Darkoshi

fig sound phenomenon

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 21:25:41 GMT

Interesting fig phenomenon I noticed today: after rinsing a ripe fig with water, pressing it slightly on the sides made it emit a sort of buzzing sound out of the little hole at the tip. Each time I pressed (lightly) again, the buzzing would start, and each time I let up it would stop.

It almost seemed like there might be an insect inside, complaining about being pressed. But it seemed more likely that pressing on the fig made it expel air, which made the noise. It was surprising how long it kept doing it, though. I'd have thought all the air would have been expelled much sooner. Maybe it was sucking air back in each time I released the pressure. After repeated light pressing on all sides, probably squishing the fruit too much, the sound finally died down. Upon cutting it open, it was a normal fig inside; no insect.

I've never noticed other figs to do that. I tested a few other figs after that one, and a few had similar sounds, but quieter and much shorter lived.

comments

Vegan Butterscotch Apple Bars

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 08:55:28 GMT

Adapted from this recipe:
Salted Butterscotch Apple Bars (better known as Apple Brownies)

I made a double-batch of the above recipe, using these ingredients:

3/4 cup olive oil
slightly less than 2 cups of sugar, with some date syrup mixed in (as a brown sugar substitute as I didn't have any)
2 eggs' worth of egg replacer (the powder kind made from chia seeds and chickpea flour)
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 1/4 cup white wheat flour + 3/4 cup of other flour (millet & buckwheat)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
cardamom (I did not measure it; about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoon salt
3 cups apple, peeled & diced into 1/4 inch pieces (I used 1 small green apple and 2 red/green apples)

I mixed the ingredients together, stirring the diced apples in last.
I greased a large glass baking pan, 9.5" by 13.5", with coconut oil, and spread the batter in the pan.
I baked it at 350 degrees for 75 minutes. Then I turned the oven off and left the pan in for another 15 minutes before taking it out to cool.

The batter looked like this before baking:

These were the baked bars after transferring them into a different pan:

As mentioned before, they were very scrumptious! It is not very obvious there are apples in the final baked product, but they undoubtedly contribute to the sweet chewy goodness.

comments

Christmas Eve

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 11:32:57 GMT

An except from daily notes:
I got into my car, annoyed at the waste of my time. I had trouble pulling out the seat belt because even though I felt like I was reacting calmly, the seat belt could tell I was annoyed.

..

On some days, there is the feeling that every little thing which can go wrong, is going wrong. (Not big things, just little ones.) But realizing that lets me take the little setbacks more in stride. Oh yes, everything is going to go wrong today, so of course that happened.

..

We are doing Christmas Eve on Christmas Day this year. Perhaps for the first time; perhaps not. I'd have to check my notes.

I listened to Christmas music on the radio while baking tonight. I made a package of double chocolate muffins. I also made a veganized version of this recipe; it turned out very good:
Salted Butterscotch Apple Bars

After tasting the "Watkins Original Gourmet Baking Vanilla" which I bought last time as it was a better price than the other vanillas, I realized it is not the same as vanilla extract. I was probably tricked by the label saying "with Pure Vanilla Extract" in bold, but under that it says "with other natural flavors".

I am up way too late again; it's a habit and the "way too late" keeps getting later and later.

comments

Sumo Citrus

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 07:50:59 GMT

My mom wants people to know that Sumo Citrus fruit are still very good to eat when the top-knot part starts getting dried out and brown. She said Kroger marks them way down in price when that happens and puts them in the "blemished" fruit section. She loves them and doesn't want them to go to waste, so if you see them for cheap, go ahead and buy them and you probably won't regret it. Per the below articles, they are normally very expensive.

She gave me some, and I agree they are quite good. I wouldn't say they are better or worse than oranges and clementines; they have a different, unique flavor similar to canned mandarin slices.

What's The Deal With These Giant Misshapen Oranges?

Why's it called "Sumo citrus?"
Ah, this is a fun one. Well, it's Japanese in origin (like Sumo wrestling), it's bigger in nature (like a Sumo wrestler), and it's always got a little top knot-type bump on its head (see the last parenthetical).

