Add Lime in the Springtime

It's officially the beginning of the spring season, 2009! Time to rejoice in the warmer climates to soon be visiting the Midwest- and add some lime to your Corona! It's the best selling beer in Mexico, and the highest imported label in the U.S. Many people say they don't enjoy this beer without a lime! Supposedly, limes were inserted into the necks of beers in Mexico to keep bugs and flies from drowning in your beverage...which sounds more fiction and rumor. But these days, while enjoying every last drop your well-earned dollar can pay for- it's all about the flavor. And the skill.

Skill you say? Yes, the perfected skill of liming your Corona Extra. No light here please. Pretty much every time a bartender is asked for the 'import' special with a lime, you get a Corona bottle with a lime wedge the size of a nickel stuffed in the top of the neck. And every time, they get a dirty look- while more lime is asked for.To get it right, you need a lime wedge-which is about twice the size of a slice (or actually 1/8th of a lime) and an opened Corona. First, squeeze the wedge's juice into the beer- most people don't squeeze the juice but opt for lime-stuffing instead. Second, squeeze the lime wedge horizontally into the neck of the bottle. Carefully (very carefully!) place your thumb over the top- making sure to cover the opening completely and avoid any spillage. While holding on tightly, turn the beer upside down, and slowly watch as the lime floats to the bottom. Once it touches, turn the bottle back over and consume at your leisure.

The BIG difference is squeezing the juice out-without that part, tipping the bottle upside down doesn't make a different to the flavor which is the same as stuffing the lime in the neck. Someone thought to surpass the skills requirement, and even invented a Lime Bomber to make the task much easier! (Watch the video). Now, another skill or trick to learn is getting the lime out of the bottle before tossing the glass in the recycling bin...but that's something you'll just have to work on yourself.

Yes to....Carrots? No to preservatives?

Hmm, that's right, Yes to Carrots. And to tomatoes (for oily skin), and cucumbers (for sensitive skin). It's the new black. It's apparently the new organic-paraben-free alternative to Burt’s Bees. Instead of harnessing the natural identity of bees, the brand digs up veggies, mixes them with natural occurring ingredients like salt from the Dead Sea and serves it up for different skin types. A big push in the organic industry is what has helped this San Francisco, CA company build it's wealth- it's USDA Organic, against animal testing, all recyclable, and a portion of your purchase goes towards a Seed Fund, which is a non-profit group which helps out communities attempting to sustain themselves by growing food. All this is very cool. But the most important part to us- the consumer end is the effectiveness!

It works! In fact, after buying and losing many tubes of chapstick, the only one ever really missed was my Yes to Carrots C Me Smile Melon one. Lost forever! They contain some beeswax, vegetable extract, and the most helpful ingredient- soothing shea butter. Happy as a clam while standing at a local Walgreens with the replacement purchase in hand, my eyes gazed upon the other countless products with each their own purpose and type of vegetable. Now, it's a mission to become a human guinea-pig and indulge on the world of saying Yes!...to carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Sesame Seeds for Dessert

After raving about enjoying a dessert of sesame balls, I was offered a taste. Delish! How could sesame be a main component of a dessert? When we think of desserts, images of chocolate syrup and powdered sugar with cherries and whip cream dance in our heads. Then you take an eastern hemisphere nod to dessert and wonderful sesame seed balls are the dish! Sesame balls are mostly made of sesame seeds and rice flour- with a bit of brown sugar and bean paste. Rolled up and fried, to be served toasty, with or without dipping sauce. Epicurious has a great recipe, and for extra special occasions you can add chocolate instead of the sweet bean paste. Ching He-Huang uses dark chocolate in her recipe. I've come across her tv show Chinese Food Made Easy, which airs on the BBC a few times and she's a fun cook. For some reason, I'm more intrigued by a wonderful Chinese female chef, with an English accent, than the colorful dishes sometimes! Take a look a section of an episode on Youtube. The closeups are scrumptious and mouthwatering! And you can totally order some sesame balls from a Chinese or Thai restaurant. Order up!

Shoe Obsession

The higher the heel, the higher your height- and the taller you are, the more confidence you have. An interesting article by career coach Marty Nemko talks about how a shoe obsession can boost your career. It's always the subject of the easy, amazing, ways that careers or esteems are boosted by doing the smallest actions. Almost every article speaking of women's collections of shoes and the adoring fandom wonderful shoes create must mention Sex and the City. There. 'Nuff said.

Wandering about one day being a tourist (and willfully avoiding the True/False Film Festival tourists themselves) in the District and visiting Maude Vintage, perusing the vintagey, thrifty stores- a pair caught my eye. Well, actually my friend's eye before mine, but just seeing an exquisite (and hardly scuffed) pair of Max Studio heels going for a fifth of it's original price was unmissable. They screamed "I'm yours" and so they are now- but not a victim of impulse shopping, oh no. My self-patience decided that if they were there when I returned later in the week, if they waited for me- they would be mine. (sorry, no pic of them here, but an equally faboo set of MaxStudio heels instead). Score!

My brain goes back and forth, as a heel lover myself, between the exotic, hard-to-find, vintage shoe or the brand new spiciness a dept. store pair has on the soul. And as we all know, spiciness is always good for the soul.