Belizean Shepherd’s Hotpot (Not Lancashire).

April 30, 2015 Munchkin

This is an actual conversation which took place between Munchkin and Gnome which typically exemplifies the many talks that they have together.

Gnome: I fancy a nice Lancashire Hotpot!

Munchkin: Okay, Darling, I will make it for you.

Gnome: Ooooh, is it going to have lamb in it?

Munchkin: No.

Gnome: Ooooh, are there going to be carrots and potatoes, then?

Munchkin: No.

Gnome: What are you putting in it, my dear?

Munchkin: Pork.

Gnome: In what way is that a Lancashire Hotpot?

Munchkin: It’s slow-cooked in the oven like a Lancashire Hotpot. Mmmm…maybe it isn’t a Lancacshire Hotpot…it’s more like a Shepherd’s Pie.

Gnome: Ooooh, so its going to have mashed potatoes?

Munchkin: No. Mashed taro.

Gnome: In what way is that a Shepherd’s Pie, my dear?

Munchkin: Mmmm…maybe it isn’t a Shepherd’s Pie. I have a great idea…let’s call it Belizean Shepherd’s Hotpot!

Gnome: But Dearest, I asked for a Lancashire Hotpot!

And so this recipe was borne from this loving banter. It is slow cooked like a hotpot in the oven and it has mashed taro (like mashed potatoes) so you could say that it was a very distant cousin, thrice removed, from the Lancashire Hotpot and Shepherd’s Pie. Or, you could argue that there is absolutely no relation to these dishes at all! Nonetheless, it makes a hearty, tasty meal and Gnome did indeed enjoy it, even although it wasn’t what he had asked for!

Baked Meat and Onions in Casserole Dish.

It kinda looks like a purple Shepherd’s Pie from this picture:

Check out the hybridised recipe: Belizean Shepherd’s Hotpot in Belize Wild Recipes!

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Fermentation, Food, Pets, Saving Money

Tuesday Night Storm, Internet Down and Pineapple Melomel.

April 30, 2015 Munchkin

Hello There!! I will try to catch-up with this post and bring you up to date. On Tuesday night we had a scary, gusty storm that resulted in a power-cut for most of the night and of course, the Internet went down with it. The storm has brought cooler weather with grey clouds and it even rained heavily this morning. The Internet started up again today…yay…it is so insidious how we feel that “we need Internet” and life just isn’t the same without it. When I down-loaded my bunch of late emails, they weren’t all that exciting and most of them were spam, anyway!

Well, since it was a Rainy Day, we made Pineapple Melomel (mead with fruit). Yesterday, I had bought 20 ripe pineapples from the market for BZD 30.00 (USD 15.00) in an attempt to excite Gnome into making some more booze (nice, sparkling, champagne-like stuff) for me. After I got the pineapples loaded onto the truck, he gave me a whiny look and said that he was hoping that I had bought the plantains instead of the pineapples. That remark got him a “Chinese Woman Look” and stopped the complaints quick smart.

This is what we did.

We removed the heads and scrubbed them in the sink:

I then started chopping up the pineapples. Whilst I was doing this, I kindly asked Gnome to take some pictures of this process. All the pictures were soooo baaaad!! They were out of focus and made my hands look stumpy and small…or, are they really like that? I had to re-take some photos:

Chopping Pineapples...Look No Hands!! — Chopping Pineapples…Look No Hands!!

Gnome put the pineapple chunks through the juicer to get the juice and the pulp:

We ended up processing 10 pineapples in all because it was actually a lot of work and the juicer was over-heating and complaining with the work-load. So, we managed to get about 6 litres (1 and 1/2 gallons) of juice from it all.

We got an extra 2 litres (2 quarts) of juice from the squeezing of the pulp:

We waste nothing!! We gave this and some pineapple peel to the duckies this morning. It was a Pineapple Feast…look closely at silly white duck…he even has a bit of pineapple stuck to his head.

We have noticed that our duckies are totally neophobic with food unless it is yellow in colour. So, I was received by joyful and frenzied quackings today when I brought out the basin of pineapple waste.

While I was out playing with the duckies, Gnome proceeded with the making of his pineapple melomel; honey and fresh Toledo rainwater (very fresh!) was added to make the batch up to 5 gallons. Gnome will be posting up the recipe in Bored-in-Belize over the next few days.

Heating Melomel:

Yes, I know…it all looks very yellow (just like all the other pictures) but believe me, this will taste great! Tomorrow, we will be processing the rest of the pineapples and adding honey and fresh ginger. In the words of Gnome, “Make it a Metheglin.”

