August 2012

Summer Lover Contest

You say you’re a Summer Lover? Now’s your chance to prove it by sharing your end-of-summer-super-send-off plans. And on Monday, September 24th, 2012, we’ll pick the 10 most unique and creative across the country to reward with our Summer Lover 2012 fun pack.

Here are the rest of our 38 ideas…now it’s your turn!

4. Get up early one morning and watch the sun rise.
5. Check out your local Farmer’s Market for the ultimate in fresh produce.
6. Grab a Crave Card – not as a gift – but to use so you don’t have to cook!
7. Sign up for that 5K you promised yourself you’d do.
8. Teach someone how to ride a bike.
9. Have a picnic with your family and friends. Throw in a few Square Bowls to make it easy on you.
10. Make a Strawberry-Lemon Mojito.
11. Pick up a great summer read like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
12. Or check out the Twilight series instead…
13. Play Frisbee with your dog (doesn’t work so well with cats).
14. Learn how to play the harmonica.
15. Go for a zip-line ride.
16. Make popcorn the old fashioned way (try it without the lid for extra excitement).
17. Fill up water balloons and have a water balloon fight.
18. Take a road-trip with your most favorite people.
19. See a baseball game (don’t forget the suntan lotion).
20. Fry up some bacon naked.
21. Learn Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” Dance.
22. Rent your dream car for the day (or take a test drive).
23. Make a funny video and post it on YouTube.
24. Send out postcards from your hometown.
25. Try a food you’ve never tried before.
26. Volunteer.
27. Learn how to juggle (don’t start with fire).
28. Paint your nails a funky color.
29. Learn how to play disc golf.
30. Visit that weird touristy place you always wanted to check out.
31. Dust off the bike and go for a ride.
32. Build a birdhouse.
33. Stay cool and learn how to drive a zamboni.
34. Dump a cup of ice water on someone in the shower.
35. Feed a giraffe.
36. Do a cartwheel. Do another.
37. Enjoy a movie at the Drive-in. Don’t have one near you? Make your own screen and rent a projector.
38. Build the biggest sandcastle you can imagine.

By submitting an entry via reply comment below, I understand that I am agreeing to be bound to the Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor. To review the complete rules, please go to www.noodles.com/summerlovers.

Did you add a comment and don’t see it below? Don’t worry, we’ve got it! Our comment list is so long, we just can’t show them all…

Tessa’s Tips: ¡TESSARITAS! and Watermelon Gazpacho Recipes

¡TESSARITAS!

Fill a blender with 1-inch cubed watermelon pieces, add juice of 1-2 limes, about 1-2 tsp of hot sauce (depending on how hot you like your food, Cholula is my favorite), ¼ of a seeded jalapeno (optional), juice of ½ orange, and tequila to taste.

Blend until watermelon is broken down, then strain to remove the pulp. You can add a little bit of simple syrup if you like your margaritas on the sweet side (I don’t have a sweet tooth so I usually leave this out). Serve over ice, in a glass rimmed with a mixture of salt and chili powder. Enjoy!

Watermelon Gazpacho

• 6- 8 cups small, diced watermelon
• 2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded
• 1small finely minced shallot (or about ¼ cup small diced red onions)
• 1-2 pounds of garden fresh tomatoes, small diced (same size as watermelon)
• 3 TB red wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 TB olive oil
• ¼ cup minced green herb of choice (I like cilantro but basil or parsley would work just as well)

How to:

Combine all ingredients in a medium to large sized serving bowl, reserving about 1/3 of the mixture to blend in a food processor. This gives the soup body and a “broth” of sorts while leaving visible pieces of the ingredients intact.

Chill soup completely before serving. Soup actually tastes better if made the day ahead and held cold in the fridge—this allows the flavors to marry a bit and be more cohesive.

Do You Know Judo?

With the London games upon us, it’s impossible to go anywhere without hearing about the competition. Sometimes this means watching sports you’ve never seen before. Somehow, despite how little we may know about the rules of certain matches, we’re drawn in and riveted – and want to learn more!

Kayla Harrison’s gold medal win in judo inspired us. Not knowing a whole lot about judo ourselves, we went on a fact-finding mission to better understand the sport.

Judo is the second most widely-practiced sport worldwide, following right behind soccer, and is the most widely practiced martial art. With roots in Japan, it was based on the martial art of jujitsu.

The match takes place between two players on a mat, with three referees watching closely to score the techniques. The goal is to score an ippon. similar to a boxing’s knockout or wrestling’s pin. There are many different techniques for achieving an ippon, and each move is scored by the referees. In order to prevent any serious injury, referees pay careful attention when a player moves to take another in a chokehold or armlock, and can stop the match at that time. Though the sport is very physical, the intent is not to cause any serious harm to another!

What other sports have you learned about watching this summer’s competition heat up?