I saw this cute furry animal from a Pier 1 Import ad recently.

I was thinking it was a fox, but exactly what type of fox I wasn’t sure.

Then M told me these are probably a desert fox due to it’s large ears. As large ears help to radiate body heat and help them keep cool.

And he’s right, they are fennec fox found in the desert of North Africa.

There are many type of desert foxes, but the cutest and smallest one of them all is fennec fox.

Fennec foxes are found in the Saharan desert. The term fennec comes from Arabic meaning fox. They live in underground sandy dens with up to ten other fennec foxes. Being nocturnal helps them stay cool when hunting at night.

It’s a luxe life for the fennec fox! Photo from Pier 1 Imports.

Read the rest of this entry »

Since I couldn’t get my hands on any lotus seeds, I was happy to find lotus roots instead. These were sold at the Asian market.

In Chinese medicine, lotus root is believed to improve appetite. Lotus roots is rich in iron, vitamins B and C.

I’ve always loved eating water lotus roots prepared as desserts. Usually mixed with black beans and coconut milk.

To prepare them all you have to do is wash it well. Scrape or peel off the skin. In this case, I just scraped it off with a knife. When sliced, the little air holes make for an interesting pattern. Reminds me of honeycomb cereal.

Once it’s sliced, you want to prevent them from turning brown. Just soak the slices in water with a bit of vinegar or lemon juice.

You can eat them raw as healthy snacks. The texture of lotus root reminds me of water chestnut. They are crunchy, but a bit bland. Tossing them into a salad would be a good idea.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of the first few bounty harvested from my mom’s garden.

We’ve always refer to them as Japanese pumpkins. The correct name is Kabocha squash, and it’s a type of winter squash.

The Kabocha squash took only four months to start producing. The seeds came from the squash she purchased at the market. I am always surprised to find that seeds from market produce can grow just as nicely in the garden.

My mom thinks they are one of the most easy to grow pumpkins. She just loves growing pumpkins and has three varieties in her garden.

One of which is almost white in color and grew by accident. But then it became a favorite for it’s taste. Her pumpkin varieties are known to be very creamy, nutty, and sweet. And the Kabocha fits right into the list.

Read the rest of this entry »

These are Champagne grapes, but not the kind used to make champagne. They are also known as miniature currant grapes and Corinth grapes.

I picked these up at Trader Joe’s. Grown in the U.S.A. and only $1.79 per pound. I love finding little surprises like this at Trader Joe’s.

I soak all my fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water and vinegar. They are delicate little grapes, so you have to be gentle when handling them.

Champagne grapes are seedless and easy to eat. They are slightly crunchy and tart, but is soon replaced with intense sweetness. Even the wrinkly ones are good too. It’s like eating raisins off the vine.

Read the rest of this entry »

These are my new “Seabuckthorn & Green Tea Handmade Soaps”. Since I was having so much fun with hot process soaping, I decided to make these the same way.

You can usually tell if it’s hp soap by the little bubbles around the surface. This is noticeable even when I made sure to fill the mold all the way with soap. Hot process soap is tricky in that sense.

Ingredients: Olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, palm oil, distilled water, seabuckthorn oil, rice bran oil, green tea powder, and green tea melon fragrance. Because they are half circle bars, they fit well in the palm of my hands.

The last Seabuckthorn soap I made was was nice and I added lots of good ingredients. Including red palm oil, which gave it the deep golden color.

For this version, I just kept it simple. Except I also added green tea powder. Green tea is making it’s mark in many cosmetic products due to it’s benefits to skincare.

Read the rest of this entry »

On August 20, 2010 the U.S. FDA warned customers not to eat frozen mamey fruit pulp.

At least nine people in California and Nevada fell ill with typhoid fever. An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a link between an ongoing attack of Salmonella typhi infections and the frozen mamey fruit pulp products.

These are fresh mamey sold at markets throughout the tropics. Photo from flickr.

Mamey is a popular fruit in tropical countries. They are also known as sapote. People would make juices or smoothies with mamey.

