Things to try, Carrot soup, Spring on the mountain

It's that wonderful time, when you look up the mountain, it's glorious with dogwoods blooming and redbuds, all against that lovely pale green of spring leaves. This morning it was 28 degrees in Seveirville, not sure what it was here, no sign of frost but feels so cold. We had a warm winter, so this is not feeling much like spring. I love watching the earth come alive, we have had something blooming since late February this year. I don;t watch it often , but caught a part of the Home and Family show on HGTV a while back, they had some ideas to try. If you want those popular pouty looking lips with out botox, try this. Mix some liquid lip balm with 1 tsp cinnamon and a good sprinkle of cayenne powder. Make it into a paste, and apply it to your lips with a cotton swab. If you don't have liquid lip balm, you could melt the solid stuff, adding a little carrier oil to it for the right consistency. Not sure I would try it, but it might be interesting. This one I can say would work. When we were in the Phillipines, for 25 cents American money I went every morning to the neighborhood hair salon and had my hair done, it was long and they did a beehive, french twist or other fancy do. And they always used beer to set and hold and make it shiny. So here is the next tip - Mix beer, maybe 1 cup, with an egg yolk. Apply to clean wet hair , cover with a shower cap and leave on for 30 minutes, rinse well and proceed. You can use beer that's gone flat as a hair set by itself. How about some healthy spring soup? IN a large pot, saute one chopped yellow onion in a little olive oil, when slightly browned add 2 chopped cloves of garlic and 2 inches of grated fresh ginger. Cook 1 minute, then add 2 lbs of cut up carrots, a pinch of red pepper a pinch of salt 2 t honey and 4 cups of chicken or veggie stock. Simmer til carrots are tender, puree with immersion blender. When you put it in bowls, grate a little lime peel over the top and put a spoonful of Greek yogurt on top. This may become my second favorite soup, I also love split pea. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the Cantata at church. Looking forward to an inspirational morning. Wishing you and yours a Joyous, blessed Easter season. Til next time, enjoy spring and the fresh veggies that are in the stores.