Pigeon Pea and Green Papaya: Farm Fresh.

February 28, 2015 Munchkin

We have been podding green pigeon (cajanus cajun) peas everyday to eat:

The plants have been very generous and we have had wonderful meals with this pea. The pea tastes like a “green pea” and maintains its texture very well. It only needs a 5 minute cooking time which makes it a versatile ingredient.

Today, I cooked Pigeon Peas with Green Papaya…all fresh from the farm. Everything had the taste of vitality…something money can’t buy!! Since we started living like this and cooking our own food, we actually find that we dislike eating out because nothing seems to have the freshness and individuality of home-cooked food. Going to a restaurant just means eating something that is displayed nicely on a plate but does not necessarily have the best ingredients (ie. bulk buckets of processed material).

Check out my recipe in the Belize Wild Recipes Section. You can have this meal with a carbohydrate like bread or rice, if you like. I am on a non-carbohydrate diet since the Chinese New Year Pig Out…too many mochi balls!! So, we just ate this with by itself. Right now, my diet consists of fresh vegetables as above (one meal a day), no whites (carbs) and plenty of fresh fruit like papaya and oranges. Seems to be working out well for me.

Belize, Blog

Links Should Be Working Now.

February 26, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone, just writing to let you know that we have been doing some website administration. All links should be working for About Us, Home, The Apothecary and The Library. If anyone spots any other faults, they should let us know. We are also in the process of removing the “go back” at the bottom of all the pages; they don’t seem to be very helpful.

Have a Good Evening!!

Amusing, Belize, Construction, Fiction, Pets

Paradise Piggies: Mayor Gnome Restores Confidence.

February 25, 2015 Munchkin

After last week’s tragic case in which three young guinea pigs were snatched from the gated community, life has not been the same for the citizens of Paradise Pastures.

Mayor Gnome offered his condolences for the two lost babies. A gift of fresh grass was given to the community:

This was not enough to sweeten the Piggies as all hell broke loose soon after with squabbling, squeaking, squealing and general mis-conduct. Two days ago, the surviving baby guinea pig tragically passed away:

Mayor Gnome’s attempt at a Filibuster was met by angry Piggie wild fire. The community of Paradise Piggies demanded immediate action and resolution.

Our Mayor Gnome has come good and restored confidence to the Paradise Piggies! He has built 4 new luxury condominiums and one of them is the maternity ward:

The Piggies are absolutely delighted by this new and hurried construction and they feel that they can “re-build” the community from here. There was a heart-felt gurgle of pleasure when they inspected the facility. And, in addition to this, Mayor Gnome has installed a delinquent “time out” area to house hooligan piggies. This is called Southpointe:

Hooray for Mayor Gnome!! Our Hero!!

Belize, Medical Related, Philosophy

Good Old-Fashioned Doctors.

February 23, 2015 Munchkin

Today, I will talk a bit about doctoring in Belize since we had a whole day of house-calls:

We are thankful that we are able to practice Medicine in Belize according to our philosophy. We are both House Call General Practioners and our services include chronic care, post-operative care, palliative care and minor procedures. We see people of all ages from the elderly to babies to pregnant women. These days, we find that doctors are so specialised that they are only confident with their specific field. We, on the other hand are all-encompassing doctors with knowledge in every medical specialty. Also, prior to Belize, we both already had experience in Tropical Medicine (tropical infections, land and marine envenomation and parasites) as we had worked in Northern Australia.

As doctors, we feel that one of the most important factors of proper care and management is giving time to the patient. We purposely book one hour for each patient so that we have the time to assess a patient properly and answer all their questions. In our experience, this time factor is critical for the patient to feel satisfied and get better.

I want to share with you an experience which I had in my early days as a medical doctor. I used to work under a very stern consultant and every morning, we walked through the hospital to do the ward round. He used to dictate to me what was required in terms of further investigations including blood and diagnostic tests and I would be scribbling like mad as he ran through the blood tests which he wanted,

He would say, “FBC, WCC, U+E, LFTs, etc, etc,” and then he would look me squarely in the eyes and say, slowly and deliberately, “TLC.”

Tender Loving Care. I will never forget it because he was such an old cantankerous bat who never smiled nor made a joke. But, he taught me a very special lesson in being a doctor. This story still makes me smile to this very day.

Belize, Food

Lotus Paste Doughnuts with Custard.

February 22, 2015 Munchkin

Recently, I have been having a craving for “Dunkin’ Donuts”; It may be a nostalgic feeling from my university days when I used to choose a different flavour each time to take home and enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

We managed to get a hold of a huge packet of lotus seed paste and Gnome and I have been diligently and conscientiously working through it as hard as we can. I did an Internet search on recipes with lotus paste and only two main things came up: mochi balls and mooncake. Well, we have been eating mochi balls like they have been going out of fashion (and loving it). And, I would like to make the mooncake for the Mid-Autumn Festival which is the night of the full moon between early September and Early October (celebrated by Chinese).

So, I decided to mix things around and fulfill a doughnut craving at the same time. Today. I made Lotus Paste Doughnuts:

I opted to make a yeasted dough without eggs and milk. This gives a fluffier and lighter texture. Also, I added very little sugar to the dough because I thought that the filling was sweet enough.

