Saturday, September 27, 2014

Longans
Day 27

A Different Fruit A Day Personal Health Challenge

 



The Longan is a small round brown fruit is very similar to the popular lychee. Oma has three of these trees.

This fruit is packed with essential nutrients and an excellent addition to your daily diet. They are packed with antioxidants and per pound contain more iron than spinach. However, even more importantly – they taste great - sweet with a slight musky aroma!

Longans are used in traditional Chinese food therapy. It is used to treat insomnia, amnesia, edema and cardiac palpitations. Longan wine tonic is said to enrich the blood, beatify the skin, and is a remedy for grey hair. Combined with don quai and white peony root as a tonic, it is said to increase a woman’s sexual libido.



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Friday, September 26, 2014

Horned Melon
Day 26


A Different Fruit A Day Personal Health Challenge

 


The horned melon is also known as the kiwano, African horned cucumber or melon, jelly melon, hedged gourd, melano, and blowfish fruit. It is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family.

Horned melon connoisseurs describe the flavor of the slimy green interior in this fruit as a cross between cucumber, zucchini, and kiwifruit. Unfortunately, this fruit is filled with entirely too many seeds for Oma’s palate!

Nevertheless, the horned melon is a good source of vitamin C, potassium and iron. Each fruit is approximately 91 Calories

Interesting fact: This fruit which looks like it belongs in space, was featured in an episode of Star Trek.

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Temecula Valley Winegrowers
2-day Harvest Celebration


November 1 and 2, 2014

 

Purchase your 2-day Harvest Celebration ticket

on or before Sunday, October 1st, 2014 and save $10.

Ticket holders to the 2014 event

will enjoy visiting 30+ member wineries

for paired wine and food sampling.

Be amongst the first to enjoy exclusive tastes

of new releases, barrel and tank samples and/or

wines not available to the public.

Call 888 8-WINERY (888 894-6379)

for information or reservations

 or book online.



The two day event gives ticketed guests the opportunity to visit many of the 35 Member wineries for a fun-filled food and wine adventure! Delicious foods and wine samplings are offered at each stop as well as barrel and/or tank samples of finished and unfinished wines often not available to the general public.

Visit your old favorites or discover the undiscovered!

Grapeline's Harvest Weekend Package (Nov 1 & 2, 2014)

$199 All-inclusive! (for $189 Early Bird special, book by October 1)

Includes Tickets to the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association Harvest Celebration 2014 Barrel Tasting Weekend and Grapeline shuttle transportation -- both Saturday and Sunday service and a souvenir glass. This is everything you need!

Taste wines from 35 participating wineries, paired with scrumptious food samplings chosen to feature the perfect marriage of food and wine. Grapeline World shuttles expect to visit 9-10 wineries each day, with pickups at most local hotels. Your Grapeline host will provide your Harvest ticket and souvenir glass. Just be ready to go at your departure location at the designated time. Tours hours approx 10:30am - 5:00pm.

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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Cucumbers
Day 25

A Different Fruit A Day Personal Health Challenge


The cucumber is originally from Southern Asia, but now grows on most continents.


The Cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae (same as the squash, pumpkin, and watermelon). It is a creeping vine that bears cylindrical fruits that are used as culinary vegetables. There are three main varieties of cucumber: slicing, pickling, and burpless. Within these varieties, several different cultivars have emerged.

The cucumber is originally from Southern Asia, but now grows on most continents. Many different varieties are traded on the global market. Like watermelon, cucumbers are made up of mostly (95 percent) water, which means eating them on a hot summer day can help you stay hydrated.

Oma did not know that cucumbers are the fourth most cultivated vegetable in the world. They are known to be one of the best foods for your body's overall health, often referred to as a superfood.

Nine Reasons to Eat Cucumbers


  1. Protect Your Brain (contain an anti-inflammatory flavonol called fisetin)
  2. Reduce Your Risk of Cancer (polyphenols called lignans)
  3. Fight Inflammation
  4. Antioxidant Properties (vitamin C , beta-carotene)
  5. Freshen Your Breath*
  6. Manage Stress (multiple B vitamins)
  7. Support Your Digestive Health (rich in water and fiber)
  8. Maintain a Healthy Weight (very low in calories)
  9. Support Heart Health (potassium)

*Placing a cucumber slice on the roof of your mouth may help to rid your mouth of odor-causing bacteria. According to the principles of Ayurveda, eating cucumbers may also help to release excess heat in your stomach, which is said to be a primary cause of bad breath.


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Baby Rattlesnakes
As Dangerous As Adults

Bummer – we had to kill this baby rattlesnake yesterday. Unfortunately, baby rattlesnakes are just as dangerous as adults; some say more poisonous. 



Kind of a funny story, we are sitting around the kitchen table talking insurance, when Opa comes running in with baby Reef Indy in his arms. With one word – “rattlesnake,” Opa hands Reef off to his mom. Zachariah and I scramble from the table to go help rattlesnake wrangle.

I wish I could have captured the stunted look on the insurance lady’s face.
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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Blackberry
Day 24

A Different Fruit A Day Personal Health Challenge

 
Blackberries are rich in bioflavonoids and Vitamin C.



What distinguishes the blackberry from its raspberry relatives is whether or not the torus (receptacle or stem) 'picks-with' the fruit. When picking a blackberry fruit, the torus does stay with the fruit. With a raspberry, the torus remains on the plant, leaving a hollow core in the raspberry fruit.

Much like spinach, raisins, apples, plums and grapes, blackberries are rich in bioflavonoids and Vitamin C, but other nutritional benefits include a very low sodium count and having only 62 calories to a cup.

Folklore in the United Kingdom is told that blackberries should not be picked after Old Michaelmas Day (11 October) as the devil has made them unfit to eat, by stepping, spitting, or fouling on them. There is some value behind this legend as wetter and cooler weather often allows the fruit to become infected by various molds such as Botryotinia which give the fruit an unpleasant look and may be toxic.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Bell Peppers
Day 23

A Different Fruit A Day Personal Health Challenge

 

Oma loves the taste and color of the yellow bell pepper. P


Oma loves the taste and color of the yellow bell pepper. Peppers are seedy and thus categorized as fruit. Most of the differences in bell pepper color stem from time of harvest and degree of ripening.

Green peppers are bell peppers that have been harvested before being allowed to fully ripen. While green bell peppers usually turn yellow-orange and then red this is not always the case. Red, orange, and yellow bell peppers are always more ripe than green ones and therefore require more time in the ground before they can be harvested; that's why they are more expensive.

Bottom line: all of the bell peppers originate from the same species of plant, and they achieve their different colors naturally, not by any artificial means. Yellow bell peppers are a good source of vitamin C. A medium bell pepper has just twenty-four calories.

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