For beauty and taste: ice cubes with berries, herbs and fruits

In summer we put ice everywhere - in the tea, coffee, juices, lemonades, and compotes. Therefore, it is really an inherent attribute of the summer. So why not to make beautiful, delicious, and even useful ice?

They may be different - used in skin care with flowers, chilled for champagne with berries or a simple water-cooled with citrus and herbs. It seem it is easy to do - forms are filled with water, put a few berries or a slice of lemon, then put in the freezer and you're done. However, things are not so simple. Making quality ice it may seem even a kind of ritual. In order to produce high quality and tasty ice cubes should be used only clean water. Do not use water from the tap. Use only filtered water from bottles. Ideally use the boiled water before pouring into molds.

Ice should not be placed in the same freezer where lies the meat, fish, berries or other frozen semi-finished goods. This is the common error. It would seem that what bad is supposed to happen. And in fact can. After all, you would not want to drink cocktail with fishy taste?

The old ice is better not to use. As with any product, ice also has its validity. Most of it depends on the water quality and the materials from which are made forms for ice. Do not use ice cubes if they have been lying for more than 6 months in refrigerator.

Recently we have the popularity of colored ice production. These ice cubes not only cools the drink, but also gives desired color. For such ice can be used only natural colors. If we want the ice cubes should not have only outstanding color, but the taste too, we must use only natural flavors. Ice cubes can be made not from only water. This can be used for a variety of juices and syrups, blended with water. Such ice cubes no need in any colors or flavorings. But keep in mind that the ice cubes made from the juice can be stored for up to a month.

Ice cubes seems originally if are made from fruit juice with slices. It is more convenient and practical for the preparation of fruit smoothies. If a piece of ice has a fruit flavor, color, 

and even pieces of fruits for full cocktail will needs only alcohol.

Cosmetic ice cubes

Ice cubes is useful to use before doing make-up as cold tighten facial pores and reduce the likelihood of them contaminate. For the same reason, the ice cubes are used for women with problematic skin, or mixed skin. Ice cubes not only shrink pores, but make the skin of healthy types.

I propose to experiment and use not just frozen water. You can produce ice with variety of herbal decoctions, mineral water. In the morning it is useful to massage the face with parsley, sage, linden, chamomile decoction ice.

For oily skin use birch, burdock, oregano, birch leaf, calendula, or field horsetail decoction. Especially suitable for oily skin frozen green tea with couple of drops of fresh lemon ice. Also for oily skin use frozen orange, tangerine, grapefruit slices or the citrus fruit juices.

For dry skin fits frozen plantain, mint, parsley, sage broth. 

Get rid of shine will helps freeze tomato juice.

Reduce acne and soothe inflamed skin will helps freeze salted water (a glass of boiled water and a teaspoon of Himalayan salt). These ice cubes can be used on a daily basis, 

but after the salty ice massage face wash is not recommended.

For normal skin fits birch leaf, calendula, sage, parsley broth.
After ice massage, let it dry in naturally way and then use your favorite oil.

The beautiful ice drinks

Into desired size and shape of the ice molds pour the water and put your favorite washed flowers - 

roses rings, dandelions, violets. Put in the freezer and wait for the result.

It is also easy with berries or fruit. Put into the form, and VOILA!

 Your creative handmade ice cubes in drinks are already prepared. 

It remains to wait for all the guests and enjoy a special result.

Cold soup for a hot day

Cool, refreshing, colorful, made from seasonal fruits and vegetables, cold soups are a great way to overcome not only hunger, but also the heat. And it is also a great alternative to salad - no matter how tasty it is, you can still get bored to eat them all the time.

To make the most cold soups takes not much time, they are usually grated and sometimes we do not even need heat treatment - just put products to the blender and after the moment the soup is ready. 

It is important to put into this summery soup not only vegetables and greens. The rich flavor, tasty and excellent texture provide protein products, such as beans or dairy products: cream, yogurt, etc... Also to your soup add healthy fats - olive oil, nuts and avocados. The nutritional value will raise seeds and grains.

