Friday, April 29, 2011

What's the most refreshing drink in the world?


1. Lemon/Lime Water

Juice of one half lemon/lime in a glass of pure water with fresh mint and ice cubes.


2. Organic whole milk in a glass bottle

If you don't have whole milk, add 2 tablespoons of heavy cream and 3 tablespoons of water to two cups of skim or 1% milk.


3. Coconut Water

Cut or smash open a young organic coconut, and pour out the water, then drink. Full of refreshing, delicious enzymes and nutrients.


4. World's Most Refreshing Drink-- Dogh?

Kefir_2
Iran can get hot. Which is probably why Persia produces the most satisfying hot weather drink we know. It's called dogh (or dough or dugh) and it blends salty yogurt with mint, cucumber, and club soda. You can buy it at Persian stores or restaurants but we prefer to make our own versions of this frizzy creamy dream by blending kefir (fruity or plain) with seltzer water and ice (photo left). Mmmmmmmm.



5. Banana Mango Juice

Banana Mango Juice: Buy it at whole foods or put two mangoes, three bananas, and ice in a blender and create a smoothie.



6. Lemon-Orange water *or* Plain Orange Juice With Fizzy Water

Orange Juice: Take orange juice. Add fizzy water and garnish with a slice of lemon. Sip from a straw.

Lemon-orange water: 

Ingredients:
1 navel orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 quarts water
ice
fresh mint
Directions:
1) First, slice your lemon and orange in thin slices (about 8 for each)
2) Fill your pitcher half way up with ice.
3) Add your lemon and orange slices. (in a decorative manner).
4) Fill with your water (I use bottled)
5) Pour in a glass filled with ice and about 5 mint leaves.



7. Best Lemonade Ever

1 ¾ cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 ½ cups lemon juice


8.  Cucumber water













What you need is something refreshing, not too flavorful or sweet and easy to make. Hello cucumber water!
Cucumber water is possibly the most refreshing drink I've personally tasted. And it's natural.

So how do you make cucumber water? It's pretty simple. There's two ways you can do it, but both need a bit of prep time, so it helps to know ahead of time when you've got guests coming. With the first method, which gives you the most flavourful water, you blend up a cucumber before hand and then pour it through a very fine strainer (I like to line a sieve with cheesecloth). Let this concoction drip through in the fridge overnight. The resulting cucumber juice is mixed with a pitcher of water (you can stretch this out this depending on how strong you like it - I like mine with just a hint of flavour).

The other method is to cut up a cucumber into small chunks, cover in the amount of water you want to drink and let it soak in the fridge overnight. In the morning, strain the mixture and discard the cukes.

For my own personal recipe I like to add a few other things. Mint makes the drink even more cooling and refreshing. If you add mint, blend it in with the cucumber in the first method, or, if using the second method, chop the mint and let it soak with the cucumber chunks in the water overnight. I also like to add a squeeze of lime before serving or you can place a half lime in with the concoction you're soaking overnight.

When all is said and done you've got a subtly flavoured, refreshing beverage you can serve over ice. I find it's surprisingly addictive, so make a bunch or it'll be gone in no time.


8. Passionfruit Puree with Strawberry Puree with water and ice


9. Aqua Fresca

Ingredients:
4 cups drinking water
2 cups fresh fruit
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
lime or lemon wedges for garnish
Preparation:
In a blender combine water and fruit. Puree until smooth. Pour mixture through a sieve into a pitcher or serving container. Stir in lemon or lime juice and sugar. Add additional sugar to taste. Garnish with a lemon or lime wedge.



10. Lime Slush ties with Watermelon Slush

Watermelon Slush
6 ice cubes
2 cups cubed seeded watermelon, blended in a blender
1 teaspoon honey







Lime Slush:
7-8 tablespoons lime juice

1 12 ounce can 100% white grape juice concentrate

5 fresh mint leaves

lots of ice (enough to fill the blender)

cold water, as needed
Blend juice, juice concentrate, mint, and ice. Add small amounts of water to help the mixture blend well. Blend on high until ice is smooth. Serve in glasses with sprigs of fresh mint.



