The best way to prolong the freshness and life of any food (or product) by far is to vacuum seal them.

Here I have fresh organic chili peppers grown in my mom’s kitchen garden. I just take a handful of chili peppers and put them in these clear bags.

I used a Kenmore machine (which does not use a snorkel) to seal them. Machines with a snorkel (which are usually meant for clear poly bags) don’t tend to pull a lot of vacuum and therefore many people don’t like them. I pulled 26″ of Mercury within 5 seconds on the Kenmore. Machines with a snorkel probably pull only about 14″ of Mercury, and will probably lead to a food freezer burn.

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Outdoor fashion is becoming more popular these days. From fleece jackets to boots. Is it because they last longer? Or is it because we’ve gone mostly casual in our everyday clothing choice.

Carl Chiara, director of brand concepts for Levi’s, had this opinion to share from a NY Times article, “During uneasy times, consumers are naturally drawn to items that are well-constructed and built to last.” That makes sense, but I would think this is the better way to go, even when times are good. Well made products mean less waste going into landfills.

Outdoor clothing company, L.L. Bean, is getting into this trend with their Signature line. It’s something the more youthful generation can appreciate when they think of L.L. Bean.

Here are some of my favorites from LL Bean Signature Fall 2010 season. I just like the muted and classic colors of the outfit. And the Saltwash Canvas Backpack looks like it’s ready for adventure.

The duck sweater is actually cute! And the shirt underneath is plaid and it’s back. But in much brighter and happier colors.

Photos from LL Bean.

Daiki Suzuki, is Japanese designer that has helped bring the classic American outdoor sportswear look into high fashion. From an interview with Time Out New York in December of 2008, the designer of Engineered Garments was really quite surprised by this trend. The designs from his line was inspired by Woolrich Woolen Mills, an outdoor clothing company.

This is the winning design by Daiki Suzuki. It truly looks like classic American fashion. And the facial hair is more like 1800’s! Photo from The Gloss.

Woolen Mills came calling to Suzuki in 2006 and asked Suzuki to join their team. He was in charge of updating the 170 year old American brand. Two years later, in 2008 his line, Engineered Garments won the CFDA/GQ Menswear Designer of the Year Award.

Suzuki’s combines the utility of outdoor clothing with a modern sensibility. And he also mentioned, “It’s about being made in the USA,” he continues. “It’s not easy manufacturing here, but that’s what gives it its character and heritage.

As for the made in U.S.A part, he must be talking about his own line, Engineered Garment. Since only 20 percent of Woolrich’s products were assembled by Woolrich from start to finish. Forty percent were produced entirely by other manufacturers, and the remaining 40 percent were produced abroad. - source. That probably goes to say for many other retailers too.

Other popular outdoor clothing company that could see business grow is Eddie Bauer, Columbia, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), Eastern Mountain Sports, and Land’s End.

Laos is the inspiration behind Anthropologie’s new fashion bag titled “Million Elephants“.

This is how they entice us with the bag…

“Visit the temples in Luang Prabang and taste the delicacies in Vientiane with this Laos-inspired silk and canvas sack by your side.” Now that sounds like a relaxing vacation.

It’s a pretty bag with drawstring closure. Materials include silk, linen, and cotton.

I find the red tassels on the side give it more of a Chinese flair. Or maybe the splash of red was inspired by ? As the plumeria (frangipani) is the national flower of Laos.

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Pixar Animation Studios has been known for bringing us some good animated movies. And the latest movie I like to add to the list is UP. This is PIxar’s 10th feature film and the studio’s first in 3-D. The movie came out in 2009, but I just recently saw it on DVD.

Who would think a children’s movie with the hero being 78 years old is so much fun!

It’s actually great that children’s movie have unconventional heroes that find adventure in far off places. The place they are traveling to is “Paradise Falls” in South America. It’s what I would refer to as Tepui (Tabletop) mountain in Venezula. Tepui is a magical place with high plateaus, waterfalls, misty clouds, and stones that are shaped like animals.

Back to the movie, it’s both a comedy and adventure that’s great for all ages. There is the classic theme of good guys versus bad guys. With a few modern twist including dogs with collars that speak, a mythical bird, and a funny optimistic kid.

I don’t want to repeat the whole story line here. But I think it’s a great movie that’s worth checking out (if you haven’t already). The artwork is cheerful, especially with the colorful balloons. And the storytelling is great - although some part may be predictable, there is never a dull moment!

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I’ve always been amazed at the Pacific salmon’s cycle of life.  After being born in the rivers, they head out to sea only to be come back again in their adulthood to spawn.  And after the purpose of laying new eggs is over, they die.

This year’s salmon run hit a record high. This is good news for all that feed on the salmon. From people and bears to other wildlife. Plant life also benefit too. To keep the cycle going, we must have healthy and clean oceans.

Reuters News reported that the last twenty years saw a decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River.  The reason for the bumper harvest of salmon this year remain a mystery. But Carl Waters, a fisheries expert at U.B.C. zoology’s department mentions that it coincided with a “dominant-run” year.