And, of course, we had to have ours with custard!!

Needless to say, I am no longer thinking of shop-bought doughnuts…if you are interested in my lower calorie doughnut recipe, check out Lotus Paste Doughnuts.

Amusing, Belize, Fiction, Pets

Piggie Paradise: Tragedy and Fortune in One Day.

February 21, 2015 Munchkin

In the early hours of Thursday morning, on the 19th of February, foul play was afoot and a heinous crime was committed at Paradise Pastures, the gated community for Guinea Pigs. A one foot deep hole was dug beneath the cage and three newly born piggies were snatched from their cradle.

Gnome was at the Scene of the Crime a few hours later; the scene was one of devastation and distress.

Paradise Pastures was quickly secured and placed in a protected area. Gnome and Munchkin combed the surrounding land looking for the remains of the three missing baby piggies. And, alas the diligence was paid off as one live piggie was found, unharmed and safe.

Tragedy and fortune came hand in hand on this fateful day. Meanwhile, the criminal has been apprehended and remanded to custody with bail set at $500.

The piggies at Paradise Pastures are up in arms over this crime. They have petitioned Mayor Gnome to build a secure “Mother and Baby” facility.

Mayor Gnome must concede to their demands or else he might find himself bang in the middle of a Piggy Riot. And we don’t want that, do we?!

Belize, Food, Plants

Cantonese Gibnut with Taro.

February 20, 2015 Munchkin

Good Evening Everyone. It has been a really drizzly day today so no farm things were accomplished.

We stayed indoors and continued eating left-overs from last night’s Chinese New Year extravaganza.

As promised, here are pictures of the Cantonese Gibut:

For anyone interested, the Gibnut is also known as a Paca which is a member of the genus Cuniculus of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America.

We cooked Taro, a type of ground root, as an accompaniment:

This tasty vegetable comes in different shades of purple and some are white. We have a nice variety with purple flecks; once cooked, it becomes a uniform lilac. It is an extremely glutinous vegetable which goes well with fatty meals.

This is what we had for Chinese New Year last night:

Sliced Cantonese Gibnut, Taro and Seasonal Vegetables.

The Gibnut had the texture of suckling pig and it was extremely delicate tasting. The meat was so tender that it melted in your mouth. It was well worth the preparation (6 hour marinating and 6 hours cooking time). Gnome says that he would consider it a “prized” meat like venison or wild boar.

Check out my recipe: Cantonese Gibnut. It is flavoured with Chinese five spices, crushed star anise and orange peel.

Belize, Food

Gong Xi Fa Cai!! Mastering the Art of Pigging Out!

February 19, 2015 Munchkin

Happy Chinese New Year!! And what a perfect excuse to sequester myself in the kitchen today to cook really good food and pig out! It is indeed a masterful accomplishment to keep fine food flowing from the kitchen to the dining table and also, keep on eating for the whole day! Gnome was very happy and sat down to watch the Sean Connery “James Bond” marathon and now he has just started on the Roger Moore series.

Yummy Food Pictures:

Deep Fried Prawns with Farm Fresh Vegetables.

And, we are waiting for the Grand Finale; The Meal to end all Meals!! Cantonese Gibnut! Gibnut is a type of rodent which is related to the guinea pig; however, it is much larger (15 to 20lbs) so more to eat. I call it Cantonese-style because I have used Chinese Five Spice powder and star anise to flavour the meat. It smells just like Char Sui.

Cantonese Gibnut preparation pictures:

I scrubbed the foot thoroughly because as most Asians will understand, this is a prized part. If you don’t have a “foot fetish” you may not understand why I am so excited about the foot.

I am slow cooking this in the oven for 6 hours. It will be ready very soon. More pictures tomorrow!

Belize, Blog, Our Products, Soap

On-Line Apothecary is Open For Business!

February 18, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone. The Apothecary is now open!! After a few false starts, over cogitation and Type A anxiety and jitters, we have decided just to get it up and running. The ordering and payment options are really basic right now so that we can see if there is actual interest in our products. Once we get some orders and feel confident with sales, we will look into more E-commerce options. There are a few tweaks to take care of but for all intents and purposes, The Apothecary is open.

Belize, Our Products, Soap

Placencia Arts Festival.

February 17, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! We are glad to be back. We went out of town for the weekend to the Placencia Sidewalk Arts and Music Festival to sell and promote our wares. Here is a picture of our table:

Another picture:

Overall, we found that our wares were received well and the most popular and well-known product was the “Copal Medicinal Oil.” Since we have been around for a few years now, we found that it was more relaxed and we did not need to introduce ourselves to everyone so much. This is the 12th Sidewalk Festival in Placencia and other stalls included local jewellery, Paintings, Wooden Art, Pottery and lots more. The weather was hot and sunny. We were located at the stage area so we saw all the music activities including the drumming. It was definitely a good Belizean Cultural Experience and I would recommend this to anyone who happens to be in the country near Valentines Day.

That’s it for now. Back home so more farm stuff this week!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Monthly Archives: February 2015