What Is Sumo Citrus?

Places that sell Sumo Citrus

.

So many different kinds of citrus fruit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_citrus_fruits

comments

lemony lemony | agar agar and tapioca

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 09:38:49 GMT

heron61 once posted about making a Shaker lemon pie. It looked and sounded quite good, so I looked up a vegan version of the pie. It sat in my bookmarks for quite some time, eventually being joined by two recipes for lemon tarts.

While grocery shopping a few weeks ago, there were very nice-looking organic lemons, so I bought a small bag of them, thinking I'd finally make that pie and maybe a tart too.

(I could also try making my own Moroccan Preserved Lemons.)

After buying the lemons, I belatedly remembered the pie recipes specify *Meyer* lemons which are less sour than regular ones. But eventually I decided to try them in the recipe anyway.

Today I sliced up 3 of the lemons with a mandolin. After stirring in a cup of sugar, I tasted the lemony liquid in the bowl, expecting it to be sour, but it tasted wonderful. So rather than adding another full cup of sugar, I only added half a cup. I stirred up the sugared lemons well and left them in the fridge to sit (to "macerate"). Hopefully on Sunday I'll get around to making a pie from it. (Darn it, I don't have agar nor arrowroot, only cornstarch. Maybe a shopping trip tomorrow.)

Update, 2022/12/10:
Per the website search results of several local food stores, none of them have agar. That probably explains why I'm out of it. The brands I've used in the past were, I believe, these:
Eden Agar Agar Flakes
Telephone brand Agar-Agar Powder - this is from Thailand.

But as agar is both expensive and hard to find, I decided to use tapioca powder instead:
The Tricks to Tapioca, the Other Pie Thickener

I may even still have some tapioca starch, but if not I do have tapioca that I could grind up.

Then again, I'm all dressed and ready to go shopping. So maybe I'll stop by an Asian grocery store after all to see if I can find agar and/or more tapioca starch there.

comments

mouth sensitivities

Sun, 17 Jul 2022 06:31:55 GMT

When I make brownies or cookie bars, the edges (naturally) end up harder or crunchier than the interior parts. When cutting them into like-sized pieces as I used to do, many of the pieces would (naturally) end up with at least one hard/crunchy edge. I disliked those parts as they would sometimes hurt* my mouth and gums when I bit on them.

A few years ago when making cookies bars, I started cutting off the hard parts first in a narrow strip along all 4 sides of the pan. That way, the rest of the cookie bars are pleasantly soft and chewy on all sides. As a bonus, I even enjoy eating the harder edges when they are cut this way. In narrow strips, they are easier to eat without hurting my mouth.

..

I very much dislike the rough dry fuzzy feeling of peach skins in my mouth. Therefore I peel peaches before eating them. But it seems a shame to throw away presumably healthy and rich-in-fiber peach skins, especially if the peach was reasonably ripe, in which case the skins aren't quite as bad.

So now I've found that I enjoy eating peeled peach skins on their own, as long as I fold each piece so that the fuzzy skin is on the inside and the (thin layer of) peach flesh is on the outside.

..

*I have what may be called a "prominent" alveolar ridge. I estimate it extends back at least 1cm behind my upper front teeth before curving up to the top of my palate. Chewing hard crunchy food often makes that area of my mouth sore. As does biting into hard fruit like apples or pears.

comments

EEAAO movie, lost fruit

Sun, 17 Apr 2022 05:48:07 GMT

I did go see "Everything Everywhere All At Once" today with my mom, and it was very good. It made me laugh and may have brought tears to my eyes. Reading one review yesterday, I was curious why someone described it as an "R-rated family flick", ie. what made it R-rated, but now I understand.

.

There was a faint fruity smell in my car as I left from my house. I wondered if a clementine had rolled under the car seat last week. I opened the car windows and forgot about it.

