"LemonDrop" news and stories

Some fresh fruit juice shots. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

My neighbor Susan recently gave me this charming book about old fashioned cocktails. The author stresses throughout the book that the base of a delicious mixed drink comes from premium spirits and fresh juices -- no bottled mixes. He's got some real concoctions in there from what he considers a "gentler" time when specialty cocktails and sophisticated entertaining reigned supreme.

I really like the idea of a homemade drink, especially when it comes to entertaining. But I've never been able to handle those bar shots that people try to get you to down when you're out for a night on the town.

Yucky or yummy? Take your pick! According to a recent report, women's body order smells of onions (or grapefruit) and men's of cheese. Lemondrop explains that researchers had both men and women engage in the same exercises and had both groups sit in saunas. Afterwards, scientists took samples of men and women's perspiration.

Women's perspiration contains large amounts of a sulfurous compound that creates a scent similar to onion soup when mixed with armpit bacteria. Ah, and then there's men's perspiration! Think Stilton or a stinky Roquefort. Men's perspiration releases higher amounts of fatty acids. So, as Lemondrop remarks, this seems like an excellent opportunity for deodorant companies.

When purchasing deodorant at the pharmacy, men and women's antiperspirants are often separated, probably in the same way that colognes and perfumes are divided at a department store - masculine smells and feminine smells. It seems that now, scientists can work with deodorant companies to create more efficient gender targeted products.

I've long fantasized about stirring up a throat and soul warming Theraflutini -- an ersatz cold medicine and bourbon toddy that thus far exists only in my (hack, hack, sniffle...) imagination. Turns out, I'm not the only one. Our sister blog Lemondrop has gathered up a medicine bag full of bars serving cocktails that are good for what ails you, plus recipes for a few you can administer at home.

For instance:

"C-creature: In Walnut Creek, Calif., the Spoontonic Lounge makes Emergen-C cocktails by request. The C-creature is a combination of Absolute Mandarin, a packet of Emergen-C (citrus flavor), soda water, fresh orange wedge and a splash of OJ. Add a shot of vodka to the Emergen-C and you've got yourself a B-12 Bomber."

In my mind, the Theraflutini is served with a crushed St. Joseph's baby aspirin rim. Anyone else entertain such multitasking cocktail notions? Share in the comments, why don'tcha?

[via: Lemondrop]

Ah, the good old days when cereal boxes were blatantly wacky! I'm curious what cereal advertisers in the '70s were thinking? Now, you can check out campy, ridiculous, slightly freakish cereal boxes from the '50s, '60s, and '70s on The Imaginary World's archive of cereal boxes. Fellow blog, lemondrop, comments on several of the boxes of cereals that no longer exist, such as Fruity Freakies, Crazy Cow, and King Vitaman (to the right).

The names of these cereals alone leave plenty to the imagination. Or do they? The box of King Vitaman cereal is mildly creepy. An old man dressed as a king looks as though he's going to feed you cereal. The juxtaposition between this odd-looking "king" and the ad for the toy give-away appears slightly perverse. As lemondrop says, "this is not the guy we want feeding us breakfast."

Then, there's the absurd Kellogg's Puffa Puffa Rice cereal box that seems to shout "absurdity!" There's a volcano exploding with cereal. To think that this past year Kellogg's reduced the size of its cereal boxes...Where has its creativity gone? The cereal box archive is extremely amusing and I am now trying to figure out different ways in which one can use the images. I foresee trendy retro tee-shirts and posters.