It's been pointed out to me that I have a lot of (useless) knowledge about a variety of things and subjects. It's also been pointed out to me that I'm a nerd.
If I hear or see something that I don't know about, I love to look it up and learn as much as I can. It seems to be a slightly rare thing to do. But it's so fun!

Here are some things I've been learning about in the past week or so:

Jackfruit
Are there more fruits nowadays? I'm always hearing about some fruit I don't recognize. And it makes me want to try all of them!!
I had heard of jackfruit but didn't really give it much thought until I saw this recipe on The Minimalist Baker. This sandwich looks amazing! But what exactly is jackfruit? Well, I've learned it's a large fruit that's a cousin of the mulberry. It kinda looks like an unripe mulberry, but much bigger! According to Wikipedia it's the largest tree grown fruit and can reach up to 100 pounds!. It grows in moist warm flatter areas of Asia, India, the Caribbean, Brazil and Mexico. The tree is cultivated in many of these nations but can also be considered an invasive species due to the fact that they are tasty to many animals who will eat the fruit and spread it's seeds. The fruit apparently tastes both sweetly tropical and substantial, can be fibrous, or "custard like" with a musty smell. Every article comes with it's own vague description of the taste, but all can agree it's unique. The fruit has a bunch of goodness like dietary fiber and vitamin C and even a little bit of protein. And some think it would make a great food source for places where food is a scarcity. It seems to be readily available frozen or canned in Asian grocery stores but can also be found fresh in big cities. Even Amazon has it. Although these fruit seem a little hard to handle, they are a vegan favorite as they are versatile and can have a meaty texture. I'll be on the look out for these monster fruits, both fresh and jarred, and for more easy yummy looking recipes.

Fabric Boxes
I don't like to sew on the machine, but I've been seeing fabric boxes that makes me want to try! These little boxes seem fun and cute and pretty easy for a sewing machine novice. Here are some of the patterns I would like to try:
Fall for DIY suggests using these boxes to cover plastic plant pots. What a neat way to spruce up those ugly plastic pots!
Noodlehead makes a fabric box with a sliding cover that would be awesome for organizing so many things! I could see this being great to take along on a car or plane trip.
I have to find the first blog where I saw some cute fabric boxes, and what inspired me to look for more. The most simple design, but so useful and pretty! now I can't find it!
So now I've done my research, all that's left is to try Something New!

Wheat Pennies
I love to find old coins! I'm no numismatist but when I see an old or foreign coin, I can't resist keeping it! Wheat Pennies might be some of the most recognizable collectible American coins, as there are still many in circulation. But what makes a Wheat Penny a What Penny? And why don't they make them anymore? Recently I started wondering and had to find out more!
When it came time to redesign the cent in 1905, the US Mint hired a sculptor to create the new images. To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of his death, the new cent was issued with the now familiar portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the front in 1909. This coin features shafts of durum wheat, now popular for making pasta, surrounding the words "One Cent" on the back, and the Wheat Penny was born! The coin originally had the designer's initials on the back, as well, but was quickly changed. Few of the coins with the initials VDB still exist, and these are rare and expensive, possibly fetching up to $50. Through it's history, there were several changes made to the wheat penny's composition. Only one bronze penny is thought to exist and it sold for 1.7 million dollars in 2010 (the seller was from NJ, BTW.). The Wheat Cent was produced from 1909 until 1958 but the wheat shaft design was replaced with the portrait of the Lincoln Memorial the following year.

You can find out more about these Recently Researched items on my Pinterest board! Or if you have an idea for a Recently Researching topic, leave it in the comments!