Monthly Archives: December 2015

Belize, Food

Gnome Has Brought Out The Pasta Machine!

Together.Eating

What a treat and a carbohydrate lover’s delight to make yummy stuff with a pasta machine.  Yes, every now and then we have a total carb blitz and Gnome cranks up his pasta machine.

Rolling Out Dough.
Rolling Out Dough.

My contribution is the making of the dough which just takes a couple of minutes.  Now, the real Italian way of making pasta is actually to use the machine to “knead” the dough.  So, no need for Munchkin to knead…just a quick mix is required:

Mixing Dough.
Mixing Dough.

And the rest is Gnome know-how with the pasta machine (taught diligently by his mother).  He has been churning out some lovely fresh pasta and pies!

Fresh Pasta.
Fresh Pasta.
Gnome Mini Pies.
Gnome Mini Pies.

Pasta machines are actually very versatile because, besides the pasta, you can also make pastries for pies, croissants, puff pastry, filo pastry and whatever else you can imagine.  We have been eating pasta (noodles) everyday.  Getting bloated and sleepy but still getting the farm work done at the same time.  Well, we still have to work off all the calories!

Belize, Our Products

Donations For Tumul K'in Event Of The Year!

Together.Smiling

Hello Everyone!!  We would like to offer our support to Richard and Alisa Atkinson (for all our British readers, they are the ones that appeared on TV with Kevin McCloud).  They are holding a Christmas Fair at Tumul K’in Centre of Learning in Toledo.

Some stuff that we have donated for the Christmas raffle:

Casa Mascia Donations.
Casa Mascia Donations.

Hopefully we will see you there!!  Mark Sunday the 13th of December on your calendar for the most spectacular Christmas event in Toledo!!

Belize, Medical Related, Philosophy

Ulysses Syndrome.

Together.Courtyard

Here’s a medical one.  An eponymous syndrome is an ailment named after a person.  During medical school, it was a favourite past time amongst us all (yes, we were a bunch of sad buggers with no mates) to memorise as many eponymous syndromes as possible and rhyme them off whilst intoxicated with alcohol.   Of course, I didn’t  do that kind of thing (Ha-Ha) but I did study up on the syndromes like a swotty Munchkin.

Ulysses Syndrome comes to mind because it is rather the way that I have seen Medicine being utilised everywhere.

And so the Ulysses (Odysseus) story and syndrome goes like this…

After the Trojan war Ulysses, King of Ithaca, had many dangerous and perhaps pointless adventures before he returned to his starting place.  Similarly, many patients with incurable diseases  start with a problem and end up with much the same problem.  This is usually after many dangerous and pointless tests.  The Ulysses Syndrome describes this over-investigation.

To investigate or not to investigate.  Before you embark on your adventure you may want to speak to us about it.

Amusing, Belize, Philosophy

Coffee In Punta Gorda!

Together.Horses

Yes, it was a town day with the usual madness of rushing about, delivering stuff, paying bills in between seeing patients and hailing passerbys.  After all that, we sat  by the sea with our Duckie Bag sipping coffee together.

Travel Bag With Thermos.
Travel Bag With Thermos.

Who needs a coffee shop when you can sit out here?

Punta Gorda Seaside.
Punta Gorda Seaside.

Always remember to take time to relax!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

More Malabar Spinach!

Red.Bean.Munchkin

A Big Thank-you to everyone for all the Birthday Greetings!!  It is really nice to receive such warm wishes!

And Life Continues so here is the post of the day:

We have got tonnes of Malabar spinach (Basella alba) on the farm and so this means we are eating this mostly everyday!  You quickly have to learn different ways of eating it or else it can get very boring.

Malabar Spinach.
Malabar Spinach.
Malabar Spinach.
Malabar Spinach.

Here are a couple of ways in which we have been eating this green with imagination and innovation!

It is great uncooked as a salad accompaniment to home-cooked  Pan-Fried Chicken!

Munchkin Fried Chicken With Malabar Spinach.
Munchkin Fried Chicken With Malabar Spinach.

Easy Fried Rice with Malabar Spinach.  Simply fry the rice and towards the end of cooking (last 2 minutes) add shredded malabar spinach and mix well.

