I’d like to share a few interesting handmade soaps I’ve discovered from various shops. Not only do I make soaps, but I also like to collect other soaps too.

This is one of the first handmade soap I came across from Pier One Imports. It’s made in Thailand by Bath & Bloom.

The dark chocolate soap smells yummy! And the tumeric honey is a neat combination. Except when I think of tumeric, I think of the yellow stains it will leave behind. But this doesn’t do that as it’s blended very well into the soap.

It’s a fairly small square bar that weights close to 3 oz. And cost about $2.50 to $3.00. Pier One has many interesting soaps from around the world. But I don’t think they carry this brand anymore.

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Pomelos (sometimes refer to as pummelos) must in season this time of year, just like many other citrus fruits such as mandarins and tangerines. It’s a nice treat to find such bright orange and yellow fruits in the drab of winter. Plus the extra Vitamin C is good to have around to stay healthy.

Pomelos can easily be found at many Asian grocery stores, usually priced at $3 each.  The Chinese like to have pomelos around for their new year celebration.  It symbolizes abundance and prosperity.  Must be due to the size of this fruit!

I thought I had seen my share of giant pomelo, until I came across this one shaped like a bowling pin.

According to Purdue University horticulture department, there are many different cultivars of pomelo grown in Thailand. This one is call “Kao Phuang or Khao Phoang” meaning ‘White tassel’. This may be the only commercial cultivar of Thailand that is in great demand. As large amounts are usually exported to Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Although many are also grown in Indio, California.

The pummelo is native to southeastern Asia and all of Malaysia; grows wild on river banks in the Fiji and Friendly Islands. It may have been introduced into China around 100 B.C. It is much cultivated in southern China (Kwang-tung, Kwangsi and Fukien Provinces) and especially in southern Thailand on the banks to the Tha Chine River; also in Taiwan and southernmost Japan, southern India, Malaya, Indonesia, New Guinea and Tahiti. - Julia F. Morton, Purdue University

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I really like Sapota.  And was happy to find these frozen Sapota (or Sopadilla) at the Asian food market.  They are from Thailand and sold in packages of 5 for $2.50.  They are the next best thing to the fresh ones.

Since they are frozen, you may want to leave them out for a bit to let them soften up.  Then scoop out with spoon and eat the sweet flesh part.  I was surprised at how sweet they were, almost like maple syrup.  The skin is edible too, but I haven’t tried it yet.

In India and Thailand, they are usually made into drinks mixed with sweet condensed milk and ice.  Or just blend with milk and sugar to make a shake.  The fruit itself is so sweet, it’s like a good desert in  fruit. In Thai they are called “lamut” pronounced “lamoot”.  In Singapore, they are referred to as “chiku” fruit.

They grow in hot tropical climate.  Sapota can be found growing wild in the forests of southern Mexico and northern Central America.  Also refer to as both Sapodilla and mamey.  I have had Mexican ice cream (paleta) made with mamey and it is the best ice cream ever.  They usually sell out really fast too.

Here is a better picture of sapota or mamey tree.  Photo from Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery in Australia.  Daleys has many different varieties of mamey or Sapota to chose from as well.  It a looking neat tree, remind me of Papaya tree too.

I used to always buy the canned version of Sapota. But the last few Aroy-D cans I bought tasted horrible. It was bland and did not taste like real fruit, more liked sugared cardboard. So I never bought them again.

This photo I took of the White Sapote from the International Rare Fruit Orchard in San Jose, Ca.  Not related to the Sapota, but name sound similar.  This fruit is also popular in Central America.  They are best eaten when ripen and are said to be very sweet, like sugar.  the inside is also added to ice cream and milk shake as well.  In Mexico, they are believed to have a soporific effect, meaning it makes you sleepy.

Other interesting Sapota fact:  chicle, the basis for chewing gum is made from the milky latex of this tree.  It has a caramel-like, sweet flavor somewhat to maple syrup or brown sugar.  Source from Oregon State University  here.

Ian Maguire’s Sapota picture here.

I am not a big fan of bottled water.  Especially considering how some of these bottled water or nothing more then filtered water being prepackaged into a bottle.  And being that it’s plastic and not very biodegradable, is also another thing that bothers me.  If anything should be in a bottle, at least make it a glass bottle.

Plastic bottles leech out toxins to your body.  Plastic bottles end up in landfills and don’t break down easily.  Plastic bottles end up in the ocean.  Glass is much better, glass can be recycled.  Drinks bottled in glass don’t have that plastic tinge taste.

There are many good selection of bottled glass drinks that I’ve seen the Asian markets but not in the American market.  One that stands out is pure young coconut water.  I would much prefer these drinks over the typical (and sugar loaded) drinks such as Pepsi, Coke, and even Snapple.  It’s all really disappointing.

Coconut water is great and a much better choice as (an isotonic) sports drink as well, compare to Gatorade.  Coconut water has no cholesterol and contains natural sugars and salt. Coconut water is high in many vitamins and minerals, especially potassium. The most important nutrient found in coconut water or milk is lauric acid. Lauric acid is believed to have antimicrobial properties and is found naturally in mother’s milk, cow milk, and goat milk.  As mentioned from my previous post here.

My favorite brand of bottled young coconut water is Taste Nirvana from Thailand.  It beats drinking Coke or Snapple.  I like how the glass bottle is packaged and design too.  The top cap reminds you, “Happiness in a bottle.”  A 9.5 oz bottle is about $1, which is a reasonable price.  Also glad they use natural cane sugar instead of high fructose syrup (like many American drinks).

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Ever since I was young, I’ve always been fascinated (if not in love) with all fruits.  But tropical fruits really make my heart flutter. My list of favorite tropical fruits can go on and on, but I think the sugar apple tops the list.  They have a very strange looking outside skin but are very sweet and yummy inside.

Sugar-apple fruit is high in calories, but is a good source of iron.  They are also part of the cherimoya or custard apple family.   They are also referred to as custard apple.  Cherimoyas have gained some popularity here in California.  Recently I saw them at our local farmer’s market for $5 per pound and $3 a pound at the Chinese market .  But if want organic one shipped to you, try ordering from Calimoya.  They are a tropical fruit farm based out of the foothills of Santa Barbara, California.  You can purchase from them when it’s in season.  Their cherimoyas retail a 4 lb box for $42.  It’s a bit pricey for me, but it’s shipped fresh and direct from the U.S.!

Recently I bought a bag of frozen cherimoya that was packed in Thailand. It was $3 for two medium size fruit.  Not as fresh, but just as good!  The skin outside looks very strange and lumpy, a bit like a soft pine cone.  It was very “Out of this World” strange!  But the inside smells great and the taste is even better. The texture and fragrant smell of this fruit is unforgetable.  The inside is soft and sweet and to me it’s like eating a good ripe pear, mixed with pineapple, bananas, and even a bit of mangosteens.  But it’s really difficult to describe in words, so you may have to taste it for yourself.

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