TGIF: FUN Pictures from street fairs

I like any kinds of art, with strong colors or black & white! Love photography even though I am not good at it and it has become a very self-entertaining hobby.

The two kids had their face painted and they were sharing the little treats bought for them! how lovely!!! Kids really bring you the most joys in life for sure!!

This little girl walking on the street and she wanted to be a tiger!!

I saw this boy standing in front a vendor with his mom. He said,

I am a Spider man!

I said,

You scared me, Spider man!

Do you like it? mind to show off your pictures?

Tea Lifestyle-Anybody knows what it is? Native American tea cup?

I have never seen such an intereting "tea cup" before so I bought it. The person who sold me this item did not know what's for...but it does not look like it's used for tea because it comes with a stick made of antler. Since it has a moose head at the handle, my guess is that it has something to do with Native American

I am always fascinated by American Indian culture. I have seen many cute American Indian decor pieces which normally have feathers, leather etc. But this cup is very different. It's made of wood, with antler as a decore. Some say it might be game related, but how can you play a game in a cup? It's a complete mistery to me.   

Anybody can help me?;((

Health: What do you take for colds or migraine headaches? Ginger tea is the BEST!

"A Cold" season is coming, folks!!

What do you take when you have a cold? My answer is always, always: Ginger Tea! A STRONG one, yall!! It is my absolute solution for the Migraine Headaches (yike) as well!! My sister eats raw ginger slices every day and she never gets colds!!!

By the way, ginger is also used to treat nausea in Asia.

When I moved to the US, my parents were so worried about my health, because I have lower immunity than average people. I was totally sick of being sick. My father taught me a secret weapon: ginger tea!

His original recipe included white part from green orions (big ones) , sliced ginger, fermented soy beans, etc. But I had hard time to find all the ingredients in the US, especially the right fermented soy beans. I then tried ginger tea only few times. Oh boy oh boy, it WORKED beautifully!!!

This remedy fits perfectly for people who get cold due to "cold invasion", not "heat invasion" and migraine headaches. Listen, in traditional Chinese medicine, the treatments for a common cold caused by "cold" and "heat" are completely different! (not like the western medicine, cold medicine is used for all kinds of colds, regardless). In most of times, we have a cold caused by "cold". A cold caused by "heat" normally happens under hot weather. This type of cold is much harder to heal.

If your cold is caused by "cold", you need to drink ginger tea right in the beginning when you have some light symptoms, such as light headache, feel unconfortable, tired, sleepy, lightly running nose, sniffing a lot (except allergies), no appetite, etc.

Here's what I normally do: slice a big chunck of ginger into few thin pieces, add roughly 2-3 cups (adjust the water volume to get the strength you like) of water. Until boiling, turn your stove to low for about 10 minutes.

When drink, add some honey (yeah! patients deserve some sweet treats;-)). Finish it quickly. Then? go to bed immediately! I guarrantee you will sweat A LOT!! which is a good sign actually! That means all the "poison" come out of your body! Sweating helps your body get rid of all the wastes from your body.

BUT, if you are really sick, or having very bad colds/fever/coughs, contact your doctors IMMEDIATELY! Ginger tea does not help any more! Ginger tea only helps in the early stage of colds. In addition, if you have some high blood pressures, weak stomaches, follow your doctors instructions instead. Another thing you need to know is fresh ginger is the best. I never tried pickled ginger. I feel it's too light for me. I want my ginger tea really strong when I have colds.

Tea Lifestyle-Gluten Free recipes-colorful pepper cups stuffed (great weight loss recipe)

Not a vegan by profession, I do like to eat a lot of vegetables. I bought few organic peppers (green, yellow, orange, red) in different colors the other day. As I always loved PRET in NYC (www.pret.com), I made few pepper cups stuffed as my dinner yesterday, paired with green tea. it was soo delicious that i finished all 4 pepper cups by myself!!!;)))

This is a great weight loss recipe!!

Do you know rice is actually gluten free! I'm not allergic to gluten, but I found many foods I cook are actually gluten free!

The best part is that this meal is not only GLUTEN FREE, but also LOW calories, LOW carbs,LOW fat, LOW cholesterol, RICH in fiber & vitamines & FREE of sugar.

Very easy to make it:

Prep time: 20-30 minutes
1 cup of Brown rice mixed with another rice, cooked

¼ Onion in small pieces

3 Celery stems-small pieces

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp Soy sauce

Half lemon

pinch of Paprika

Fat free crumble cheeses (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cut the top of pepper as a cup top, clean inside seeds. Put in oven under 450 F, for about 5-8 minutes

2. Heat the pan, add olive oil, stir fry onion, celery and rice. Add soy sauce and paprika. Squeeze the half lemon. Mix well.

3. When peppers look soft, having water inside, take them out, dump the water, fill the cups with stir fried rice, topped with crumbled chunk cheeses. Put it back to oven for another 3-5 minutes. Or you can just eat like that

Tell me if you like the colors of this meal;)) Make one and send me your photos;))

Health: Food color vs Weight losses

Someone sent me an article about Food colors vs Weight losses. The article says that when your favorite foods come out in your least favorite colors, you tend to eat less thus you can lose weight.

I do not find this a true statement.

For example. Take a look at the picture below and tell me your reaction when you first see it?

My first glance was " heavy, stressful, looks like someone's p?p?". Two days later, i still found the art work looks "heavy, but not too bad"...now it looks more like yummy curry chicken. Love it!!;))

Imagine mashed potato in blue. Ewww! when you first see it. If you dare to try it the second time, WOW it tastes so good! Then next time blue is your favorite color for mashed potato!!

Do you think food color matters? what's your story?

Tea Lifestyle: 5 cool ways to use your teapots-party favors (part 5)

Labor day was over. The real labor days start!

Say you invite friends and family to your home for a tea part. Here are some tips for your party design:

1. Creatively use small glass teapots, ie, you can hang them on the trees.

2. Since it's a tea party, you can use mini tea cups, such as the Angel tea cups below as name tag holders.

Or put some M&Ms in the little cups to add some colors to your party!

Or, use as a party give-away! These mini cups are adorable and not expensive. Who doesn't want to be remembered?

3. Can't host a tea party without serving teas, right? use the simply designed glass teapots and they will only add the "clean and elegant touch" to your party. Think about aligning the glass teapots filled with tea in the middle of the table...very inviting and pretty, isn't it?

Here are the previous posts:

Part 4: Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Home decor

Part 3 Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Candle holders/Lights

Part 2 Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Kitchen devices

Part 1: Tea lifestyle-5 cool ways to use your teapots-Glass vase for flower arrangement

Tea Lifstyle: 5 cool ways to use your teapots-Home decor (part 4)

if you want to show off your UNIQUE fashion style, try this tip: hang teapots on the wall, and invite your friends come over for a party. See what they say. Trust me, they will die to know how you make it happen;))) and do not forget to share it with me!;)) All these teapots, cups were on the wall. I used canvas frame to make it more like a nice dispay.

One time my friend said to me, you know, i did not even notice that i actually bought soo many stuff i never even open the packaging box and they still sit in my basement.... Yeah, you realize how much you spend on something you do not use in life time...It would be really nice if we can buy one thing that can be used for multiple purposes, right? it saves you $$$, space and it's much easier to get organized. You do not even need to clean the extra stuff! For teapots, you can use to brew teas, but when you do not use it, put it on the counter or table, or hang on the wall...see what happens;)) The best part, it's UNIQUE and shows a lot of personalities.