Amusing, Belize, Farming

Home is Where the Heart Is!!

April 26, 2015 Munchkin

This whole week we have been running back and forth to another farm because we were asked to do tests on the grapes. It has been a real organisational week trying to fit in the tight schedule on our farm with driving out at designated times and days. I have learned more about grapes in one week than I have ever in my entire life; the tests that we did were Brix or Specific Gravity which is sugar level, pH which is a measurement of acidity or alkalinity and TA (Titratable Acidity) which is a measurement of all acid, even in the bound form. All these tests are helpful in determining an ideal picking time for grapes in order to make wine.

We had to conduct the tests all week so that we could determine a trend and then consider the perfect harvest day, the last test date was Friday morning…what a day!!

We got up early in the morning to brush-mow, do coconuts and all our usual stuff. The heat was on…by 9am we were in the car zooming off to collect grapes and then back to our farm to do the tests. After that, we were on the road again…to Placencia this time for a Birthday party. Phew…it was just non-stop!! We gave our friend a gift of Gnome’s Home-made Mead with Happy Birthday Commemorative labels!

After the Birthday party, it was another two hour drive back to Toledo. By that time it was getting dark so we had to get back to the thinking about the grape picking again. From our results we had determined Sunday as the harvest date and so we wrote a schedule up en-route back to Toledo. We were so tired, on the road, and did not feel up to it but nonetheless we organised a run down of events. Gnome said that it was important to make a schedule because it involved so many different jobs which had to be co-ordinated at the same time. To Gnome, it was about efficiency of time and so he didn’t want all of us sloppily trudging about with buckets of grapes in an aimless, meandering sort of way.

Anyway after a whole week of running around and testing grapes, the harvest was cancelled. We kind of felt a bit of an anti-climax after all the energy we channelled into it. Partly because of that, we lost our momentum and fell crashing into a heap of exhausted tiredness today. We slept all day…I was so tired, I was blowing bubbles!!

We feel a bit more human now and have recovered some of our energy. Glad to have spent the whole day on the farm without needing to leave.

“Home is where the Heart is” …this was affirmed by the birth of two new piggies in the maternity ward; this morning we were greeted by mother-piggy licking and cleaning up her brand new babies! Mayor Gnome gave the mother and new piggies his blessings and then promptly fell asleep…with a smile on his face!

Sunday Harvest, Ripe New Piggies:

Brix level 24 = super sweet!! (wine joke).

Mayor Gnome gave a gift of grass; triple grass like “triple salad.” All Paradise Piggies were rejoicing and weeweeing in unison. Mayor Gnome is well on his way to another term.

Mayor Gnome. Harvest Time. Reaping the Rewards of his Hard Work!

Belize, Food, Our Products

Coconut and Rice Flour Pizza with Sausage Topping.

April 25, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone, since we are selling our farm-fresh Coconut Flour and Rice Flour in The Apothecary, I thought I would post up a recipe for pizza made with these ingredients. There is no wheat flour added so it can be eaten as part of a gluten-free diet. The eggs and the xanthan gum act to bind the flours giving elasticity to the dough. You will find this pizza slightly more crusty and biscuit-like in texture…which gives a delicious nutty “bite” to the eating experience. For the topping, I have put sliced sausage, onions, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Oh, and some rosemary and thyme too.

Enjoy…this is what we had for lunch today.

For the full recipe, check out this link for Coconut and Rice Flour Pizza.

Belize, Medical Related, Saving Money

Keep Your Skin Scrubbed!

April 23, 2015 Munchkin

In the humid hot climate of the dry season, it is really important to keep the skin cleaned and well scrubbed. Lack of scrubbing can lead to blocked pores and in-grown hairs which can lead to pimple formation. In this hot environment, this could easily lead to skin infections. Moreover, a routine skin scrub helps with the circulation and stimulates healthy skin formation. And so the first rule is prevention with a good shower scrubber used on a daily basis. Salt and sugar scrubs can be used on a weekly basis as an addition to the bathing regime.

This year our loofah crop failed because it got taken over by other creeping vines. And so we have been using an old pathetic little loofah to death and not actually getting much satisfactory scrubbing out of it.

Today, I found Gnome at 5.30 in the morning looking longingly at a whole array of shower brushes on Amazon. Now, when we buy anything from the States and bring it in to the country, we always have to consider transportation fees, import tax and duty. From past experience we have calculated that all these expenses usually end up quadrupling the original price of the item. And so when Gnome spied a rather nice looking bamboo shower brush for $20US that meant $80 to me. I kind of gave him the “Chinese woman don’t waste money look.” That put an abrupt end to his perusing and so Gnome tried to find a positive solution.

