything but breves, so I’ve learned a few simple tricks for getting it the way I like it. It starts with good beans.

Chris Cole lists his occupation as Full-time Coffee Expert

Does your local hangout use great beans? If you’re not totally sure, do a taste test. Visit several coffee houses in your area over a period of 3–4 days. Order the same type of drink in each establishment. Which one stands out the most?

My second trick is that you have to be able to taste the coffee itself. It’s not just about the cream. When I see people ordering gigantic mochas with only one shot of espresso (or adding all kinds of sickly flavoring), I have to wonder: does this person actually like coffee?

If you can’t bear the taste of espresso without some added pumpkin pie or mint or hazelnut then—even with all the cream—my perfect drink will be too strong for you. I order a small breve with two shots of espresso, and that’s the intensity I like. Anything less tastes bland to me.

If you’re out globetrotting (at least in North America) and you want to hunt down a breve, there’s a third trick you must know: how to ask.

A Peaberry's breve undergoes my rigorous taste test (score: A+)

Here’s how your spiel should go:

“Can you make a breve?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a latte made with half-and-half.”

“Sure, we have half-and-half. But I’ll have to charge you more.”

You might pay up to 50 cents more . . . but I think you’ll agree that the heavenly taste is worth the extra cost.

Incidentally, when ordering in Starbucks, be sure to say you want a “breve latte.” That’s what Starbucks baristas are trained to call it, and they won’t feel right until you’ve said it.

(The proper term is caffè breve, but I’ve never had to say the caffè part to get what I want.)

When all else fails and your (non-corporate) barista is looking blank, just remember to say it’s a latte made with half-and-half. This worked like a charm for me in Ontario, where no one I encountered knew a thing about it. But after hearing my magic words they knew just what to do.

The fourth tip—and this is critical—is about steaming the half-and-half to the correct temperature: 160 degrees. If you encounter an over-zealous barista, you’ll end up with a burnt taste (and probably burn your mouth as well). Ask your barista what temp is used for steaming. If the answer is a wishful glance at the front door or “I’m not sure, let me check with the boss,” then you should order something else.

My Own Personal Barista

Apart from my local hangout (where they always do it right), I also have my own barista at home. Each Saturday and Sunday morning, Brian grinds our Peaberry’s beans fresh for each cup using our Mr. Coffee grinder. He uses the small Krups espresso machine we found for $5 at a garage sale in Jackson, Mississippi—we’ve had that little baby for three years now and it’s still going strong.

The final product is served in our favorite red “feng shui” coffee mugs (see main picture) with a dash of cinnamon. Brian definitely has it down to an art.

If you’d like to learn to make breve at home—or coax hubby into learning—you might enjoy the video at the end of this article.

Divertiti!

(Enjoy yourself.)

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He’d love to do the San Juan Islands in a Nordhavn 62-footer (around $2 million pre-loved, including VIP stateroom). Or, for those moments when the budget calls for something a little more modest, how ’bout the Saint Lawrence River in a 29-foot Ranger Tug (just under $225,000 for the 2010 model).

Millionaire dreams aside, the exciting moment finally came when Milliver’s Travels got to visit one of the places Brian learned of in Motor Boating magazine: Big Chute Marine Railway on the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario, Canada.

Big Chute is fascinating for boat lovers and engineers alike. Brian is both. But would it prove of interest to a foo-foo type such as moi, who needs her hot shower, her well-rounded breakfast and her breve (pronounced bre-vay) sipped at the local coffee house before she’ll agree to go adventuring?

I can safely proclaim that even a girlie traveler like me found Big Chute a tourist activity not to be missed!

A load of boats crossing land via Big Chute

But how does it work? In the words of your technically-challenged friendly travel guide, Big Chute lifts boats overland from one side of the Trent-Severn to the other. It does so by allowing boats to drive onto a submerged ramp; operators then secure all craft with special webbing slings.

One of the fun parts of watching from the sidelines is seeing a collection of different-sized boats gently glide up or down the steep incline (depending on which side they entered from) as you stroll beside them on the observation sidewalk. While bikini-clad wives wave to you from the suntan decks of their pleasure craft you can hear the hard-working Big Chute operators communicating by radio.

We watched four or five loads going in both directions and never tired of the novelty.

The same load of boats from the opposite angle, as they begin their stately descent

After gloating over the main attraction you can see the remains of the Old Big Chute, built in 1917. That one could only carry boats up to 35 feet long, which ruled out a lot of larger commercial vessels.

Brochures and prominently-placed info boards also educate visitors on the flora and fauna of the region. This can be stirring stuff!

For instance, Engelmann’s Quillwort is a primitive aquatic plant with a fossil record dating back 206–248 million years. Closely related to ferns, quillwort is on the endangered list due to human development.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t already know that You Are in Black Bear Country, you can grab the brochure of the same name to learn how to avoid a bear encounter. Get the low-down on which local snakes are poisonous and which are not, and which are endangered. The Massasauga Rattlesnake is a provincially threatened reptile.

(Provinces to Canada are like states to the USA.)

You can also see a bottled example of the Sea Lamprey: a little dude with a scary smile that caused a big change in the modernization plans at Big Chute during the 1960s. The Sea Lamprey had been devastating the fishing industry; researchers had to find a way for the system to stop assisting the migration of the Lamprey before modernization could go ahead.

Lego model of Big Chute

I badly wanted to get the Big Chute documentary on DVD, but we’d spent all our money the day before on a glorious float plane ride. One of my favorite displays was the Lego model of Big Chute that was sitting underneath the TV as it played the documentary for visitors.

Big Chute is operated by Parks Canada. Located approximately three hours north of Niagara Falls, we visited Big Chute as an easy day trip from our luxury base camp: Beacon Shore on Georgian Bay B&B (Midland, Ontario). Our B&B was all the luxury you could ask for in a vacation on the Bay, but without paying the high prices.

