ICE

In Case of Emergency

I saw this in O Magazine, which I only read because someone gave me a gift subscription. But, I liked this very much so I am sharing.

Ice is an acronym for in case of emergency and the snippet advises you to create an emergency contact in your cell phone with that name so EMT's can reach the right people quickly and easily. Otherwise, they could waste valuable time calling people who can't or won't be able to help.

Mine looks like this as you scroll my contact list:

ICE (In Case of Emerg)

Then I listed about 5 numbers, but my phone doesn't let me attach names to each one. My phone also has a place to put notes in and there I added my blood type, allergies, and "organ donor".

This campaign was started by a paramedic in the UK, and is spreading globally. Since everyone has a cell phone these days, and this is a fast easy thing you can do...why not?

The World's Leading Emergency Contact Service

Road ID

I absolutely love taking the dogs for walks. I have 2 and they are my babies. And, occasionally, Mr. K and I leave them home if its late and ride our bikes. Though this happens less often since I feel guilty about leaving them behind.

Anyway I saw an ad for this in a magazine and I thought it was a great idea. If you happen to be a walker, you know that less is more in regards to carrying things with you, especially since a good chunk of exercise clothing is sans pockets. I usually end up putting my drivers license in my bra and checking it every 5 minutes to make sure its still there.

This is a perfect solution and you don't need to worry about loosing anything. Its a custom ID bracelet engraved with your name, who to contact in an emergency, etc. It is also available in an anklet, and it costs under $25.

It isn't pleasant to think about, and we always assume it won't happen to us, but accidents do happen. And, this is a little thing you can do to make sure that you are identified in an emergency or the people you care about are notified. On mine I added my allergies and my blood type.

And, being in the medical field, I thought this would also be a good idea for elderly people who live at home. I remember when my grandmother was living with Alzhiemer's Disease...they were a few times where she would just wonder off. One time she had tea with a lady a mile away. So, it might be a good idea for that as well, though it isn't marketed for it.

You can order yours at http://www.roadid.com/

Watermelon & Cucumber Tonic

In May I did a post about watermelon, and I recently came across this recipe in Cooking Light magazine. It sounded good, so I am posting it. It is a fruity summer variation on a gin & tonic.


6 cups cubed seeded watermelon, divided
1/4 cup mint leaves, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cucumber, peeled, sliced, and divided (leave a few rounds w/ skins on for a garnish)
2 1/2 cups tonic water, chilled
1 1/4 cups gin


1. Combine half each of the watermelon, mint, juice, and cucmber in a blender until smooth. Strain into a bowl. Discard solids and repeat for the other half.

2. Combine 2 1/2 cups of the juice mixture with the tonic water, and gin. Stir well to combine.

3. Serve over ice. Garnich with watermelon and cucumber wheels.

Purple Basil

Did you know there are 60 + different types of basil?

And, did you know that basil is in the mint family?

I didn't either.

One variety you may not be familiar with is called purple opal. It has a slightly spicy taste with hints of clove, licorice, mint, and cinnamon. Along with funky flavor it adds a punch of color.

All fresh basil should be used within a few days. And, it dries well, too.

You can use purple basil interchangeably with regular basil, but here are a couple of recipes to get you started.



Purple Basil Parmesan Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbl sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup purple basil, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup skim milk
1 large egg
nonstick cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients with a pastry blender until coarse. Stir in basil and cheese.

3. Beat milk and egg in a separate bowl. Add to flour mixture and stir until moist.

4. Turn out onto a floured surface, and pat into 1" thick circle. Cut with a 2" biscuit round cutter. Makes 12.

5. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes.

Purple Basil Lemonade

4 cups water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup loosely packed purple basil leaves
6 tbl sugar
4 cups ice
4 purple basil sprigs

1. Combine water and juice in a large bowl.

2. Grind sugar and basil together to release the oils and a paste forms. Add to the juice mixture and stir until sugar is dissolved.

3. Separate ice evenly into 4 glasses. Strain lemonade into each glass and discard solids. Garnish with basil sprigs.