Pink heirloom tomatoes

I wanted to take the photographs of these delicious pink tomatoes. Actually these are not very big ones. I ate bigger ones :)

An heirloom tomato (also called heritage tomato in the UK) is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) heirloom cultivar of tomato. Heirloom tomatoes have become increasingly popular and more readily available in recent years. (wikipedia)

Big, beautiful, pink and luscious with classic heirloom flavor. Completely natual.

These are found locally in some villages nowadays. May not be suitable for transportation. They're usually grown by small scale farmers.

Carob tree for your health

Another tree for decoration of your garden and also good for your health. But this need a climate like mediterranean countries.

The carob tree , Ceratonia siliqua, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Mediterranean region. It is cultivated for its edible seed pods. Carobs are also known as St. John's bread because, according to tradition of some Christians, St. John the Baptist subsisted on them in the wilderness. A similar legend exists of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son.

Carob, dried or roasted and having a slightly sweet taste, in powder or chip form, is used as an ingredient in cakes and cookies. Carob is sometimes used as a substitute for chocolate. The seeds, also known as locust beans, are used as animal feed. They are also the source of locust bean gum, a thickening agent used in numerous processed foods. In Egypt, carobs are consumed as a snack. Crushed pods are used to make a refreshing drink. Compotes and liqueurs are made from carob in Turkey, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Sicily. Carob has proven effective in relieving diarrhea in infants. In Libya, a syrup is extracted from carob named rub used as a complimentary to Asida meal. In Peru carob syrup is used in a popular mixed drink, la algarrobina.

Carob has also been used as a non-toxic alternative to chocolate in dog treats, as the theobromine in chocolate is toxic to most dogs.

• No cholestherol
• no cafein
• plenty of Ca, about 3 times higher than milk
• high zinc

It is said that it has alot more advantages for health. But please check all the information here (actually you should check all the information you get from internet before using it).

I liked the tree and the fruits of it also the food made of it. I took the photos of the fruits on the tree. It is a nice evergreen tree for landscaping. You can also collect the fruit of it.

But the fruit does not look nice like an apple. ... :)

Here is a nice big carob tree at the seaside

A healthy and beautiful tree for your garden

If you have a garden and want a fruit tree Zizihus zizyphus is a good idea.

It is a beautiful small tree (about 4-5 meters high but in some regions it is higher) and has delicious and healthy fruits.

Ziziphus zizyphus, commonly called Jujube, Red Date, or Chinese Date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily for its fruits.

I took the the photos here during my summer holiday in mediterranean cost.

It is very good in that climate.

The fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine, where they are believed to alleviate stress.

The freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or with tea.

The fruit is an edible oval drupe 1.5-3 cm long; when immature it is smooth-green, with the consistency and taste of an apple, maturing dark red to purplish-black and eventually wrinkled.

On the photos the green and brown stages of the fruit can be seen.

I ate the ones on the last photograph they were delicious

:))

Rose hips

The end of roses.

In the winter season the photo of roses.

Actually they are rosehips.

Some type of these are dried and you can drink like tea. You can find a lot of information in the internet saying that they are very healthy. But which type of rose hips?

For better rose pictures see http://www.hephotos.blogspot.com

How to tell if an egg is bad

Food poisoning is one of the worst experiences a person can go through, and it can even be lethal. Eggs can be the source of some superb meals, but they can also be the source of food poisoning if they are eaten when they've gone bad. How do you tell when an egg is fresh or if it has gone off, without cracking it open to find out?

Steps:
1.Place the egg into a bowl of water. The water level should be deeper than the egg is long.
2.Observe what the egg does.

• Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom of the bowl and lie on their sides.


• Slightly older eggs (about one week) will lie on the bottom but bob slightly.


• If the egg balances on its small end, with the large end reaching for the sky, it's probably around three weeks old.


• Eggs that float at the surface are bad and should not be consumed.

3.Crack the egg open and look carefully.

• Blood spots (also referred to as "meat" spots) don't signify a bad or fertilized egg. It's caused by a ruptured blood vessel during the formation of the egg. Since blood spots are diluted as the egg ages, their presence actually means you have a fresh egg. You can eat it safely, or remove the blood spot with the tip of a knife, if it makes you feel better.[1]


• Stringy, rope-like strands of egg white are chalazae which are present in every egg to keep the yolk centered. They're not a sign that the egg is bad or fertilized, and they can be consumed safely or removed.[1]


• An egg white that is cloudy or has a yellow or greenish cast to it is caused by carbon dioxide not having had enough time to escape from the shell and is especially common in fresh eggs.[1]


• Smell the egg. With time, bacteria break down the proteins in the whites of the egg and create a gas. This gas is hydrogen sulphide, better known as "rotten egg gas."

Tips:

• The floating test works because the air pocket inside the egg gets bigger with time as the egg contents lose both moisture and carbon dioxide. As the air pocket gets bigger, the egg is more likely to float.


• When a recipe calls for a lot of yolks or whites, separate the eggs in a different bowl then dump the contents with the rest of the egg yolks (or whites). There's nothing more wasteful than cracking open egg number 14 in a 15 yolk recipe and finding out that it is a bad egg. You could also test all the eggs for freshness using the floating technique.


• If you're worried about the egg being fertilized, keep in mind that most eggs come from large-scale operations where laying hens are never exposed to a rooster. If the eggs come from a smaller farm where roosters are present, there is a chance they might be fertilized, but the only way to tell is by candling (holding a light up to the egg in a dark room and looking for blood vessels, movement, and chick development). That being said, fertilized eggs are no more or less nutritious than unfertilized eggs and both are safe to eat.

Warnings:

• Do it in the sink; it is easier to clean up an egg in the sink than on the bench or floor.


• Be careful with the eggs; if you have a rotten egg and you break it, you'll have more than the egg mess to clean up. The smell is quite unpleasant.


• If you're the least bit doubtful about the egg, it's better to be safe than sorry - skip it and try another one.


• Avoid eating eggs past their expiration date. Check the date stamped on the carton or the egg itself.
  

source : http://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-an-Egg-is-Bad

7 don't after a meal

• Don't smoke- Experiment from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher).
• Don't eat fruits immediately - Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore take fruit 1-2 hr after meal or 1hr before meal.
• Don't drink tea - Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid.This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult to digest.
• Don't loosen your belt - Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted & blocked.
• Don't bathe - Bathing will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs & body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.
• Don't walk about - People always say that after a meal walk a hundred steps and you will live till 99. In actual fact this is not true. Walking will cause the digestive system to be unable to absorb the nutrition from the food we intake.
• Don't sleep immediately - The food we intake will not be able to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric & infection in our intestine.