Saturday, April 23, 2011

Top ten songs to listen to when you're in a melancholy mood

1. "Wild Horses" by Susan Boyle



2. "No", by Shakira




3. "Make Me Wanna Die", By Taylor Momsen




4. "Only Girl in the World", By Rihanna




5. "F***ing Perfect", by Pink




6. "Right Now (Na Na)", by Akon




7. "If Everyone Cared", by Nickelback




8. "Whiskey Lullaby", by Brad Paisley




8. "Letter to Me", by Brad Paisley








10. "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson

Friday, April 1, 2011

White Owl Flies Into And Out of The Field By Mary Oliver


Coming down out of the freezing sky
With its depths of light
Like an angel, or a Buddha with wings,
It was beautiful, and accurate,
Striking the snow and whatever was there
With a force that left the imprint
Of the tips of its wings —five feet apart —
And the grabbing thrust of its feet,
And the indentation of what had been running
Through the white valleys of the snow —
And then it rose, gracefully,
And flew back to the frozen marshes
To lurk there, like a little lighthouse,
In the blue shadows —
So I thought: 
Maybe death isn't darkness, after all,
But so much light wrapping itself around us —
As soft as feathers —
That we are instantly weary of looking, and looking,
And shut our eyes, not without amazement,
And let ourselves be carried,
As through the translucence of mica,
To the river that is without the least dapple or shadow,
That is nothing but light — scalding, aortal light —
In which we are washed and washed
Out of our bones.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Top Ten Funny Youtube Videos


1. Gangnam Style




2. Charlie Bit Me




3. Evolution of Dance



4. Hahaha




5. Pinky the Cat




6. Gabriel Iglesias "The Crocodile Hunter" and "Chocolate Cake Made Me Late"




7. Pwned by the owner-- never steal a hacker's computer




8. Charlie the Unicorn




9. Potter Puppet Pals




10. I Would Like To Buy A Hamburger

How to Hack a Mac or How to Disable Parental Controls on a Macintosh



WARNING: this article was originally posted in 2011. The hack mentioned here may not work for newer computer models from 2013 or 2014, and I can't be responsible for what happens if you try it. That said, if you still have an old clunker like I do, feel free to hack away!

You will need:
A macintosh computer


Step 1: Turn off the computer by holding down on the power button
Step 2: Press the power button to turn it on again
Step 3: Hold apple + s down after you hear the chime
Step 4: When you get text prompt (a lot of writing on a black screen) type in the following (hitting return after each line):
mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone
shutdown -h now
This fools your computer into thinking this is the first time you've ever created an account.
Step 5: Your computer will turn off and then start up and you'll have to go through the process for creating a new account. Click "Do not transfer my data" and fill in all the questions that you have to fill in like your name, address, and new password. Do not create a new Mac ID. When you're done, your computer should shut down.
Step 6: Turn it on again and log in as your new account. This account should automatically be an administer account, so click the apple on the gray bar at the top of your computer and select System Preferences.
Step 7: When you've gotten to system preferences, click on the accounts button (two black silhouettes of the head and shoulders of a person). 
Step 8: Click the lock in the bottom left to make changes and type in your password.



 Hacking someone else's account

If you want to hack into someone else's account on that computer, click their account from the list of accounts on the column to the left. Where it says username and password, the password should be all bullets. Delete their password and in the confirm password box delete their password again. Next type in your own password that only you know.  Click the red X button in the top left to X out of system preferences and then click the apple and select "log out" to log out of your newly created administrator account. Log into the account whose password you changed, and for the password use the new password. You have now hacked their account and can log into it using the password you changed their password to any time you want.

Disabling/Changing Parental Controls


Step 9: There should be a column with a list of accounts on your computer. Click on the previous administrator account (your parent's account). 
Step 10: There should be a check-box that says "Enable parental controls". Uncheck this box.
Step 11: If you want to, put parental controls on another person's account on the same mac by clicking your account and checking "Enable parental controls", then exploring your possibilities by clicking on various parental control options.




Good luck!