The original smoothie, or yogurt “milkshake,” was lassi, a chilled yogurt drink served savory or sweet, blended with fruit. In much of India, where every day can be hot, it’s a refreshing and nutritious drink.

You can make your own fruit lassi at home, using the blender technique (think of how easy you have it over blenderless households that need to use the ancient technique of puréeing the fruit and blending it in a bowl with a handheld utensil).

This video recipe shows how to make mango lassi (arguably the favorite flavor) with 1 large ripe mango, 1/3 cup plain yogurt, 1/3 cup cold milk and a 1/2 cup of ice, plus a pinch of salt for flavor contrast.

You can vary the fruit, add herbs and spices, and garnish as you wish with a piece of fruit on the rim, herbs (mint, basil) or a shake of cardamom, cinnamon or nutmeg.

SECOND LASSI RECIPE: YOUR FAVORITE FRUIT LASSI

Ingredients

Makes two portions.

 
Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender carafe and blend.

2. Garnish as desired and serve.
 
Keep these recipes on hand for the next hot day!

Your pots won’t boil over with the Spill
Stopper silicone pot lid. Photo courtesy
Kuhn Rikon.

Kuhn Rikon has solved the problem with its silicone Spill Stopper. Use it instead of the regular pot lid. Any liquid that boils up sits in the shallow bowl of the Spill Stopper, waiting for you to turn down the heat.

Microwave and dishwasher safe, the Spill Stopper comes in a choice of three colors—green, red and purple—and two sizes, 10-inches and 12-inches.

You can pick one up wherever Kuhn Rikon products are sold (try Sur La Table), or online at Amazon. The 10-inch Spill Stopper is $24.95, the 12-inch version is $29.95.

If that sounds like more than you want to spend, think of this: No more messy, boiled-over clean-ups.

That’s why we’re delighted that Lipton has launched its Tea & Honey To Go packets. This new line of iced tea mixes contains natural honey, real tea leaves and real fruit flavors.

Wherever you can find a glass of water—or fill your water bottle—you can have a refreshing glass of iced tea for just 5 calories per eight ounces. The packets themselves weigh nothing and can be carried in a pocket. So today’s tip is: Consider the convenience of to-go packets to make instant drinks from water.

These Lipton Tea & Honey iced green tea drink mixes include:

 
The mixes also come in pitcher-size packets.

And the except for sucralose, the mixes are all natural.* The ingredients include honey granules,† citric acid, green tea powder, maltodextrin,‡ natural flavor and color.

The products are hitting stores now nationwide. You can get a free samples when you like Lipton on Facebook, while supplies last.

*Although sucralose is made from sugar, the sugar molecule is chemically modified, which classifies it as an artificial sweetener.

†Honey granules are pure honey, dried and cut, with no additives, into pinhead-size pieces. You can buy them online.

‡Maltodextrin is a starch filler made from natural corn, rice or potato starch. It is a white powder used as a thickener or a filler without altering flavor. It’s in artificial sweetener packets, for example, because the very few grains of aspartame or sucralose required as a sweetener wouldn’t fill a packet.

1. 5 Calorie Fruit Flavor. The added honey neutralizes the sucralose flavor. The drinks are sweet and fruity, for just 5 calories per eight-ounce cup/10 calories per bottle.

2. Instant Drink. Open the packet, add to water and stir or shake. How easy is that?

3. Sustainability. Keep reusing the same water bottle, save the landfill from empties.

4. Price . At $3.29 for 10 packets (prices will vary), you can enjoy fruity ice tea for 32¢ a bottle instead of buying a ready-made drink for $1.79.

We see many products launched that aren’t really needed. We do need

Honey, Tea & Lady Antebellum

You can also enter the brand’s Drink Positive Sweepstakes with Lady Antebellum on Facebook, for the chance to win a visit with the band in Nashville and exclusive live music downloads. There’s also a series of Lady Antebellum’s behind-the-tour webisodes.

We were Lipton’s guest at the Lady Antebellum concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Great group, great evening and lots of great Lipton Tea & Honey.

Here are some tips from Lauren Chattman, author of one of our favorite baking books, The Baking Answer Book (for $9.73 on Amazon.com, a great small gift or stocking stuffer).

1. DON’T OVERWHIP. Because of the protein structure of egg whites, it’s crucial, says Chattman, not to overwhip the whites. Overwhipping separates the water molecules from the egg whites, rendering them less capable of expanding (rising).

2. USE AN ABSOLUTELY CLEAN BOWL AND BEATERS. Even a speck of grease or oil in the bowl or on the beaters can spell disaster. It will prevent the strands of egg white protein from linking up with each other to create the foam that traps the air bubbles needed for the recipe to rise.

3. SEPARATE THE WHITES INTO SEPARATE BOWLS. When cracking the egg, don’t use the one handed technique. A speck of egg yolk that sneaks in with the whites creates the same problem as oil. Instead, first separate the egg whites into a small bowl or cup. If some yolk ends up with the whites, don’t fish it out; use that egg for another purpose (scrambled, perhaps?). Wash and dry the bowl thoroughly, and start again.

4. ADD THE EGG WHITES ONE AT A TIME. Avoid the problem above by separating each egg into a small bowl or cup; then add it to the mixing bowl before separating the next egg. This way, if you end up with some yolk with your white, only one egg is impacted.

5. USE ROOM TEMPERATURE EGGS. The coiled proteins in egg whites are more relaxed at room temperature. You can whip cold eggs from the fridge, but it will take more time to achieve the volume.

6. DON’T USE VERY FRESH, EGGS. Most of us don’t have access to freshly-laid eggs. But contrary to what you might think, just-laid eggs are not the best for whipping whites. Eggs need to be 3-4 days old so their coiled proteins will relax for optimal whipping.

Now that you’ve got the technique, make this delicious key lime meringue pie.

Need an egg separator? Here’s a very spiffy one.
  

Fun flavors, fun gifts. Photo courtesy PB
Crave.

Shortly afterward, we received a shipment of PB Crave, another new company (in Minnesota) that has launched with four flavors:

 
You can buy the PBs from PBCrave.com and on Amazon.

Our personal favorite is Razzle Dazzle, a combination of peanut butter and raspberry flavoring that gives the impression of raspberry jam. We love the idea of Coco Bananas, banana peanut butter; but slicing a fresh banana onto your PB sandwich is more lush than banana-flavored PB. Cookie Nookie is sure to be a favorite with cookie dough enthusiasts.

The flavors, each of which includes chocolate chips (dark, milk and white, depending on the flavor) inspired us to sprinkle some chocolate chips onto our sandwiches made with regular PB. One tablespoon of semisweet chocolate chips has about 70 calories, and you can make do with half a tablespoon. If you heat the sandwich in the microwave, you get a chocolate-PB melt.

The PB Crave flavors are fun; we like them as healthier gifts for kids. These honey-sweetened flavors can be enjoyed by the spoon from the jar—with a side of milk, of course.

What Do The Terms Mean?

All natural means no hydrogenated oil, no artificial flavors, no high-fructose corn syrup, no chemical preservatives. Peanut butter is naturally gluten- and cholesterol-free.

Artisan products are made in small batches, using time-honored techniques and quality ingredients. In the case of PB Crave, which does not employ emulsifiers, the oil does separate and needs to be stirred back in. But it’s not an onerous task.

Giving Back

PB Crave is a good corporate citizen. A minimum of 2% of profits goes directly to Project Peanut Butter, a non-profit organization that helps save the lives of malnourished children through ready-to-use therapeutic foods (including high-calorie, fortified peanut butter-like pastes.