Chinese Hawthorn Tree 山楂树

This is one of those I'm Chinese and I'm addicted to stuff that I can't find in the US things. I LOVE Chinese Hawthorn Berries. Chinese Hawthorn Berry Kabob is a stable snack for Chinese kids and I grew up with it. The fresh berries are not available in the US, which has been a really big annoyance for me for years. Now I have some outdoor space, I'm thinking that I can plant one myself. Instead of waiting for 4 years for it to flower and fruit, I found a website that sells the semi-grownup tree. Well, we have to wait until spring for it to be available, but hey, at least I know I can get it somewhere :).

Here's the medicinal effect of Chinese Hawthorn Berries, it's good for high blood pressure (lowers blood pressure). If you don't like eating the fruit, you can dry them up and make tea with it too, which also tastes excellent :).

Dried Umeboshi (dried Japanese plum)

Finally found these! You can only get these in Japan, and not even every store in Japan has them. They are really sour and has a kick to them. I'm totally addicted and I've been looking for them everywhere. I guess with a pretty big mark up, you can them them here too :).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Umeboshi-Dried-Pickled-Plum-Hoshi-Ume-Japan-Kanro-30g-/140506382517?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20b6d540b5#ht_2612wt_1139

I think I'll try to combine these two recipes at some point to make crunchier nuts with a smooth glaze and more flavors. Had some really good glazed roasted nuts at the Wynn buffet in Las Vegas, and I want to reproduce the flavor. According to the reviews, the first recipe is too salty, so maybe reduce the salt and not enough spices, so I'll add some ground ginger powder and Cinnamon. Should be pretty tasty :D.

http://thanksgiving.food.com/recipe/crunchy-glazed-pecans-45542

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/sugar_glazed_pecans

Upon further research, this recipe looks pretty good too

http://makinglifedelicious.com/2010/11/10/sweet-and-salty-nuts-101/

and the results looks more similar to the Wynn pecans...except the pecans don't look roasted. I think I'll roast the pecans first according to this link http://www.ehow.com/how_2172724_roast-pecans.html then use the recipe above to make it perfect :).