After the movie we stopped by Kroger to get some groceries. Mainly corn chips because I'm almost out of corn chips and I need me my corn chips. My mom lingered in the fruit & veggie section, so I glanced around. There were papayas. Say wait a minute, didn't I buy a papaya last week? It was a nice small-size yellowy ripe-enough-to-eat-right-away papaya... I did buy it, didn't I? What happened to it?

Yep, it was under the car seat. I'm surprised it didn't impart a stronger smell to the car; but it helped that the car was parked in the garage and not out in the sun all week. The fruit isn't even moldy. It looks VERY good ripe now though, and I will cut it up after this post.

comments

acids on the teeth and beware mouthwashes

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 09:14:53 GMT

Thirteen Acidic Fruits And How They Affect Your Teeth

Wow, grapes are as acidic as grapefruit. Maybe that is why my teeth and gums were irritated this week, after me eating green grapes that I had bought.

.

My teeth have erosion along the gumline.

For a while in the past, I used a Tom's of Maine (brand) children's anticavity fluoride mouth rinse ("Silly Strawberry" flavor) after brushing my teeth in the evening, hoping that would help fortify my tooth enamel and make my teeth less sensitive. I think I mixed the mouth rinse half and half with water to cut down on the sweetness, but other than that the flavor was nice.

After using that bottle up, I tried a different brand - TheraBreath for Kids "Anti Cavity Oral Rinse", "Gorilla Grape" flavor. OMG, that one was WAY sweeter than the other one. Even cut down with water, it was still very sweet. So I never used much of that bottle.

Both brands are sweetened with xylitol which is good for your teeth. But still, I don't like a sweet taste in my mouth when I go to bed, and rinsing out the mouth rinse with water negates some of the benefit of the fluoride. (Yes, I know many people think fluoride is actually bad for you, but considering that I've only had one cavity so far in my life, I'm still of the opinion that it works well for me.)

So this year I bought another bottle of the Tom's of Maine rinse. But I was surprised to see from its ingredient list that it contains actual fruit juices (strawberry, pineapple, orange, lemon, mango) rather than (or in addition to) fruit flavor. All those fruits are acidic, and I was surprised that any company would put acids into a mouth rinse, when acid is bad for teeth. Then I saw that the TheraBreath includes citric acid in its ingredients too.

I wondered if the amount of juice and acid was low enough not to make much impact, or if other ingredients in the mouth rinses counteracted the acidity of the juice.

I tested the Tom's mouth rinse by pouring a small amount of it into a glass and adding baking soda. It fizzed! I tried the same thing with the TheraBreath and Qiao's old Listerine. They all got somewhat cloudy when the baking soda dropped in. But the TheraBreath and Listerine did not fizz. Only Tom's of Maine produced visible bubbles.

Acidic Mouthwashes Are Eroding Your Teeth - lists the pH of various popular mouthwashes. Per this list, Tom's of Maine is the worst, but Listerine isn't good either.

The erosive effects of some mouthrinses on enamel

Mouthwash Is Bad For You: 4 Better Alternatives

comments

my fig tree

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 06:33:42 GMT

... brings all the birds (bees, squirrels, flies) to the yard.

.

It has had so many figs this year (the first time it has been so abundant) that I've left many on the tree for them to get.

comments

Lilo & Stitch

Mon, 17 May 2021 05:24:58 GMT

It's only been 19 years since it came out, but I've finally watched the Lilo and Stitch movie (I'd wanted to for a long time). I enjoyed it.

I know there are several more movies and a TV series - I saw an episode of the latter once. At this rate it will take me decades to watch the rest, if ever.

.

I went grocery shopping yesterday. When I got home, I realized that all the fruit I bought was orange. Loquats, a papaya, a mango, a satsuma mandarin, apricots.

comments

TV, banana milk

Sat, 10 Apr 2021 08:02:32 GMT

I finished watching the first season of Resident Alien, and quite enjoyed it. It's amusing but also quite touching.

.

I stopped watching Mr. Mayor after the first few episodes, as the comedy became too absurd for my taste. I still haven't figured out which (other) child actor the Arpi Meskimen character reminds me of.

.