I didn’t even know they have frozen mamey pulp for sale in the U.S. The only mamey I’ve had are made into ice cream by a local company. Lucky I didn’t get sick from eating them. From now on, I’ll have to be extra careful about eating imported tropical fruits.

The mamey are sold under the brands The La Nuestra of Montalvan Sales Inc. in Ontario, California and the Goya brand by Goya Foods Inc. of Secaucus, N.J. Both companies have voluntarily recalled the product. The mamey comes from the same supplier in Guatemala.

Read the rest of this entry »

CNNMoney.com reported in July of this year that “barely half the population has dental insurance”. That is a high percentage.

Just a few months ago when I got a gold crown to fix a damaged tooth, it cost me about $600. And that’s with dental insurance. The price they quoted without dental insurance would be $900.

But just step across the border to Mexico at a DentiCenter office and the cost is $250. That’s a huge price difference!

DentiCenter is a small but growing chain of full-service dental centers sitting along the U.S. border of California, Arizona and Texas. The 6 offices are located in Mexico but 97% of its patients come from the U.S.

Vacation in Baja and vist the dentist too. Photo from The Travelers Journal.

I would probably go to the office in Baja, Mexico and visit the beautiful beaches and cove. Then it wouldn’t be so bad to visit the dentist, as long as you get a short vacation out of it.

The idea of traveling abroad for medical care is becoming common. There are even medical tourism companies that cater to just that idea. Especially in Thailand and India.

DentiCenter is one that caters to dental care. The center is founded by Dr. Juan Eng, a USC-trained periodontist from the Baja peninsula. They have been in business for 20 years now. DentiCenter’s services includes free transportation for all patients a convenient shuttle to and from the Mexico-U.S. border.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend, M and I went to visit Lodi in northern central California. I had really wanted to visit the cactus garden in Walnut Creek, but decided on a zoo trip instead.

Micke Grove Zoo is located in Lodi, just next to Stockton. It’s a small friendly town surrounded by vineyards. Ripe grapes were hanging left and right. And it looked like they were about to be harvested soon. I usually think of Napa Valley when I think of vineyards. But Lodi has some nice vineyards of their own too.

The last time we visited the place there was a lonely seal swimming in a pool. The swimming pool is gone and the seal has been replaced by lorikeets. They are pretty birds, but made so much noise.

I spotted these two Lorikeets enjoying a bath. Must be nice to enjoy a bird bath without having to worry about predators (such as cats!).

Read the rest of this entry »

In the future, hopefully all cars will become more “green.” But the cost of green cars such as hybrids are still expensive. Especially when you think of having to replace the batteries.

In June of 2008, hybrid car manufactures such as Toyota and Honda started to lower the prices of the car’s replacement batteries.

2006 Honda Civic Hybrid. Image from Wiki Commons.

For Honda, the cost of its batteries went from $3,400 (excluding installation) to as low as $1,968 on an Insight. And as high as $2,440 on an Accord hybrid. Toyota also reduce their battery prices, which is at $3,000 (excluding installation), down from $5,500 on the original Prius.

That would seem to be good news to many hybrid owners that will need to replace their batteries soon. That was two years ago.

But now there is another issue with the battery. The LA Times reported recently in August that Honda mailed out letters to more than 100,000 owners of 2006, 2007 and 2008 Civics in the U.S. and Canada. The letter stated the batteries “may deteriorate and eventually fail” earlier then expected. The company states a software fix would solve the problem.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been happy with my cell provider (Sprint) for many years now. I’ve also been wanting to upgrade to another phone, but they require another 2 year contract.

That wasn’t going to happen since I don’t like contracts. Especially ones that threaten to charge me a fine for early cancellation.

Then I came upon Virgin Mobile plans with no contract necessary. There were many plans to chose from, but I decided on the $25 plan (taxes included). This plan has 300 minutes (with each additional minutes 10 cents) unlimited text and data.

I also like that there’s no activation fee (saving you at least $30). No credit check necessary either.

This is the mobile phone I got - the Kyocera Loft. Now on sale $60. Available online or at Radio Shack. Description from Virgin Mobile:

Read the rest of this entry »