Saturday, January 3, 2009

My Unique Christmas Gifts!


I thought my food blogger friends would appreciate some of my unique gifts. Brazilian nuts are my favorite, and are only sold at Christmas time here. Did you know the Brazil nut tree grows to 100-150 ft! The trees live between 500-1000 years. Brazilian nuts are 25% saturated fat, highest of all nuts!

They are rich in selenium, which has been linked to reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer! Due to the hight fat content they don't keep very long! My husband wrapped these nuts up for me for Christmas. They have a buttery wonderful taste to them, much like the coconut but not sweet! I enjoyed them muchly!


I received the beautiful buddha from my mother-in-law. I found so much information on Buddha. I always try to find a meaning, and I find that almost everything does have a meaning. Buddha means enlightened one or awakened one, and is the embodiment of compassion and bliss. I found many names for Buddha which begins with Gautama, and Sakyamuni meaning "Sage of the Sakyas. Shi Ga is also another name.

Buddha went through stages of enlightenment, and in the third stage became known as the Four Noble Truths. You can read the full article of The Life of Buddha, very interesting! I found that the raised right hand is said to grant the absence of fear, or allows the faithful to live without fear or worldly troubles. He is my new protector of the New Year!



I recieved this garlic jar, which has the strangest resemblance to the magic mushrooms on the movie The 10th Kingdom. My favorite part of the movie when they drink the swamp water, and the magic mushrooms are singing Whiter Shade of Pale. The 10th Kingdom is an old favorite of my daughter and I. Found the episode on You Tube below:




Lastly but not least my beautiful purple cat slippers, these make me feel like a ritzy lady! Their eyes have green gems that sparkle in the light. I had a red and black pair, but wore them out and asked for a new pair. I also received an mp3 player so I can dance around to my new favorite music, while I clean the house!

What were your unique Chrismas gifts? Did you have a toned down Christmas in the wake of a bad economy! We kept ours to a minimum this year! I was more than happy with what I received!

8 comments:

ochikeron said...

Hi jo,

I never had Brazil nut! I wish I could try some. I'm gonna look for it at import store!

Those gifts are really unique and funny :) I had so much fun reading!!! Ha-ha!

Sounds fun listening to your favorite music while housecleaning ;)

Now I am at work... I wish I could go back to the beginning of the holidays...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jo,

You received lots of presents,so nice though..

I never knew about Brazil nut.I never see it before too,what a shame..

I like your purple cat slippers though..It's so furry and ladylike.I like it.

Quite a lots of Malaysian are believe in Buddha.Since I'm Christian,I'm not too sure about the story till I saw yours.

Thanks for sharing.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hi Ochi,

The nuts are only available at Christmas time here. They have a very short shelf life!

I'm glad you liked the post, I thought you would.

I haven't downloaded my song yet, my daughter has been busy putting songs on her ipod. Will be fun to listen to when I'm doing work around the house. Keep me from getting bored.

Yes it's back to the routine!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hi Jose,

I have to say my slippers are my favorite gift. I put them on every evening, I love them!

I put a small buddha at my mother's grave, and it was stolen. I had it in a rice bowl, I guess I was lucky they didn't take the rice bowl!

I thought you might enjoy seeing Christmas gifts here in the U.S. I made this post also for my cousin in Japan to see! :)

terrymcdermott said...

Some very different koind of gifts!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Thanks Terry I thought they were different too!

Maggie said...

You received some wonderful gifts, Jo. It seems that the folks who gave them knew that you would love them--that's not always the way it goes.

I love the garlic guy--gonna have to get one.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Thanks Maggie,

Your're right it's hard to get gifts that fit a person. I don't know where the garlic jar came from, but he is cute! :)

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