Almond Breeze has a quite good banana almond milk, made with real bananas and no added sugar. It tastes the same as banana milk I used to make myself, but blended all smooth.

.

My arm was still a little sore Thursday, but by Friday evening it felt completely back to normal. No other side effects so far.

comments

nutrition labels

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 08:31:01 GMT

Starting in the last 4 years or so, the requirements for food nutrition labels in the U.S. have changed:
4 Major Changes Are Coming To Food Nutrition Labels (May 2016)
Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label: What Parents Need to Know (April 2020)

The Nutrition Facts Label: Its History, Purpose and Updates (March 2020)

There are four vitamins and minerals that are required to be listed on every updated Nutrition Facts label: vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium. While calcium and iron were also required before the latest update, vitamin D and potassium are new to the list, replacing vitamins A and C. The swap was made because Americans get enough vitamin A and C in their diet but fall short on vitamin D and potassium.

So Vitamin A and C are usually no longer listed, which I did not realize. But what about all the other vitamins and minerals? I seem to recall that labels used to list many other vitamins and minerals too, didn't they? Now they hardly ever do.

There have been multiple times over the last few years where I've looked at the nutrition label on some product that I'd expect to be healthy, such as vegetables or fruit, and have thought to myself, "According to this it has basically no vitamins or minerals at all, so it must not be that healthy after all. Fruit and vegetables are overrated."

I wonder if other people have had that reaction too.

Update, 2021/01/23: I didn't think to mention it before, but it was a false expectation of mine which caused that reaction. I expected that if a product had a measurable amount of certain vitamins or minerals, that those amounts would normally be listed on the label. I thought they would only be omitted when they weren't present at more than trace levels.

comments

the unpeeled peel

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 06:14:06 GMT

errant thought:
Is the skin of a banana called a banana peel, even before it is peeled?
Is the rind of an orange called orange peel, while it is still all on the orange?

comments

recipes to use up overripe bananas

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 02:37:12 GMT

I'd veganize these recipes if I were making them.

Cranberry Banana Coffee Cake - (2 banana) looks good, if you happen to have a can of whole-cranberry sauce and pecans.

Cast-Iron Chocolate Chip Banana Bread - (3 banana) I'd bake it in a regular pan though.

Chocolate (Chip) Banana Muffins - (3 large banana)

Overnight Chocolate Banana Chia Pudding - (1 banana) This would probably taste best if the banana wasn't very overripe.

Creamy Banana Pudding Pie - (4 banana)

Homemade Banana Pudding (Gluten Free & Vegan) - (3 large banana)

Bananas Foster Oatmeal - (2 banana)

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-Free) - (1 banana per 6 cookie). This cookie recipe was shown in video: MUST TRY Overripe Banana Recipes (Vegan)
Her overripe bananas look a lot nicer inside than mine do.

Tonight, I'm leaning towards making either the oatmeal or the pudding. Or maybe both as I have 5 banana to get rid of.

Update, 11:55pm: I made the Bananas Foster Oatmeal, using the given recipe except that I put all 5 bananas in it, mashed. Being very hungry, the oatmeal tasted quite good on its own before adding the sauce, and the sauce tasted quite good on its own too before adding the bananas. But with it all together, it tastes quite good too.

.

Tonight I found out that there is a difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder. I don't think I've ever bought cacao powder, but until now would have wrongly assumed they were simply different terms for the same thing. Per that page, they are processed differently, resulting in the cacao powder having more nutrients, but the cocoa powder being less bitter.

comments

summer time

Sun, 28 Jun 2020 08:29:22 GMT

lalalalalalalala nevermind, don't need to write about that.

Little frogs all over Qiao's back yard. Big ones too; there were two on the back steps last night. Had to shoo them away last night before the dogs saw them. I'm surprised but glad that the dogs haven't been going after the little ones. I worry I might accidentally step on them as they are hard to see when they're not moving. They jump away and then I see them from the motion.

I found a nice plant with grape tomatoes growing in the yard. We didn't plant it. How could it have gotten there? I don't like raw tomatoes; when Qiao sometimes brings me a take-out meal that includes them, I give the tomatoes to the dogs as they like them. The plant is growing in the area where I bury the dog p**p. So that must be where it came from.

