Sunday, May 2, 2010

I like my tea dark as hell, strong as death and sweet as love;

I was woken up this morning by a soft kiss on the forehead by the man of my dreams. He rolled on top of me and asked me what I wanted for breakfast. "Chocolate," I say with a smile. The hunter embarks on a dangerous journey to the treacherous kitchen cabinet, sacrificing his own dear life amongst the wild in an attempt to gather food for his mate as she waits patiently anticipating his arrival. He brings me back:



We feed each other bites of this glorious bar of smooth, brown delicacy and stare deeply into each others eyes with desire and longing. Moments later we hear banging on the door. "I want pancakes!" Ah, time to feed the young ones...

This weekend was spent by the pool as usual. We ate a lot of Thai food. I've had some form of seafood pretty much every day this week. Tomorrow I am making ka-bobs with sirloin, vidalia onion, grape tomatoes and bell peppers. I loveee grilled grape tomatoes, so sweet and tangy! I usually dice and marinate my steak in teriyaki sauce two hours before grilling. I also soak the wooden ka-bob sticks in a cold glass of water for that long too. Then I assemble them.


This is what they look like uncooked.


Buttered corn on the cobb goes great with them.


I grill them on this portable 13x9 hibachi grill that my mom got me. I tried grilling them on an outdoor grill once and burned the vegetables to shreds waiting on the meat to cook. It was so sad to watch after I spent all that time making it. Anyway, I place them in the grill all lined the same direction. I drizzle olive oil, A1, minced garlic, salt and pepper over them, wait for the edges of the vegetables to turn brown, flip and repeat.



People always request for them when I get invited to pool parties. Yep, they are only friends with me for my ka-bobs :(

Now that summer is almost here I've had a passion for natural and organic products. I took Michelle Pham's facial recipe and added stuff to it:



Slice one orange and one lemon and squeeze into container. Since we live in Florida, Dave has lemon trees and orange trees in the backyard that I pick my citrus fruits from:



Add one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil which acts as a solvent to break down the bonds of sebum (dirt and make up trapped in your pores by skin oils). I used olive oil that I brought back from my anniversary trip to Spain:



Add two tablespoons of aloe vera gel which soothes the skin. You can find aloe vera gel tubes at GNC for 99 cents:



Break and add three capsules of vitamin E which acts as a moisturizer to nourish the skin:



Add one tablespoon of organic honey which acts as an adhesive:



Add half a cup of organic, non-bleached sugar:



Add four packs of crushed aspirin (another form of salicylic acid, a beta hydroxy found in most acne scrubs). I've seen this particular one at CVS and Walmart:



Then stir until ingredients become a chunky, honey colored mix. Splash face with warm water to open up pores. Apply in a circular motion, avoiding the eye area. You may have to stir the ingredients before each use because sugar molecules tend to attract each other and the olive oil floats to the top. Rinse your face with cold water to tighten pores and store the container in a shaded place at room temperature. Discard contents after one month, wash container and start over! My scrub usually only lasts me a week because I use it all over my body too. It's all natural, every ingredient serves it purpose. After using it once, I already saw the difference. My skin was soft, smooth, radiant and all my blackheads were gone!

I'm in love with black jasmine tea during the summers. It brings me feelings of nostalgia as I think back to talks with my grandma on the backyard hammock over a cup of jasmine tea. Stress and my period seems to be the biggest factors in my acne so taking a break for tea every so often probably helps. I add honey, sugar, a slice of lemon and an slice of orange (pictured above) to my tea. Mmmm...