Your meal is almost finished, and you're wondering what last minute ingredients you can add to give it that extra special flavor. Citrus juice, particularly from lemons and limes, goes a long way in many dishes.

So do you believe we're in a recession? Retailers sure seem to, especially specialty retailers. In the kitchenware store, the season's usual large bundles of roasting pans and pie plates, while still available, are being supplemented by smaller displays of beckoning trinkets for inexpensive shopping fixes. If one is a classic movie fan, one remembers Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffanys -- wherein, broke but shopping, they consider a platinum dream from a CrackerJack box as well as a silver telephone dialer. More practical (and, at around thirteen bucks, more economical) is the Microplane Multi-Citrus Tool, and I have to admit that I have succumbed.

As most slashfoodies know, zest is the outer skin of a citrus fruit, used as a flavoring agent in everything from sauces to baked goods, as well as a garnish. The zest contains a high concentration of the oil of the citrus fruit, which contributes a highly concentrated burst of both flavor and aroma. As experienced eaters know, there is no substitute for fresh zest -- a lemon pound cake, for example, will simply taste better if you add fresh zest. As experienced zesters know, the challenge while zesting is to get just that outer layer of skin without getting any of the white pith that separates the flesh of the fruit from the skin.

Going nationwide last July, Miller Chill quickly became ubiquitous at stores. This summer, Anheuser-Busch tried targeting the flourishing lime-flavored beer market as well, launching Bud Light Lime in April with $35 million in advertising. Since then, the macro-brew's been bragging about its success crediting the roll-out for an increase in 2nd quarter profits and summer market share.

Enough jabber-jargon... Do I want to drink it??

Personally, my taste buds sour at the mere thought of giving a Bud Light spin-off the full taster's treatment, but just for kicks, let's do BLL proper!

BLL's packaging alerts me it's a "premium light beer with 100% natural lime flavor." Also prominently displayed: "contains alcohol." Sold. After cleansing my palate of a Fudgsicle (hey, it's hot out!), I pour a small amount of BLL into a taster glass. The nose is very typical of Bud Light (subtle malt, ricey) and shows distinct notes of -- ta da! -- lime.

The flavor does not offend as much as I had expected.

It sits alone and untouched at the end of a long buffet table -- a bowl full of apples and bananas, maybe a seedy orange tossed in as an afterthought. Don't let your fruit salad meet this awful fate, spruce it up instead!

I saw a recipe in my Williams-Sonoma Entertaining Cookbook for a Blended Mojito and thought it would be a fantastic way to say "Hasta luego!" to the summer (or "Bienvenidos!" to an Indian Summer). Blended with ice, it works as a refresher. However, it's a mojito.

For as long as I could, I tried to stay away from the mojito craze that swept bars and cocktail parties across the country for the last few years. Part of the reason is that I consider myself "allergic" to anything too trendy, and if you weren't drinking a mojito, who are you? Well, you should all know by now that mojitos are soooo 2006. In fact, if you're caught drinking a mojito, you'll be ridiculed for having been living under an overturned martini glass for the last two years. With the popularity of mojitos gone, I am now starting to enjoy the drink.

Tequila is one of those drinks I would never think of having by itself. I would never say to myself "I'm in the mood for tequila" and order a drink specifically because it has tequila in it. It just sort of happens that a drink I might like also has tequila in it.

However, tequila is not just for drinking. How about making some Caribbean Island Lime Shrimp, or Ribs with Fiery Mango Marinade, or maybe a Watercress Salad with Tequila Tangerine Dressing? Don't forget some classic drinks, including Long Island Iced Tea and a Tequila Sunrise. Maybe you can even rent the movie tonight and make the drink to celebrate.

Of course, you can't have a Tequila Day without a Margarita or two (or three). And since it's summer, here's a frozen one.

Not that I would ever turn down a real mojito, but if for some reason I had to eat a dessert instead of drinking a cocktail, I'd love this Mojito Cupcake, from food blog Vegan Yum Yum. The recipe in on the blog post, but as a summary, the cake is a modified version of the golden vanilla cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Soymilk was infused with traditional mojito flavors, mint and lime juice, rum and lime zest were added to the batter, and the frosting wass flavored with dark rum. The natural garnish is, of course, a wedge of lime (though a sprig of mint would be pretty, too!)

Tanqueray Rangpur Gin is 41.3 abv. / 82.6 proof and different from many other gins out there. It starts out the same with a slew of botanicals like juniper and coriander steeped and distilled into the gin. But then it goes through an additional step of adding botanicals, steeping, and re-distillation with rangpur, bay leaf, and ginger. It isn't a classic London Dry gin because it has a little sweetness to help balance out the heavy handed addition of extra citrus, herbs, and spices in the botanical blend.

I am sure you are asking, "Rangpur? What's a Rangpur?" Sometimes called rangpur limes, many people assume that rangpur are in fact limes. They have a very strong lime taste to them but they are actually a lemon x mandarin orange hybrid that probably originated in India. They are one of three similar fruits from the family Citrus × limonia Osbeck, commonly but incorrectly called mandarin limes. Other names for rangpur are: rungpur, marmalade lime, lemandari,; Canton lemon in southern China, hime lemon in Japan, Japanche citroen in Indonesia, sylhet lime, surkh nimboo, shabati in India, and limao cravo in Brazil. Rangpurs are orange skinned and are the size, shape, and look like tangerines, but with a very sour, acidic juice that is used like a lime and has a very pronounced lime like flavor and aroma. The other two similar fruits are Kusiae or kusiae lime which is a form of the rangpur with an even more lime aroma, and Otaheite orange or Otaheite Rangpur, which is thought to be a non-acid form of the Rangpur.