Every fourth year is the dominant year when the biggest run comes in. The year after that is sub-dominant. Then you get two really low runs,” Walters told Reuters.

Out of the five migratory species of Pacific salmon, the sockeye travels the farthest.

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I found these interesting fruits at the Mexican produce section of the market. They are the fruits of the cactus plant. They are known by many other names including cactus or prickly pear.

Native to Mexico where they refer to them as tunas. They also grow wild in parts of the Southwest U.S.  I have seen people grow them successfully here California.  And this is the time of year where they are about to ripen.

These are the green variety.  I have tried the red flesh variety but I like the taste of the green version.  This taste very much like honeydew melons.

But they are very tricky to prepare.  There are little spikes that come out of the eye.  It is recommended to place the fruit on an open flame and burn off the prickly hair like spines.  Or maybe wear leather gloves when handling them.

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I love linen clothing, especially during the summer months. Sadly it took me this long to finally make my first pair of linen pant.

The last time I made pants, they were corduroy fabric. I was trying to duplicate the pattern from another favorite pair of cords. But it didn’t turn out too well.

So this time around I got a real pattern. A pretty easy pattern by Simplicity, on sale at the craft store. Since I am not a good model, I will only share a photo of the top portion of the pant.

The material makes it light and comfortable, great for California’s September weather. Lucky for me, it was a perfect fit and I didn’t have to make any alterations.

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M coaches kid’s soccer and one of his students gave us these treats from Japan. I just had to take a photo of them because the packaging is too cute.

The wrapper is very artistic.  It reminds me of pretty gift wrapping paper.  So it definitely feels like a treat to eat them.  

These little green tea candies also came in a cute package. There’s even a green ribbon to match the green candies.  They are hard candies that taste like green tea butterscotch.

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I’ve been searching for natural deodorant that works well and have never found one that did what it claimed.

I’ve even tried one from Trader Joe’s made with cotton. They all seem to work for the first couple of hours but then left me stranded the rest of the day. So I started experimenting with making my own natural deodorant.

I whipped this one up. The container was taken from a store bought deodorant that failed to work. The reason I don’t like commercial deodorant is because they contain aluminum.

To make your own natural home made deodorant, gather these ingredients: baking soda, cornstarch, extra virgin coconut oil, tea tree essential oil, peppermint essential oil, and grapefruit seed extract.

There are no real measurements here. I just started mixing things together. But next time around I’ll use measuring tools for those that would like a recipe. In the meantime, you can still whip one up for yourself.

Just add equal amounts of baking soda and cornstarch into a mixing bowl. Then add a little bit of coconut oil into the mixture until it starts to bind together.

Finish up by adding a few drops of tea tree oil and peppermint essential oil. The tea tree is anti-bacterial. And the peppermint oil is uplifting and perky.

Tea tree alone smells very strong and many people don’t like it. But the combination of tea tree and peppermint gives a lovely scent. Other scent I would recommend is lime or citrus.

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There is a new study out of the University of Georgia that found that black and sumac variety of sorghum bran have significant levels of antioxidants. Even more so than the superfruits such as blueberries and pomegranate.

Photo from Gluten Fighters. In Africa and Asia, sorghum is mainly eaten as porridges and flat breads. Sorghum looks similar to corn, but has many seed grain hanging from it.

It is a gluten-free grain. About one percent of the population worldwide is thought to suffer from either an allergy to or intolerance for wheat gluten. People with must avoid gluten in their diet.

When I was younger, I remember mom growing something that looked similar to sorghum. It looked like a small corn plant and had skinny stalks. We would gather the seeds and cooked them as . It’s a pretty neat thing to see when you’re a kid.

Or you can watch from with Andrew Zimmern.  He seems to really like and thinks it will be the next big thing!

The U.S. (especially grown in Kansas) is the largest producer of sorghum, but it’s the low tannin variety. This variety ends up as cattle and poultry feed or used to manufacture ethanol to fuel cars.

The high tannin variety, including sumac and black sorghum is what needs to be grown more in the U.S. Science Daily News noted, “The researchers said they hope to generate interest in sorghum bran or its extract as an additive to food and beverages. Sorghum bran extract could be added to a variety of foods and beverages as a liquid concentrate or dried powder.”

The researchers also believe sorghum would be an inexpensive and nutritional food additive. It could be a great alternative to bleached or refined flour. Close up of Gluten Free Sweet White Sorghum Grain. Photo from NutsOnline. It’s described by the folks at Nuts Online as hearty, chewy texture.

Makes it the perfect gluten-free substitute for couscous, bulgur, and pearled barley in soups and side dishes. I’ve never had sorghum and can’t vouch for how it taste. But if I see them at the health food store, I’ll give them a try.

Reference: 1. Amy Burdette, Pamela L. Garner, Eugene P. Mayer, James L. Hargrove, Diane K. Hartle, Phillip Greenspan. Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Select Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) Brans. Journal of Medicinal Food, 2010; 13 (4): 879 DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2009.0147