I just found out about this neat three-in-one fruit from my latest issue of Sunset magazine. The fruit has been in development for more than a decade. I will keep an eye out for this fruit and can’t wait to give it a try.

Photo from CNN Money.

It’s a cross between three fruits - peach, apricot, and plum. Peacotum is the creation of Zaiger’s Genetics Inc located in Modesto, California. The name peacotum doesn’t sound too appealing, but I’m sure it taste much better.

It’s described to have the color of a ripe peach but the lush interior may be the only “peachy” thing about it.

Mr. Zaiger is also the one that introduced us to pluots and plumcot. Mr. Floyd Zaiger’s company has patented more than 200 new varieties of fruit, all through conventional pollination and not genetic modification.

Peacotums have been available commercially under the names ‘Bella Cerise’ and ‘Bella Royale’, but ‘Bella Gold‘ is now being offered exclusively for home gardeners from Dave Wilson’s Nursery.

It is partially freestone, with yellow flesh and a wonderful complex flavor. It harvests in early June.” - GrowingProduce.com

I love cranberries and have been adding them to fried rice and other dishes. Then I decided why don’t I start baking with them too. So I whipped up my own batch of cranberry bread for the holiday.

Photo from Naturipe Farms.

I made one with pumpkin and dried cranberries, it kind of reminded me of biscotti and is great eaten with coffee or tea. And a little spreadable butter goes a long way.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 egg beaten
1/2 tsp of vanilla oil
pinch of Pink Himalayan salt
handful of dried cranberries
3-4 ripe bananas*

Note: With this basic recipe, *I was able to substitute with either bananas, pumpkin or pineapple. The best combination is banana with pineapple bits and cranberries.

M found this fresh stalk of Brussels sprouts From Trader Joe’s.

I always thought it was cool to get them in stalks rather then in bags. No extra packaging wasted or needed either.

Brussels sprouts belong to the cabbage family. It’s a healthy vegetable that is high in vitamins A and C.

Interested in growing them? Check out these info and tips from the University of Illinois Gardening Extensive:

- Fall production is the most practical and rewarding in most parts of the country.

- Sprouts maturing in hot weather or under dry conditions are more likely to develop bitterness.

- In the proper season of the year, it can be grown with fair success in most areas of the country. In mild areas, or where there is deep snow cover, the sprouts may overwinter.

- Sprouts improve in quality and grow best during cool or even lightly frosty weather.”

I don’t plant to grow them anytime soon. But I do plan on cooking these. It would be best lightly steam or roasted with garlic and then drizzled with olive oil, Himalayan salt and ground black pepper.

Winter is officially here! And so was the lunar eclipse. Just before midnight, I went outside to watch the lunar event.  Luckily we had a break in the rain, but there was some mist and cloud.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the sun’s rays from the face of the moon. The moon is then fully in the shadow cast in space by the Earth.

The neat thing about this event is that the eclipse falls on the same day as the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.  NASA states the last time the two events coincided was in 1638, which was 372 years ago.  The next lunar eclipse to coincide with the winter solstice will be December 21st, 2094.  Maybe if I live to be over 100 years old, I’ll get to see that one too.

I took these photos last night. The reddish color of the moon looks almost spooky.

It was really cold outside and thank goodness I was all bundled up with my LL Bean coat, gloves, and knit hat.

52°F |  Current: Showers Wind: SE at 9 mph Humidity: 89% Wed 53°F | 40°F Thu 57°F | 40°F Fri 58°F | 44°F Sat 54°F | 44°F

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*Images are enhance with Photoshop to produce an accurate depiction.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

This apricot tree was planted years ago in memory of my father. It’s a nice tree that gives us pink blossoms in the spring, shade in the summer and sweet juicy apricots too. I also like that some of the leaves are heart shaped just like the Bodhi tree.

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I’ve recently added new soaps to my Etsy shop.  Holiday special: Get 2 FREE guest sized bars of Acai berry soap with your order.

Minty Moroccan Clay Soap: Two of the best clays are added to this minty soap. A great bar for the holidays (think candy cane). Or any time of the year for those who like refreshing mint to feel awaken and bright.

The bottom half has French green clay, it’s very absorbent and helps remove impurities from your skin. It can help tone damaged skin and revitalize the complexion and tighten pores.

The second half has Rhassoul (aka Moroccan clay). It has a long been used in ancient Rome and Egypt in natural skincare. It’s consider to be premium clay popular at day spas. It’s a great clay for those with oily and acne prone skin.

Sea Buckthorn Luxury Soap: Sea Buckthorn oil is known to promote the healing of skin such as burns and eczema. It also helps improve skin condition, especially with dryness and wrinkles. It also leaves your skin feeling very pampered and moisturized too.

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Palm wax candles has become one of my new favorite wax for candles. But the idea of turning rain forests into palm plantations is not what I want to see happen.

Fortunately there are sustainable palm plantations out there as well. Aloha Bay candle is one company that uses “Eco Palm Wax”. These waxes originates predominantly from smaller, old-growth palm plantations, located around villages in rural Indonesia and Malaysia.

Pictured here is soy wax tea lights made by Aloha Bay. I’ve been using them and really like it.  The palm wax burn very clean with no soot.  And the wick is made of cotton and the container is made of glass.  Just one little tea light can last for hours.

Here’s some more good info about palm wax by Simon Wright of The Organic Consultancy:

“Palm oil is extracted and refined through pressing and crushing rather than through using chemical solvents such as hexane. Palm oil can be further refined into palm olein (liquid) and palm stearine (solid).

Palm olein is used as a frying oil because it is very stable to heat, whilst palm stearine is used in biscuits and cakes and in non-hydrogenated margarine. Palm stearine is also used to stop peanut butter from separating. Palm oil resists oxidation and rancidity, which means products made using palm oil have extended shelf lives.

Palm oil is frequently confused with palm kernel oil, which is highly saturated. In contrast palm oil contains a balance of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids.”

Palm kernal oil may not be good for eating, but it’s a popular ingredient in handmade soaps.

Last year I experimented with soy candle making. It wasn’t that difficult.

I do like the way soy burns too, but I would prefer non-GMO soy wax.  The soy wax I used did not have any info, but was made in USA (which means it’s probably made of GMO soy).

One year later, I still have a difficult time searching for non-GMO soy wax. I would also prefer the wax come from sustainable plantations that support family farms. If anyone knows of a source or retailer, please share!

In our part of California, the leaves are finally starting to show their fall colors. It seem the rest of the country is already covered in deep snow, while we are just noticing the changing colors.

But this won’t last long, as the rain and wind comes it will all be blown to the ground. Time to rake the leaves, turn them to compost and hibernate until spring.

Autumn in December at the Quinlan Community Center in Cupertino, California. 67°F

iPhone photos.

December is finally here and I found some flowers that are just clinging on before it gets too cold.

I found this pretty plant growing at the shopping center parking lot. This bottlebrush flower is not from the typical bottlebrush tree. It’s actually more of a shrub. I didn’t have my camera with me to photograph the shrub, so I just picked one stem to take a closer look.

These bottlebrush plants are commonly used in both business and residential landscaping. With it’s dark green leaves and deep red flowers, it fits right into Christmas.

Bottlebrush is from the family Myrtaceae, they are also known as Callistemon. It’s an evergreen plant you just put in the ground once and never have to worry about too much. Except for the occasional pruning.

This flower is popular amongst bees and hummingbirds. Especially with all the sweet nectar they find from one brush.

And this is the butterfly ginger flower from my mom’s garden. They were blooming up until the most recent over night freeze. So no more flowers until next year.