And here they are:

This one is a bargain at BZD 1.75 (USD 0.88) for four.

Pack of 10 for BZD 4.75 (USD 2.38).

Yay…Gnome is helping me Save Money!!

I tried both scrubbers in the shower and found that the “Jia Ju Yong Pin” was gentle but invigorating; it worked well also as a facial scrub. The other kitchen scrubber had its merits because it has a sponge side which allows for easy application of soap and the scouring end was also very effective. Overall, they did the job!

So, anyone in Punta Gorda who is in need of a scrub can buy “Jia Ju Yong Pin” at Lily’s Supermart on Main Street and the second one can be purchased at Vance Vernon Pharmacy (in the kitchen section).

Happy Scrubbing and may we all have smooth and silky skin!

Amusing, Belize, Our Products, Soap

Soft Lilacs For Springtime!!

April 22, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! Just something short and sweet today because we are both hot and knackered from our town day. It is was our usual frenzied running around seeing patients in between delivering soap orders, opportunistic coconut cream selling and buying supplies. Sometimes it gets so funny…I have a bucket of coconut cream in one hand and a doctor’s bag in the other!

Anyway,”Soft Lilacs For Springtime” is the kind of title that a well established British boutique would use to sell expensive furnishings and perhaps soaps! So, I just wanted to see if I would get more traffic into The Apothecary with a title that promises elegance and panache!

Furnish your bathroom with these delightful soft-lilac soaps:

**Stacks of Lilac Soaps: Indulge in Sophistication.**

Gentle swirls inspire calmness and serenity:

A must for the discerning; Gentleman’s Shaving Soap:

When the lady of the house hosts her fabulous dinner parties, visitors will see this remarkable soap in the bathroom and she will be praised for her soap discernment. Her social standing will surely be raised as a result of this…

Our new soaps are Clay Artisan Soaps made from the purple clay from Bladen, Toledo area of Belize. They are gently exfoliating and have a lovely and luxurious scent of sandalwood. The Gentleman’s shaving soap is back by popular demand as the clay acts as a good slip which results in an even, smooth shave.

Come on everyone, show that you know good soap…show your discernment. Buy our soap!! 🙂

Belize, Food

Hibiscus (Sorrel/ Roselle) Spring Rolls.

April 21, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! There was no post yesterday because we had a power-cut in the evening. We had to rummage around in the dark for all our candles…it was most inconvenient. We really need to get energy independent one of these days.

Again, boredom and excitement (what an oxymoron) are stimulating us to run around like busy little bees. Right now we are starting our day at 5.30am… as soon as the sun comes up. After that, it is a race to get things done before the on-slaught of heat! Today, Gnome was mashing and his comment of the day was, “I had good results from the Mashing today, tomorrow I will be Sparging.” Other than that, he didn’t say much else. He also made some nice sandal-wood scented soaps.

I have posted up a recipe for Hibiscus Spring Rolls…catching up an a back-log of old recipes. Hibiscus is also known as Roselle; here in Belize, everyone calls it Sorrel.

And these are my yummy Hibiscus spring rolls with shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots (my own, of course) and water chest-nuts. No meat, so they are vegetarian spring rolls. The hibiscus adds colour, crunch and a mild sourness to the whole culinary experience. Lovely!!

Bees, Belize, Farming, Pets

It Is Time for More Bees: The Gnome Mark II Bee Hive!

April 19, 2015 Munchkin

About a week ago, I opened up my stingless-bee, bee-hives to check up on the little darlings and discovered that in one of the hives the bees had started to build brood comb in the honey pot storage area. When I saw it, it was about half the size seen in the photo below. It doubled in size in a week!

Brood Being Built in the wrong place. This is where honey is supposed to be stored!

Out of curiosity, I got in closer to have a goosie:

Brood Comb Being extended with honey and pollen pots visible in the periphery.

It would appear that the bees have built an auxiliary brood area with new queen and everything in the middle of the honey chamber, co-existent with the original brood in the brood chamber with its own queen; so, two hives in one. I hypothesise that this is due to the depth of the honey chamber (which is currently set at 2 3/4 inches). The honey pots are about 1 inch tall so it is obvious that there is plenty of volume for a “nest” of brood comb even over a layer of honey pots.

