Bimethyls

Tanned To Perfection – Hawaiian Tropic Sun Tan Lotion in Motion
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“In these shoes? I don’t think so!”

These words from a Kirsty MacColl song came to mind as I watched the contestants pose on stage wearing sexy bikinis and high heels. You are so not going swimming in those outfits…

Hawaiian Tropic, the well-known maker of sun care products, has held regional pageants in Las Vegas for several years, but the 2004 International Finals is an even bigger event. A total of 89 contestants came here from around the world to compete for the title of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. The 21st annual event was held at the Treasure Island Hotel Casino, known as “TI” since its extensive renovation last summer. The event included dancing, singing, costumes, evening gowns, and, of course, bikinis.

“Competition swimsuit” and “swimsuit competition” are two very different things. The former is a sturdy suit that stays in place when its wearer is swimming or diving. The latter involves more, uh, minimalist outfits that look like they might not stay on if their wearers waded into the pool.

Fortunately for the contestants, anyway the swimsuit competition involved no swimming. Instead, the ladies paraded on a poolside stage during the preliminaries and on the deck of the pirate ship Song in front of the TI during the finals. The preliminary phase also had the ladies modeling “country costumes” from the places they represented. These ranged from traditional (a European maiden costume, albeit with a sexy garter showing), playful (a modified Canadian Mountie outfit with a miniskirt) to festive (an extravagant Mardi Gras costume with green plumage), to elegant (a satin gown in the colors of a country’s flag). The regular eveningwear competition took place during the finals, along with another swimsuit phase.

The pageant included a lot of rehearsals and a few fun events. One contestant told me about the “Survivor Challenge,” which involved some actual swimming. It allowed the girls to compete in teams, build friendships, and relieve the stress of the preliminary phase.

During the stress of the finals, the contestants got to have some more fun as they joined several cast members from The Sirens of TI to give a dance performance on the decks of the two ships. They had to be patient during several “takes” of the opening number, as the event was being filmed for television. Later, several contestants gave individual performances: ladies from Australia and Poland performed very athletic dances; the Czech contestant did a creative sleight-of-hand act while dancing, and the contestant from Antigua sang a challenging pop tune.

Hawaiian Tropic owner and founder Ron Rice attended the pageant, and during the finals he presented special awards to winners of the local “Little Miss” and “Little Mister” Hawaiian Tropic competition. The awardees ranged from two to fifteen years of age, and the winners of the international finals (to be held this summer in Laval, Canada) will attend children’s charity events and can appear in advertisements for the company’s sun care products for kids.

Ron introduced them as “the future of Hawaiian Tropic.” He also introduced distinguished friends in the audience and members of his own family. Far from a seamy or “spring break” atmosphere, this pageant had an air of wholesomeness and class, reminiscent of last year’s CarnaVé 2003 pageant. We can joke about ditzy “beach babes,” but I was impressed by the intelligence and poise of the international contestants with whom I spoke.

The contest was narrowed to 15 semifinalists,

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Rob LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

About the Author

Rob LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave Your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.

Many people making the shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet may be reluctant to try meat or dairy alternatives. Others simply do not realize the variety of products available to replace meat and dairy and still enjoy favorite foods like burgers, shakes, and cheese.

Meat alternatives are usually made from soy protein and other ingredients. These foods are not only of interest to vegetarians but are also of benefit to people who want to take advantage of the significant health benefits of soy. Soy protein products can be made to taste like meat. There are soy protein products that are naturally flavored to taste like beef, pork, chicken, and even fish. There are “veggie” burgers, hot dogs, and deli meats as well. These products vary in terms of how much they taste like the meat-based foods they are named after. Some taste remarkably like meat while others do not. In many cases, people like the new versions better, even if they do not taste like meat. There are also products, like Revival soy bars and shakes, which use a natural process to pack concentrated amounts of isoflavones (the compounds in soy that are credited with health benefits) found in into a single serving.

Of course, the most popular meat alternative is tofu. Tofu, which resembles soft cheese, is made when soymilk is curdled with a coagulant. By itself, tofu is rather bland, but it has an amazing ability to soak up flavors. It is used as an ingredient in many flavorful recipes, such as scrambled tofu, tofu casserole, tofu stir-fry, and tofu taco filling.

Meat alternatives are available frozen, canned, and dried. There are also fresh products, like tofu hot dogs and veggie burgers that can be cooked just like the meat-based varieties of these foods. Natural food stores and food coops have the widest selection of meat alternatives, but they are also increasingly available in mainstream grocery stores.
Soy can also be made into dairy alternatives, such as soymilk, soy cheese, and soy-based puddings and frozen desserts. There are also soy products made to resemble butter, cream cheese, and yogurt.

Soy products are an excellent source of protein, iron, and B vitamins. Some soy products are fortified with other nutrients as well. You may want to get more soy in your diet because of its nutritional benefits whether you are a vegetarian or not. There are many other soy products in addition to the wide variety of meat and dairy alternatives made from soy. These include soy oil, soy protein concentrate, textured soy protein, soy sauce, soy flour, and many other products that are used as cooking ingredients. You can also snack on soy nuts or crackers and soy butter. The possibilities are endless.

There are hundreds of delicious recipes, like the taco recipe below, that use tofu or soy as the main ingredient. Many other soy and vegetarian recipes can be found in the e-book Vegetarian Cooking, available at www.d-vegetarian.com.

Easy Tacos

1 (12-14 oz.) bag frozen or refrigerated precooked soy crumbles*

1 (1.25 oz.) envelope taco seasoning mix

3/4 cup water

flour tortillas or taco shells

Cook the soy crumbles until brown, then drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water and mix well. Continue heating until thoroughly hot. Serve cup filling in each tortilla or taco shell.

Yields 12 servings

Per cup serving: 46 calories, 6.5 g protein (4 g soy protein), 6 g carbohydrate, 0 g total fat (0 g sat fat), 290 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.5 g dietary fiber

*Morningstar Ground Meatless, Green Giant Harvest Burgers for Recipes and Lightlife Gimme Lean are a few of the soy crumble choices.

Jen Scott is author of the successful new site http://www.d-vegetarian.com, dedicated to educating people about the benefits of having a more vegetarian like lifestyle.