Living solo means that when I cook, either I have to waste a lot of energy to cook just enough for one person, or else I cook a huge amount, and get sick of eating the same leftovers for five days straight. This means I love -- and when I say "love," I mean luuuuuurve -- remixes. Taking leftovers and spinning them so they're not the exact same thing from the night before.

Food blogger Mrs. Marv has posted a genius use of what was once Roasted Corn, Basil, and Lime Soup. Her brother turned the soup into a sauce and used it to dress up homemade Manchego, Lime, and Shrimp Ravioli. It's a lovely change from the usual ravioli fillings and sauces, and best of all, makes good use of leftovers.

Larabar specializes in making healthy, delicious snack bars from a blend of fruits, nuts and spices. Their energy bars are completely unprocessed, uncooked, non GMA, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan and kosher - and despite their simple makeup (each has less than six ingredients) they taste great thanks to the natural sweetness of the high-quality ingredients that they use.

Last year, they added Lemon Bar and Cinnamon Roll to their lineup of bars, bringing the total number of bars in the line to ten for a few months, but the reaction was so positive that they just announced that another pair of new flavors are being launched on March 5th: Key Lime Pie and Pistachio. Hopefully, the Key Lime Pie will have the same bright, almost juicy flavor that the excellent Lemon Bar does.

The other recent addition to Larabar's offerings is the Jocalat line. Jocalat has evolved from the Maya bars that the company was offering last year and are a more candy-like product than the standard Larabars because they use fair trade certified organic chocolate in each one, in addition to their standard fruits and nuts. The bars are available in Chocolate, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Coffee and Chocolate Mint (the coffee is my favorite) and each has just 190 calories, in addition to being entirely organic, high in fiber, protein, good fats and antioxidants.

Seafood is usually a fairly photogenic genre of meat as far as food porn goes. Sushi can be absolutely beautiful and cooked fish, with the possible exception of the bland-looking poached fish, can look tempting, as well. Shrimp, on the other hand, are not usually the most appetizing of sea creatures, which is what makes this photo of Ginger Chili Shrimp from Hooked on Heat all the more amazing. These tasty fried shrimp are first marinated in a mixture of turmeric, chili powder and lime juice before hitting the oil for a quick fry. The remaining oil is then used as a base for a spicy sauce made with ginger, onions, chili flakes, tomato paste and soy sauce, which is tossed with the shrimps to give them the nicely browned look that you see above. This dish could easily be served as an appetizer with margaritas at a cocktail party or enjoyed as part of a light dinner when you're in the mood for some spice and seafood.

If, by chance, you're firing up the grill for game day, this corn salsa is too easy to not be on your menu. If you've made fresh corn on the grill before, you know how simple it is. Grilled corn is great on it's own, with some butter, salt and pepper, or better yet, mayo, Parmesan cheese, lime juice and chili powder (seriously, try it).

The ingredients in this salsa are easy to vary and I generally just eyeball the amounts as I make it. A good place to start is:
8 average-sized ears of corn
1 medium red onion, sliced into 1/2" to 1" thick rounds (A few tooth picks or skewers in each will help to hold them together on the grill.)
the juice of 2-3 limes
a good handful of cilantro, finely chopped
olive oil

Husk the ears of corn, giving them a rinse to get any last bits of silk off and grill them over fairly high, direct heat, turning them until the kernels begin to blister and darken all over. Brush the onion slices with a little olive oil and grill them as well. Once the corn is done and cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs with a sharp paring knife and put the kernels in a large bowl. When the onions have softened and taken on some color, pull them off the grill and chop them so they're about the same size as the corn kernels.

Trader Joe's is sometimes criticized for the way that they package their produce. Much of it, with the exception of apples, is packed in little plastic containers that protect the fruit from being damaged or bruised and, in general, make it easy to grab a pre-set amount of tomatoes or other fruits and veggies. The pre-set amount is usually four or five items, depending on size, and can be inconvenient if you either need a lot of things or just want one. One of Trader Joe's newest offerings appeared in stores just this week and takes advantage of the grab-n-go nature of this packaging. It is a little kit containing all the ingredients you need to make fresh salsa: three tomatoes, a jalapeno pepper, a large shallot, garlic cloves and a lime. The instructions are printed right on the label and simply direct you to five up all the ingredients, combine and stir with lime juice.

I opted to make mine in the food processor, mincing the garlic, shallot and most of the jalapeno, then pulsing in the tomatoes and extra pepper. I used everything that was included and added a little bit of salt and pepper, too.

When we featured The Pastry Queen Cookbook last week, I remarked upon how impressive the lemon-lime meringue tarts, called Texas Big Hairs, on the cover were. Little did I expect to see them in all their glory on the food blog Culinary Concoctions. The name of the tarts comes from the amount of meringue that is piled on top - and in true Texas style, bigger is better. These individual-sized tarts are more, well, tart than a typical lemon meringue pie would be because of the liberal addition of lime. They still have the perfect contrast of light, sweet meringue and velvety citrus custard, though, and the extra meringue makes each bite seem even lighter than you could hope for.

Although I just said that food doesn't have to be gourmet to be gorgeous, it can't hurt. Bea, also known as La tartine gourmande, made this exquisite Iced Lime Souffle with Poppy Seeds, drizzled with a raspberry coulis and served with a side of sugar-marinated strawberries. The full name of the dessert is so descriptive, that the dish almost needs no photo to accompany it. Since it is frozen, there is no risk of the souffle deflating and there is no need to turn on the oven, so it's a great choice of dessert on a hot day. The combination of lime and berries is bright and refreshing to the tastebuds, as the flavors complement each other well in everything that they appear together in.