If you’re having a hard time narrowing down your activity choices in the Georgian Bay area, here’s the skinny: you simply MUST put Big Chute on your list. Free to watch and the only one of its kind still operating in North America.

Bring your own breve.

Photos Copyright © 2010 Brian Williams & Milli Thornton

WHEN WE SAY travel, we tend to think of world travel—or at least going to another county or state. But most of us travel every day without giving it much thought. Sure, we might be more conscious these days of the cost of gas (and its impact on the environment), but how much do we know that our local travel can make a big impact in other ways?

Do you have a beaten path to Wal-Mart, Target, Starbucks, etc. that you could almost drive in your sleep? I’m not suggesting you never shop in those places, but adding some new travel habits to your routine could prove life-changing.

Thanks to online friend Judy Clement Wall of Zebra Sounds, I’m now a member of the 3/50 project: Saving the Brick and Mortars Our Nation Is Built On. Have a look at these numbers from their site:

Get behind the 3/50 project!

3 – Which three independently-owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared?

50 – If half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally-owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the impact if 3/4 of our employed population did that.

Below are my picks for the 3/50 project. I already have fun spending at least $50 a month between them, so my extra push is to feature them online with a link to each business.

My 'serene' route for errands

Brian tells me I’m saving gas because I’m driving slower (35 mph) and not doing the Stop-Go for traffic lights and stop signs. I get to share the road with walkers, joggers and bike riders instead of maniacs in SUVs.

Peaberry’s Café & Bakery

4350 Boardman-Canfield Road, Canfield, Ohio 44406, Ph: (330) 702-9230

Having a local coffee hang-out is essential to my writer’s lifestyle, and Peaberry’s meets my stringent criteria. The coffee’s always perfect (I drink double-shot breves), the service friendly, and I can sit in one of the quiet back booths to write.

Peaberry’s also makes killer gourmet sandwiches. My favorite at the moment is the #9: Cucumber with Asiago Peppercorn, Red Onion and Muenster Cheese on Croissant (I ask for turkey to be added). Yum!

The Flaming Ice Cube: Vegan Shoppe & Café

1449 Boardman-Canfield Rd., Suite 260, Boardman, OH 44512, Ph: (330) 726-4766

I *love* this business! I’m not vegan so I’ve only eaten in the café once, but I do love to shop in the eco-friendly New Age half of the store. I have bought candles, aromatherapy, books, a water fountain, CDs and other treasures. I found an agate candle-holder-cum-bookend that was just what I needed for a shelf in my office.

Cool merchandise: The Flaming Ice Cube

Fittingly for the theme of this article, the sign in the picture reads:

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Health Food Center of Youngstown
(new Website coming soon)

6015 Market Street, Boardman, Ohio 44512, Ph: (330) 965-1515

I buy a lot of herbs and supplements, and I’m fussy about the quality of what I consume. This shop not only feels inviting as you walk inside, they do stock many items I was buying online.

I’ve also bought organic bananas for my organic banana bread, neem toothpaste (Do you read your toothpaste label? Do you know what you’re putting on your gums?), herbal shampoo, almond milk for my protein powder and more.

Which three businesses will you (or do you) support in your local area?

Visit the 3/50 project for more inspiration!

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MILLI INTERVIEWED ABOUT THE 30/50 PROJECT ON WKBN:

Story by Steve Pacer of WKBN, Youngstown, Ohio. Thanks, Steve!

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Photos in the body of this article Copyright © 2009 Milli Thornton. Feature image courtesy Chris Cole of Peaberry’s Café & Bakery.

The festival layout includes stages for the performers, food and beverage stalls, sports cars on display, an alfresco restaurant serving mainly wine and appetizers and a playground for the kids. Stalls devoted to related fun stuff such as festival souvenirs, dance lessons and face painting for kids adds to the festive spirit.

We arrived at the Jazz Fest late on the afternoon of July 2, acutely aware that we had only three days to do it all. To really do the festival you need at least a week (plus some serious stamina).

Our first reaction to the outdoor scene was disappointment, for two reasons: the ominous, cloudy weather—it either threatened to or did rain for three days in a row—and missing our first free concert because we didn’t know the location of the all stages yet.

Montreal Jazz Festival street performers

However, my gloominess morphed to happy buzz as soon as I tried an Amarula drink from a nearby stall.

I was unacquainted with Amarula but it sounded fun. We were given a choice of flavors and, naturally, I chose coffee.

The result was a frappé style of drink prepared with blenderized ice.

Ohhh and it went down easy! One of those dangerously yummy drinks that could get you into trouble fast because it’s so more-ish. I was supposed to share it with Brian, but he was too busy crawling all over a Camaro SS 2010 to notice that he only got a few sips.

Amarula: La creme de l'Afrique

(Ever watched the YouTube video of the African critters getting rolling drunk? Yep, they were feasting on the marula fruit.)

The marula wine is distilled in column stills, and then in copper-pot stills, to produce a spirit. It’s then matured for two years in oak barrels. The final step is the blending of the liqueur with the finest, fresh cream until a smooth consistency is formed.

From Amarula HQ:

“The creaming process is of the highest standard, resulting in a cream product that is delectably rich and soft, with an alcohol content of 17%.”

I went back to my favorite drink (red wine) during the remainder of our time in Montréal. But that drive-by Amarula buzz definitely put me in the right frame of mind to relax and get over the Rainy Jazz Blues.

Sacré bleu. I regret not going back to that Amarula stall while I still had the chance.

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Yeah, baby! Amarula from a duty free shipper for only $14.99

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All photos on this page Copyright © 2009 Brian Williams

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