I decided to test this hypothesis by reducing the depth of the honey chamber to 1 1/4 inches. Here is the new hive, which I have called the Gnome Mark II Modified UTOB Hive:

The New and Improved Gnome Mark II Modified UTOB Hive.

Compared to the original UTOB Hive:

I admit, not a Mind-Boggling Difference but putting it together in Dry Season Super Heat Time made me feel like it was something amazing and deserving of its own name!

Anyway, I took the “extra” brood out and put it in the brood chamber of the new hive:

…Into the new hive:

Here’s another shot after more brood was moved over:

All the Brood Moved to the New Brood Chamber.

And that was that, all the hives were sealed up and put into their places. Now it is time to wait another month or so before checking on them again…

I love stingless bees!

Belize, Our Products, Soap

Artisan Soaps and Apothecary Additions.

April 18, 2015 Munchkin

Phew…today started off with steaming, stifling heat at 5.30 in the morning and it just got hotter and hotter. In the dry season, strategy is the key and there is a small window of opportunity from 6am to 10am to “get things done” and in our case this means brush-mowing the farm, collecting coconuts and processing them into cream, weeding, watering plants, housework, making soap and packing products. It is indeed a mad rush before the wall of heat gets the better of you and you collapse into a red-faced, sweaty heap. What Fun!!

Here are the Artisan Chocolate Soaps that we made yesterday:

The soaps turned out to be more of an “impressionist” style of art, as you will see from the following Rorscharch examples. For those of you who are not familiar with Rorscharch, it is a test which uses a system of ink-blot pictures as psychological analysis. Being a doctor, I think it is fun to try to perceive impressions from our Artisan chocolate swirl soaps.

Rorscharch Gallery:

A Crab…

A Pig Snout…

A Willow Tree Bending in The Wind…

I do have quite an imagination! Do you see it too? Or am I just getting googly-eyed from the heat?

Last but not least, there have been new additions to The Apothecary which include: Body Salt Scrubs (Lavender, Lemongrass, Passionflower, Ylang-Ylang) and Foot Soaks in the same scents. This completes our Spa range of products.

Belize, Food, Our Products, Plants, Saving Money

Sticky Rice, Nori Flakes, Kun Batz and Stinky Tofu.

April 17, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! I am back in top form and promise that there will be no complaints today! Many thanks to the readers (namely, Erin and Adriana) who wrote back with a positive word and encouragement. Thanks to Gnome’s Mum for looking at 9 pages and the flurry of visitors after last night’s post. We indeed felt that life was worth living again. 😉

In a bid to increase our Stats, Gnome kindly wrote a post earlier on Ballistics…Hmmm…I am sure everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at this must-read! Gnome reveals all in his mind-blowing revelations on pellets! Just out of interest, I don’t give Gnome any pocket money for his pellets and so he funds his pass-time through coconut products. So, if you have bought any coconut cream, water or flour, you have helped Gnome out.

Gnome says, “Buy more of my coconuts!!”

Because it is a lot hotter, we have not been feeling so hungry hence the reason for less recipe posts. However, I thought it would interesting to let you know what we had for lunch today. In our last trip to Belize City, we stopped by the Taiwanese store to buy some goodies…interesting that when we think of buying yummy treats we always go for Chinese or Japanese food. We found some short grain rice (the kind that you use to make sushi), nori seaweed and stinky tofu.

Today, I boiled the sticky rice in our coconut cream…yes, the one that we sell in little bags! I also added whole black peppercorns to spice it up a bit. I toasted the nori flakes in a skillet and I brought out the stinky tofu.

The vegetable featured on the top right is Kun Batz. This is a wild passiflora vine which grows voluntarily in cleared areas. This plant produces fruit which can be eaten green like a vegetable; here I have cut it into pieces, steamed it and added soya sauce.

With plenty of vitamins and minerals from the sea-weed and B Vitamins from the stinky tofu, there was no need to include meat into the meal today. It was yummy!! Hooray for smelly (sorry, I mean fragrant) Chinese food!

Some pictures of Kun Batz (This is the Ketchi Mayan name):

Kun.Batz.Green.Fruit — Kun Batz Green Fruit.

Here in Belize, the Mayans prize this fruit considerably and like to eat it in its ripe form. Once ripe, the flesh turns yellow, spongy and inedible. The pulp around the seeds is eaten and has a fruity floral taste which is esteemed by the people here. It can eaten out of hand or used to flavour cool drinks. It is very similar to the giant granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis).

Good Evening everyone!! May all our lives become so simple that Blog Stats become the most important thing!!

Casa Mascia Apothecary

Monthly Archives: April 2015