Dandelion trees... Weeds that look like dandelions from their leaves, but grow tall with a thick steam. I was watching one such plant grow tall at my house. It finally got even taller than me, and only then did little flowers start blooming at the top. There was one in Qiao's yard too, similar but different; also taller than me.

There's a sassafras sapling growing out back too. I tasted a couple of its leaves; they didn't taste much like root beer, but they were very mucilaginous. From what I read it is actually dangerous to eat, and so they don't use real sassafras as a flavoring any more.

comments

sea buckthorn, Sanddorn

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:38:25 GMT

(distraction #...)

I've been curious what sea buckthorn tastes like, ever since I learned of it and saw the photos of its orange berries.

Sometime back, I bought a bar of Nordi Sea Buckthorn & Salty Caramel Dark Chocolate. Tasting it today, it reminds me of a flavor that is common in Germany. So I looked up the translation of "sea buckthorn" into German... Oh, so sea buckthorn is Sanddorn! So I knew what it tasted like all along, I just didn't know that I knew!

It's not one of my favorite flavors, admittedly, but in.. whatchmacallums, it was always pretty good. Gosh darn it, now I'm trying to remember what those whatchamacullums are called...

Fruchtschnitte! (ie,. "fruit slices"; I thought they had a more memorable name than that. They are a snack made of sweetened dried fruit and nut filling (various different flavors) pressed between a top & bottom layer of wafers.

comments

the passion of dandelion and hickory

Sat, 11 Jan 2020 23:12:42 GMT

Although I'm vegan, I don't often buy much fresh fruit and vegetables. Doing so results in needing to wash, peel, cut, cook, (etc.) as well as eat them, and to do so before they go bad, regardless of whether I have the time that day or week. Background stress. Not buying them avoids that. Usually I'll only buy a few easy things here or there. Avocados are good. Occasional fruit. Carrots; they last almost forever in the fridge without going bad.

I felt like cooking something this weekend though, and that fruit would be nice too. So yesterday I bought:

a passion fruit
2 oranges
blueberries
blackberries
jicama (pre-cut sticks, ideal for munching on! such a great convenience even though it comes in a plastic container)
fennel
dandelion greens

The fennel didn't have a bar-code on it. At the self-check-out station, it wasn't listed in the item look-up menu. A Kroger store employee came over to help, but we couldn't find it on their physical cheat-sheet either. Then I said, "It's also called anise, but I don't think it would be listed under that..." Yet it was listed as "anise / fennel".

.

My erstwhile flu or cold still lingers a bit. Last weekend, my upper right chest area ached for a day; might mean a slight lung infection. My throat has been phlegmy; I still have a slight cough and occasional runny nose. Otherwise, I've still been feeling ok. Still much better than the usual kind of colds I get, where my nose is runny and/or congested non-stop for days or weeks.

.

Kleenex has renamed their "Cool Touch" tissues to "Cooling Lotion". In the store yesterday, I wasn't sure if it was the same product. The ingredient list included polyethylene (plastic!?), which I hadn't remembered it having. So I took a photo of the label and didn't buy any. But comparing that now to a "Cool Touch" box which I still have, the ingredients are the same.

.

While walking, I passed a hickory tree and thought of that children's rhyming song, Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. Except I thought the rhyme must be like "Tickety tickety tock, the mouse ran up the clock" (since clocks go tick tock). I recall thinking, well if I *did* put in the word "hickory", how should it go, "Hickory hickory hawk?" I played around with other variations in my mind, "clickety clickety clock", "clippety clippety clop"

Looking it up today, I was surprised that my brain's initial word association of "hickory" with the rhyme was correct. It's interesting that those words "hickory dickory dock" may have come from Cumbric numbers.

comments

figs. shelves. locking clips.

Sun, 14 Jul 2019 08:25:56 GMT

Fig tree has so many figs this year. Yesterday I picked 28 ripe ones, the most ever in a single day. I'm surprised the birds and squirrels haven't been taking more; I've only seen a few pecked on or chewed up so far.

