We’ve tried a few vitamin water drinks over the years, where either a tablet or a powder is added to a bottle of water immediately before consumption. Every one we tried tasted, well, yucky.

The first brand we’d drink because it actually tastes good is Activate Workout. It’s produced by The Rising Beverage Company, which makes other enhanced waters as well.

According to the company, which conducted research with an independent analytical laboratory, vitamins and other active ingredients lose their potency sitting in water.

So they created a release-top bottle cap. Twist the cap and the active ingredients fall into the water. Shake the bottle and drink.

We tried two of the four flavors, which include Grape, Lulo Pear,* Passionfruit and Pink Grapefruit.

*Lulo, also known as naranjilla or “little orange,” is a South American fruit that tastes like rhubarb and lime—perhaps with a hint of pineapple.

One serving (8 ounces) provides 50% DV of vitamins B6, niacin (B3), pantheonic acid (B5) and vitamin B12, plus 240% DV of vitamin C. By consuming the full bottle, you’ve had your DV of these five vitamins, plus small amounts of vitamins A and E.

That being said, we never really “got” vitamin-infused water, except as a marketing ploy. None of the brands we’ve seen provides a well-rounded complement of vitamins. It’s more about feeling good that you’ve made a healthy choice. (And a lot of people feel good about it: Vitamin-enhanced waters is a sizable and growing category.)

Activate Workout contains 0 calories and no preservatives. It is naturally (and pleasantly) sweetened with stevia. The line is certified kosher by OU.

There’s a store locator on the website. You can download a coupon there, or purchase from the website.

The company is also a good corporate citizen:

 
We like the colorful bottles, and have repurposed them as water bottles. As for the vitamins, we’ll continue to take what we need in tablet and capsule forms.
  

When you’re grilling steak, lamb, pork or chicken, grill enough meat to enjoy in a cold salad the next day.

For example, the recipe below, for a balsamic-marinated steak salad, was meant to be served warm. We doubled the recipe and enjoyed the dish again two days later, with the meat cool (it warmed up on the counter). The basic recipe for four uses one pound of steak. If your family eats larger portions, plan accordingly.

BALSAMIC STEAK SALAD WITH BLUEBERRY DRESSING

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Marinate Time: 30 minutes (longer if you can)
Cook Time: 16 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. Make dressing: Place 3/4 cup of the blueberries, 2 tablespoons of the marinade, sugar, water and lemon juice in food processor. Cover and process until smooth. Refrigerate dressing until ready to serve.

2. Place steak in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add 1/4 cup of the remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor. Remove steak from marinade. Discard any remaining marinade—it will contain bacteria from the raw meat.

3. Grill steak over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes per side or until desired doneness, brushing with the remaining 2 tablespoons of marinade. Let steak rest for 15 minutes; cut into thin slices.

4. Divide salad greens evenly among 4 serving plates. Top each with steak slices. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup blueberries, feta and onion. Serve with dressing.

MORE GRILLED SALAD RECIPES

Grilled Thai Lamb & Asparagus Salad
Lamb Salad With Cucumber & Watercress
Thai Beef Salad

There are more than 40 The Capital Grill restaurants in the U.S. We’ve only been to one, and it’s a class act. It has become our restaurant of choice when we’re going to dinner with people who want a steak-and-seafood evening with good wine.

If this is up your alley, The Capital Grille is offering the best wine tasting deal we know of:

Now through September 4th, for just $25 with dinner, you can have as much as you want of nine sparkling, white and red wines, including a Port-style dessert wine from Australia (charmingly called The Portly Gentleman). Known as the Generous Pour, if purchased by the bottle, the wine tab would be almost $800.

At a recent dinner, we opted in and tried all nine Generous Pour wines. We declare it the best $25 restaurant wine experience—as well as an enlightening, fun and delicious evening.

You can have your wines any way you want them, including pours of any and all nine wines and refills of your favorites.

The ability to try so many wines with dinner—to compare and contrast—is a wonderful experience. Do you prefer the La Cana albariño or the St. Jean chardonnay with oysters on the half shell? Try it and decide (we preferred the albariño).

We had both whites, the Crémant and a Byron Bay pinot noir with our salmon—and confirmed that we continue to prefer pinot noir to white wine for pairing with salmon.

Those who ordered steak had five different reds to compare, both international and from California. We accepted “donations” of meat from their generous portions to try with the reds.

At this point we should have called it quits and let The Portly Gentleman suffice as dessert.

But no: We allowed ourselves to be seduced by the rich dessert menu (cheesecake, coconut cream pie, crème brûlée, flourless chocolate espresso cake and some lighter temptations).

A wine pairing dinner is a wonderful way to spend an evening with friends or colleagues, sharing good food and wine adventures. The wine selection was specially chosen by Master Sommelier George Miliotes to complement both the menu and the season.

You can send someone a gift card to the Capital Grille. What a great gift (hint, hint)!
  

[1] Lollipops, which date to the Middle Ages, were boiled sugar on sticks (photo © Insung Yoon | Unsplash).

[2] Head to the nearest candy store, or supermarket, to satisfy your lollipop jones (photo © Insung Yoon | Unsplash).

[3] Artisan candy makers create beautiful lollipop designs (photos © Molasses Candy | Blogspot).

According to the National Confectioners Association, eating sugar from a stick likely dates to prehistoric man, who licked honey off the stick he used to scrape it from the beehive.

The ancient Arabs, Chinese, and Egyptians made fruit and nut confections candied in honey, which may also have been eaten from sticks, owing to the stickiness of the confection.

But what we think of as a lollipop may date to Europe in the Middle Ages when sugar was boiled and formed onto sticks as treats for the wealthy—the only people who could afford sugar.

By the 17th century, sugar was plentiful and affordable. In England, boiled sugar (hard candy) treats were popular.

The word “lollipop” (originally spelled lollypop) first appears in print in 1784, roughly coinciding with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Beginning in the later part of the 18th century, industry, including confectionery, became mechanized.

Horehound drops, lemon drops, peppermints, and wintergreen lozenges became everyday candies.

While we don’t know the inventor of the modern lollipop, the first automated lollipop machine was invented in Racine, Wisconsin in 1908.

The Racine Confectionery Machine Company’s machine put hard candy discs on the end of sticks, producing 2400 lollipops per hour, 57,000 per day (today’s machines can produce 3 million lollipops daily).

Far beyond the Tootsie Pop of childhood, today’s lollipops come in all shapes and sizes, from hand-crafted works of sugar art to caffeinated Java Pops and bacon lollipops.

Don’t be a sucker: Enjoy a lollipop today!
 
 
> The history of candy.
 
 
FOOD FUN

Lollipops don’t have to be sugary or hard. Check out these “lollipops”:

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Created by Chris Cason, co-founder of Tavalon Tea, it combines two summer favorites: sweet iced tea and a vodka cocktail.

The tea-infused vodka is delicious straight up or on the rocks, but it’s also a good mixer.

For example, a 1:1 ratio of sweet tea vodka to fresh-squeezed lemonade makes a Spiked Arnold Palmer (fresh lemonade recipe).

You can serve it as an “iced tea cocktail.” Or for fun, serve it in a teacup with a wedge of lemon.

HOMEMADE SWEET TEA VODKA

Ingredients

Find more Cocktail Recipes.