If you want to prepare really good cold soup, you should pay attention to several things.

First - color - it really should be sharpen and more enjoyable than simply gray or brown hues, characteristic of autumn soups. So watch out for vegetables color in the steaming pot and do not let them stay there too long. When mixing red vegetable soup, to keep bold color will help the natural acids. However, citric acid and other products better to avoid when preparing a green soup.

Cold grind soup texture should be smooth and silky. Well unless you deliberately want to leave chewing pieces, such as preparing the gazpacho. But usually when eating such soup we are not disposed to chew. Such texture will help to extract blender. Pleasant sensation of softness will makes yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk, depending on what you choose to base your soup on.

Remember that cold soup does not have to be only spicy, they can be sweet too . 

Good appetite!

Refreshing watermelon drink

Whether it's raining outside, or suffocating hot  - watermelon season is gaining momentum. How tasty is for us to eat huge smile reminiscent of watermelon clove ... Right? And a freshness of this berry unutterable. Yes - the watermelon is not the fruit, but berry - from the gooseberry family. I remember when I was a child I was dreaming that watermelons would be without seed. I guess you do too?

 Being  teenager I heard the joke - "What if the watermelon interbreed with cockroaches? The seeds would run away to all directions, LOL. So, for me watermelons are related only with good emotions, so I suggest to try to make one of my favorite drinks with watermelon.

You will need:

1 kg of watermelon

250 g of sugar

250 ml of water,

0.5 lemon juice.

Preparing

Wash, peel and cut into cubes watermelon.

Dissolve sugar in water on low heat. 

Add the watermelon slices in the chopper and a little chop them. 

Pour over the mass with syrup and lemon juice, then pour everything into a bowl and leave for 2 hours in the freezer.

Do not forget every 30 minutes to stir crushed ice.

Glasses for this drink you need to cool.

 Enjoy sunny day and cool drink

Lush green mountain magic in Montenegro

I very like travels and have traveled a lot. Today I want to tell you about one of the last my travels to Montenegro. Country that has enthralled the simplicity and friendliness. Green and beautiful country.

Our friends have been here a few years ago, but they paid attention more to mountains and canyons, we did to coasts and fjords.

Montenegro I would assess 10 points in a ten points system. What we did like most? Well: fortresses, an abundance of tourists originality attractions, friendliness of people, food, and coffee. In Montenegro we were hooked so that after year impressions are still alive.

Green mountains everywhere here, not only is the mountain region and at the coast too .

Pleasant smell greeted the first late night eating in cafe. Argued with my husband, what smells. We decided that someone smokes fragrant cigarettes and here is incense in use. 

Great smell is everywhere: smells pine, pine nuts, cedars and flowers. Maybe there were that many because before our came there rained. The flowers smell only if there is moisture.

Food is wonderful. We ate most in Timon cafe pizzeria in the city center and on the Gulf coast. Then all day just traveled through beautiful and famous places. Meat there usually is grilled. Mostly veal. Awfully tasty and very real food. Was tasty fish, huge prawns, squid. Well, the coffee was simply divine.

 In Montenegro everyone and everywhere is smoking. We were initially shocked because we are non-smokers. But cafes windows are open and then we started love tobacco smelling.

Mountains and serpentine are everywhere. The cities are located on the slopes of the mountains. On the mountains located the fortresses.

Adriatic sea is beautiful and clean. Black sand beaches. The local language is used two languages: Albanian and Montenegrin. With the tourists they still speak in English not very good, but In Russian enough good.

People there are extremely good, helpful, sociable. There you feel like a guest and friend. In Ulcinj people are very tolerant. Albanians are traditionally Muslims, but moderate. Islam encourages to help the poor, not to cheat.

We felt very safe.
In the southern part of the country the beach sand is volcanic black. 

When dry, it looks like ash. Wet nearly black.