The Jewels of New York refresh spring refreshments.

Diana Yen runs The Jewels of New York, a food consulting and styling company, which basically means she applies her killer design sense to all kinds of edible projects like carefully-arranged food photographs for magazines, workshops, cooking classes and event catering. Most importantly, it means shes invents insane, far-out recipes to test the limits of her favorite ingredients, some of which include beer, bacon and baby bananas. We asked her to share some of her best ideas for refreshing the old, basic brew.

Ginger and Meyer Lemon Shandy
(yield: 1 pint)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
3/4 cup seltzer
3 tablespoons ginger simple syrup*
1 cup Stella Artois

Combine lemon juice with seltzer and ginger syrup. Stir well and combine with beer. Add ice and garnish with ginger slices.

*Ginger simple syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 pieces of ginger
(3-inches long, sliced)

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add ginger and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Pour syrup through a sieve, discarding ginger slices. Set aside and let cool.

Click through for more recipes, including bacon-wrapped bananas and a Guinness float.