Yes, indeed we are still in Tangerine Season and what better way to enjoy it in the form of some sort of booze.
Check out my Tangerine Mojito Cocktail Recipe in Belize Wild Recipes.
Enjoy!!!
Monthly Archives: November 2014
New Things Done.
Okay, labels have been done and the copal article is here:
Copal in Copal Information in the Library.
That’s it from me today. Munchkin will be writing a bit later.
Cheers.
Nights are Getting Cold.
The weather is starting to change and it is starting to feel like winter even though the temperature is dropping only to 19-20C at night. It feels, however like we are in Wick in Scotland when we were snowed in for two weeks!!!
Cold night but warm day so I have taken the opportunity to put another layer of paint in the bedroom. One more to go after this and I will be finished; finally, after more than two years of messing around with not-squared, chainsaw lumber, not-square original house, no experience in building and a million other things to do.
I have to get the copal articles up today and make a new section in the library since copal is one of our main product categories. Have to design some new labels as well.
Originally, getting the shop running was the main thing but now I want to make sure that there is plenty of material for people and our faithful followers to read. My inexperience is showing again in trying to set something up that I don’t know too much about…would that it were as easy as putting in a central line or a chest drain! Looking at the stats, it doesn’t look like we would be making a bundle if the shop was set up anyway but at least we have some followers which is gratifying…thank you neighbours for showing some interest, you are the reason that I haven’t messed around with the shop yet and have continued to upload our articles and other non-profit making material.
Have a good day.
Making Paper Bricks.
We bought a 4-in-1 Paper Log Maker from Amazon to make paper bricks which will be used as insulation for the inside wall of our house. Right now, we are experimenting with different materials in order to find the best material combination for our purposes. Our first go just consisted of scrap bits of paper, cardboard and newspaper; we basically stuffed a 5 gallon bucket full of paper and filled it with water up to the top. After 24 hours, the paper was soft enough to be shredded coarsely by hand. On searching through the Internet, we found that some people actually purchased paper shredders for this purpose and put shredded paper into buckets of water. Our method is preferred because it doesn’t involve the need to purchase another piece of machinery. As an interesting aside, the main use of this contraption is to produce paper logs for burning. I have not found any one else trying to construct with it.
After 72 hours the paper was getting gummy and sticky. Next, we buzzed the paper with a paint stirrer for about 3-5 minutes to get a uniform paste of paper and water. The mixture was then packed into the brick log maker and then the handle was pushed down to squeeze water out of the bricks. We noted that the mechanism did not entirely squeeze all the water out of the bricks and it required the adequate drying time after to remove all the water. If you push the log-maker too hard down, the handles bend.
We made our first 4 bricks about one week ago; so far, they are still drying. The weather down here in Toledo, Belize has been partially sunny but still interspersed with rains. Our aim is to make the paper bricks in the dry season here so that the bricks will dry faster in the hot-baking sun.
In our next experiment, we will try more card-board (since this material is actually easier to find down here from all the Chinese grocery shops) and a bit of lime (calcium hydroxide) to act as a binder.
Finally Finished.
The death article has ended up not being that much fun. That’s probably why I have procrastinated with it. So here it is, finally:
How to Die in PG, held within the bowels of the Library.
Now for some physical work for the rest of the day…
Challenging Routine and Boredom on a Farm.
Routine is difficult when you work for yourself on a farm and your responsibilties are minimised. This is when you ask yourself very important questions like: Aside from providing food and shelter for my partner and I and keeping the animals fed and healthy, what else actually needs to be done? If my needs for survival are met and nobody is ‘on my back” administrating 8 to 24 hour shifts for me, how do I live in a practical way ensuring that I am doing life with reason.
If you are interested in reading more please go to:
Challenging Routine and Boredom on a Farm.
Thursday’s Meal of the Day.
As promised, this is Thursday’s Meal of the day continuing with the Tangerine theme:
Read the Cinnamon Pork Burger Recipe.