.

At work, we have Haworth office furniture in the cubes. It must date back to the 1980s. At my last 2 cubes, I had readjusted the shelf over my desk down 4 notches so that it would be a good height for placing the second monitor. I use the lower monitor when sitting, and the top monitor when standing. That way I can stand up when I get tired of sitting.

As we were moved again this month, I wanted to readjust the shelf in my new cube the same way. But when I tried, I couldn't get the shelf to pull free from the rails. It didn't come loose even when I removed the middle part, and tried pulling out each side panel on its own. There was a small metal clip stuck into the top notches, which seemed to be locking the panels in place. I tried pulling and twisting the clips, but wasn't able to get them out. The next day, I had the idea to push up on the bottom of the shelf while pulling on the clip with a pair of pliers. That way I got them out. Then it was fairly easy to readjust the shelf downwards.

comments

june maracuja

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 06:04:23 GMT

I've learned that if you're going to transport a mattress set in the back of a pickup truck, it would behoove you to check the local weather forecast even if you're in a hurry due to other people's needs and limits. Trusting the current weather pattern to hold is unwise. Having a torrential downpour start part-way through the drive is unfortunate.

.

Tofurky has discontinued their vegan pepperoni. This disappoints me as I liked using it in my lunch sandwiches. The only other vegan pepperoni I know of, by Yves, didn't taste nearly as good to me back when I was still able to find it in stores. Now neither are available around here. The Yves one is available online, but based on my memory of it, I'm not sure it is worth ordering considering that I'd also need to order a cold pack with it.

.

We needed the rain. I wish it had waited another hour though. I worry that the persons I gave the mattress to won't let it properly dry on all sides and that it'll get moldy or mildewy. Pity.

.

This vegan "beefy cheddar pot pie" tastes good; the crust is very good too:
https://alphaplantbased.com/our-food/handheld-pot-pies/
https://alphaplantbased.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/beefy-cheddar-pot-pie-alpha.png

(Note to self: as of 2019/Dec, WalMart has those Alpha pot pies. Maybe that is also where I originally found them; I don't remember.)

These orange cream ice pops are also good. Nostalgic. The flavor is somewhat mild, but at least they are not so very sweet as some other ice pops are.
https://www.goodpops.com/flavors/orange-n-cream/

These coconut passion fruit ice pops from Whole Foods are also good, also nostalgic for me, and also not too sweet.
https://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpress/2019/06/04/spotted-whole-foods-edition-6-4-2019/365-everyday-value-coconut-passion-fruit-fruit-bars-jpg/

Nostalgic for me because passion fruit juice was something I got to drink at my aunt's house in Germany when I was a kid. It was sold in bottles, usually mixed with other juices. We bought a fresh passion fruit from the fruit market one time. Juicy pebbly seeds inside. The same flavor but not as sweet as the juice. In German, it is called Maracuja, not passion fruit. From the Spanish or Portuguese name.

.

why why?

.

I take notes at work while testing and researching things. Every once in a while, I end up writing "wtf?!!".

.

hey boom dop ditty dop boom bop wow.

how now, how now? one step at a time, one step and then nine.

and then you die, my young apprentice, and then you die.

comments

visions of sugar plums

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 06:59:14 GMT

You mean to tell me that sugar plums aren't really sugared plums, nor even prunes, and they never were?!

comments

cashews and olives

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 02:57:14 GMT

I've discovered something that's even better than the dried olives I mentioned here: those same dried olives eaten together with salted cashews! Who would have thought that eating something oily and salty together with something else oily and salty would be a thing? Maybe that's the appeal of cheese and olive appetizer plates.

On a side-note, I had tried some unsalted dried olives, and they were one of the most unpalatable things ever. What a difference some salt can make.

comments

ruby tango

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 15:30:51 GMT

Ruby Tango Tangerines: This new type of hybrid mandarin with red interior fruit is a cross between a blood orange and clementine bred in Sicily.