Fried Rice With Malabar Spinach.
Fried Rice With Malabar Spinach.

It is wonderful growing, harvesting and cooking our food here on the farm!!  And people ask us why we never go out for dinner…well, it’s because of this.

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Cooking With Malabar Spinach.

Munchkin.More.Eating

Malabar spinach (Basella alba) grows really well in Belize especially in wet places.  Our patch is growing prolifically:

Malabar Spinach.
Malabar Spinach.

It is eaten as a leafy green; can be eaten uncooked in a salad or cooked lightly.  This is a mucilaginous type of green which should not be over-cooked.  When cooked with care (ie. very short cooking times of about 1 to 2 minutes) it adds taste, freshness and a soft crunch to a dish.

This is a recipe with pork, pumpkin and malabar spinach.

Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach.
Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach.

Served with Guatemalan imported linguini…but used in a noodle context since we are doing Chinese cuisine today:

Guatemalan liguini.
Guatemalan liguini.

Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach with Noodles:

Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach.
Pork, Pumpkin and Malabar Spinach.

Enjoy…I know I did!!

Belize, Food

Fried Yum Yums Aka Duros.

Together.Eating

We have been buying unmarked plastic bags of these things for years from the local Chinese (Chiney) shop.  We coined them “Fried Yum Yums” because we had no idea what they were called.  Even if you are not familiar with the dried product, you may have seen street vendors selling this fried snack in plastic bags in Punta Gorda.

They look like dried pasta, either brown or white and come in all shapes and sizes including wagon wheels and twists.  They are made from wheat flour, cornstarch and baking soda.

Brown Wagon Wheel Duros.
Brown Wagon Wheel Duros.

I can not find any documentation on the difference in ingredients between the two different colours.  However, I think that the white variety has a “potato taste” compared to the “maize taste” of the brown kind.

White Wagon Wheel Duros.
White Wagon Wheel Duros.

They are deep-fried in oil and puff up when cooked.

Fried Yum Yum.
Fried Yum Yum.
Fried Yum Yum.
Fried Yum Yum.

Traditionally, this is actually a Mexican snack food called Duros.  Apparently they are sold in plastic bags with salsa/ lime salt or hot sauce.  We like to eat ours as an accompaniment to a bean stew and  use the wagon wheels to scoop up the beans.  Also, they make great mini baskets for hors d’oeuvre…just a little bit of imagination is needed to make a bite-size yum yum!!

Amusing, Belize, Food, Saving Money

Good Buys In Belize.

Together.Eating

Occasionally, we stumble across some good stuff to buy in Belize.  Usually we don’t so that is why we make/grow and cook most of our food on the farm.  Here are a few things:

Can you believe it…you can actually get some Italian Christmas Food at Save-U in Belize.  Panettone is a treat because I haven’t summoned up enough courage to bake one of these yet…I keep on making the excuse that I don’t have a proper cake tin!  Oh, and Torrone is Italian nougat which is typically eaten during the festive season.  Gnome keeps on hinting that I should try making some…this one might be a project at some point.  We both like the hard nougat as opposed to the soft type.

Italian Christmas Goodies.
Italian Christmas Goodies.

This is 20lbs of Basmati rice from Brodies.  Normally, this rice is sold in tiny ridiculous amounts of about 200g (1/2lb) for stupid prices.  This bag will last us a whole year.

Basmati Rice.
Basmati Rice.

This one is a surprise…Guatemalan pasta (linguini) has got the thumbs up from the Italian Gnome (he is Italian when it suits him).  He says not to waste money on US imported brands because they usually contain more than just flour, water and salt and do not have the al dente texture. This stuff is really cheap and sold at every Chinese Superstore in Belize.  One packet of 200g (1/2lb) costs BZ$1 and if you have a hoarding instinct (like Munchkins) you can buy a case of 24 for BZ$18.  What a bargain.

Guatemalan Pasta.
Guatemalan Pasta.

Last but not least…something for the Duckie Bag.  Vanilla and hazelnut coffee sachets for impromptu coffee stops by the side of the road with our trusty thermos flask.

Coffee Sachets.
Coffee Sachets.