Today, I am trying something new with my blog writing by giving “smaller servings” so-to-speak so you might hear from me later again.
Lazy Sunday.
Will try a new way of posting today: More of them with fewer categories and tags.
So right now, a new article is available: On Keeping Guinea Pigs, in the modified Plant Descriptions in the Library.
Laters.
We are Mostly Eating Tangerines.
When you live on a farm, there is a time of the year for different fruits and vegetables and when there is a bountiful crop, it requires inventiveness on my part to think of as many ways to eat the same thing without getting tired of it. It is Tangerine Time right now in Southern Belize and basically we have lots of it. Here in Toledo, anything that is citrus but is not an orange, grapefruit or lime is grouped under the category of “tangerine”. See below the many faces of the Tangerine:
Now, I am sure there are proper names for each of these including mandarin, tangelo and satsuma but for all intents and purposes it really does not matter, because my exploration on this matter is on the eating of it. In this blog, I would like to share with you what we have actually been eating in the last 24 hours which have been tangerine-related. Firstly, I would like to introduce the concept of attempting to use the whole fruit for culinary purposes and in this example, the wonders of the zest. All you need is a sharp knife (we have no zesters in Belize) to get the zest off the citrus. Try to only get the coloured part off without the pith (the white part) which imparts a bitter taste to the palate. The zest gives a wonderful, fresh citrus flavour to food.
Last night, we had a meal of venison marinated in tangerine zest (and other things) with sliced tangerine. Frankly, I don’t have a problem mixing fruit with the main meal because it is a great substitute for carbohydrate. Plus, you spice up a fruit by adding a bit of black pepper to it.
As an aside regarding venison…I am not trying to be posh about eating, I just happen to have some in the freezer. The Mayans in the surrounding villages like to hunt game in the dense bush around here and occasionally, they turn up at our front gate with very fresh wild game. I have no hesitation in snapping up a hind leg whenever I can get my paws on it.
Today, continuing with the same theme, I baked bread with tangerine zest. I love the smell of home-baked bread and this one had high notes of tangerine citrus…very aromatic!
For lunch, we had thickly sliced bread with tuna and grated mozzarella. We also had lots of tangerine to eat with it!
Tonight, we have another tangerine meal in the making! I am presently marinating minced pork in tangerine juice and zest (with other things) to make burgers. And of course, we will be eating more of the tangerine zest bread with it. I am thinking about pan frying some citrus in brown sugar as a side dish. You will probably get the picture tomorrow. Incidentally, I also made a tangerine zest Mojito for tonight which I am sipping in between writing this blog.
So far, so good. We are still enjoying the tangerines!!!
Uploading Old Articles and the like.
Gnome:
Weather not as labile as yesterday.
General Ambient Mood (GAM): Lunacy at full power, chaos reigns supreme. It is a good day for soap, fermenting, doing repetitive things, mushrooms, plants and essentially staying away from trouble.
Today is good if you like reading about mushrooms and plants, uploaded many of our old published articles…enjoy if you have the time:
From me:
- The Paddy Straw Mushroom in the Library, new Section: Mushrooms.
- Corn Smut in the Library.
- Schizophylum comune or Split Gill in the Library.
- Observations of the Wild Edible Mushrooms of Stann Creek and Toledo District in the Library.
- The Oyster Mushrooms in the Library.
- The Stinkhorn Mushroom in the Library.
From Munchkin:
- The Belize “Green Pea,” in the Library.
- Grow Your Own Heirloom Seeds in the Library, new Section: Plant Descriptions and Plant Related.
- Tobacco, in the Library.
- Five Acres of Coconuts and Security in the Library.
- Observations of Sour Peach in the Library.
- Venison and Tangerine with Peach Palm Flowers served with Sweet Potato Greens in Belize Wild Recipes.
- Tangerine Zest Bread in Belize Wild Recipes.
- Ramen Noodles with Meat and Greens in Belize Wild Recipes.
The amount of energy it takes is amazing to move this much information. Did not have time to finish How to Die in Belize.
G’day.