I bought what was labelled a "ruby tango mandarin" in the store, which must be the same thing. I was thinking mandarin = clementine -> easy to peel. Hopefully so. But clementines are a subset of mandarins, not the same thing. American tangerines haven't left a fond impression in my memories; either the flavor or the seeds or difficulty in peeling; not sure. Even though tangerine is one of my favorite smells. I'm very lazy when it comes to peeling citrus. I'll avoid them, to avoid having to peel them, even when peeling them isn't difficult. Although if someone else peels one for me, I'm like, great, I'll eat that! Maybe it's the seeds too. I suppose I'm lazy in not wanting to have to spit out seeds, either. ::smh:: Such a lazy person, I am. Such a baaaaad vegetarian. I haven't opened the new fruit yet. (Maybe if I weren't afflicted by said laziness, I'd be eating it right now instead of writing a post about it.) It looks like a very large clementine, but with a navel-orange-like navel on the bottom.

Over in Germany, I'm not sure if they distinguish between tangerines and clementines. The German word for the fruit (either one, I think) is "Mandarin", and I remember them always being like the U.S. clementines. It is why I always think of clementines when I see the word "mandarin".

I recall buying a "ruby tango" something or other before... thought it was an orange. Thought I had posted about it (but can't find said post). But I don't recall seeing a very big clementine like this before. Yet it must have been the same thing. Unless it was named something else that I'm mixing up with "ruby tango". Hmm. Ah, found it! It was something different, a mango blood orange. Hah, so maybe this new fruit will be a sensational new experience for me!

comments

Spring of February

Sat, 11 Feb 2017 22:49:27 GMT

It is such a gorgeous warm sunny day today. This whole so-called winter has been relatively warm. Other than a few cold nights and cool days, it hasn't even felt like winter.

The pink magnolia tree started blooming this week. The blooms don't usually last more than a week or two. Based on photos, in prior years it bloomed in early to late March. So this year is a full month earlier than usual, unless the years in which I didn't take photos had earlier blooms too.

The fragrant yellow jessamine on the fence is also already blooming.

There is a bush at Qiao's house, which I've been curious to know what kind of plant it is. It has thin stalks, some with reddish blossoms and some with white (unless the white ones are a different kind of bush). It started blooming right at the beginning of February, even before the pink magnolia. In the summer, it gets roundish green fruit that look like plum-sized small apples. They are surprising to see, because the thin stalks don't seem like they could support such relatively big fruit, yet they do. The fruit smells and tastes like bitter apples (too bitter to eat). So it's probably some apple variant. It doesn't look like what Google Images shows for crab-apples, though.

After doing some searches, my best guess is that it is a shrub quince, even though the fruit is green rather than yellow, and more apple-shaped than quince-shaped.

( More photos... )

comments

jackfruit

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:40:20 GMT

This is a jackfruit cross-section.

The yellow parts are the fruit that one eats - though the white seeds can also be cooked and eaten.

The photo is from November; it was the first time I'd seen fresh jackfruit for sale, so I bought it to try. The taste didn't appeal to me, but it might not have been fresh enough. There were lots of brown spots on the fruit already (which aren't very visible in the photo). A long time ago, I had dried jackfruit, which tasted quite good.

Unripe jackfruit can also be cooked and eaten. For dinner tonight, I sauteed Upton's Chili Lime Carnitas Jackfruit. As the package was rather small, I added a can of garbanzo beans and some left-over whole wheat rotini pasta. It was quite yummy.

comments

olives & flowers

Wed, 04 Nov 2015 06:07:36 GMT

There are these "Botija" black dried pitted olives which are very expensive (I got the first packet on sale). But they are so good that I subsequently bought a 2nd packet at full price. If I had to describe the flavor, it would be "bitter, salty, oily", which doesn't *sound* particularly appealing. But they do appeal. Especially together with the chewy texture, and the fact that I can eat them with my fingers, without my fingers getting wet.

Eating them late at night doesn't help with a case of acid reflux though.

.

One of the things I like about Lantana is how the flowers go away but keep coming back all summer long, even up through now in November.

comments