Happy New Year’s Eve!! Do you like the picture…a friend actually commented that we really looked like the cartoony pics…even the height difference! A reminiscing tune to bring in the New Year:
See you in 2021!!
Monthly Archives: December 2020
Short and Sweet!
We didn’t manage a second harvest of jujube (Chiney plum) since it was muddy, muggy and buggy…not always Paradise down here!! I still have our canned jujube all beautifully lined up on the shelf…aren’t they a gorgeous colour!!
Just to remind you, here is a picture of the fruit:
Guess what I made!! Jujube Crumble!! It is so easy. I layered the bottom of a baking dish with our canned fruit and then sprinkled a crumble mixture on top (1 cup plain flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 cup butter made into a crumble mixture with the hands…messy, but worth it). I put it in the oven at 180oC/350 F) for 45 minutes. Look at that!!
Ooops…wrong way round:
Oh and I also put cinnamon on it…I just remembered because I put it there in the background! Very good!! Would be great with hot custard right now…
Fasta Pasta!
Just when we were saying that it was time to get out on the farm again because it was drying up, we had a big glorious downpour last night. We can’t get anything done!! And it has been a recurring theme all year!! It’s wet outside…what are we going to do? I am still not done cleaning up but it isn’t a fun thing to do for an end of year finale. Oh, but of course…we can get the noodle machine out!!
This noodle machine weighs about 20lbs (10kgs) and it even comes on a stainless steel stand. It is made of cast iron and stainless steel…the plastic bits on the sides are just veneer to hide the metal gears…Gnome has taken the plastic bits off already because he thinks that they get in the way. Besides, he would rather see the exposed gears.
(I feel like I am writing a product review…Ha-Ha!!)
The Italian pasta machines were very light weight and had to be attached to the table in order to give them stability.
Another good thing (good thing because I am designated dough maker) is that you just need to mix the flour and water very quickly with a spoon. This machine is strong enough to do all the kneading. I can mix about a lb of flour at a time. With the Italian machine, it was about a 1/4lb at a time, the dough had to be kneaded by hand initially and then there was a lengthy dough working process with the pasta machine.
Be warned that using this machine still requires some arm strength but you can see that it has been designed with motorisation in mind. This machine is made in China…you may be surprised. Yes, but you have to realise that Chinese people eat noodles and there has to be machines properly equipped to meet the demand. This noodle machine is a commercial model or (according to their advertising blurb) can be used for large households to feed five or more people. It certainly does the job…
The other thing is…it is a noodle machine…not a pasta machine. You can make the following: one size of noodle (3mm…typical Chinese noodle size), ‘pasta’ sheets and dumplings. There is one noodle cutting attachment only. If you are looking for fancy mafaldine, you need an Italian pasta machine. Gnome has thought of ‘working’ the dough on this noodle machine and then passing it through an Italian pasta cutting machine but the widths of dough are not compatible.
Here is a picture of the noodle cutter in action:
These are the noodle cakes that you get:
We are very, very pleased!! Oh, and the price…some people might be interested. Italian pasta machines cost about USD$50.00. The noodle machine is about about USD$125.00. Definitely worth it if you are likely to make lots of noodles. 😉
Winter Time in Belize!
It is deepest, darkest winter in Belize right now. The temperature is around18oC/ 64F and it doesn’t get light until 6am in the morning. It is really hard to get up when it is so chilly. The scarves, woolly hats and cardigans are out now and the cats are fighting for a cosy position on our laps. Anyway, I trust you all had a good Christmas; we ended up with a ham dinner since there was a cold front and drizzly showers on Christmas day. It was hard to start a fire and cook our goose in coals outside. Oh, and I was so cold, I asked Gnome to make mulled wine. Of course, we didn’t make it the traditional way (God forbid!)…I walked around the yard to pick all the ingredients…this is what we used: cinnamon leaf, allspice leaf, calamondin peel, chilli pepper and sorrel.
It was very warming and exactly what I needed for a cold winters day in Belize. All in all, Christmas day was quiet and the cats were so cold that they spent most of the time sleeping!!
Boxing Day was another cold day so we had the bright idea of bringing out the brand new noodle machine. Gnome cranked out skins to make ham and potato dumplings (from our Christmas leftovers!!). We spent the whole morning cranking and filling…ended up with 56 dumplings to freeze and managed to use up all of Christmas dinner. I will have pictures on a later post. Meanwhile, I will leave you with some pictures of our new noodle machine; Gnome is very pleased with it because it is a lot sturdier than the traditional Italian pasta machines. Perhaps this one will make it through a rigorous Munchkin and Gnome marathon! Ohhh…look at that!! Quite formidable looking…Made in China too!!
This one can take a pound of flour at one time, un-kneaded! Hours of fun!!
Merry Christmas!!
A Very Merry Christmas from Munchkin and Gnome!! May your day be filled with joy and laughter. This is day to make gestures to all. Have a Good One!!
So, cold today (Brrrrrr!!! 20oC/ 68F). We actually made mulled wine. The chilled wine in the fridge will have to wait!!
Chee-eeeers Everyone!!!!
Something Festive.
Time to write something Festive since it is Christmas Eve!! We had our last day in town yesterday before the holidays.
It was quieter than I imagined but there was the usual hustle and bustle of last minute shopping at the Chiney. This year, there were plenty of imported hams and turkey. Oh, and weirdly enough, there were so many imported berries…strawberries and blackberries and that kind of thing. That is quite a phenomenon here because berries are very uncommon. I was told last year that there was a shortage of flour during this season…this year, it was cream cheese…seems to be a big deal…what do people do with cream cheese??
Everyone that we met tried to evoke some Christmas cheer despite the new COVID-19 curfew for this season with no parties allowed and no mixed households for Christmas. There was the usual exchange of black cake (in our case, it was soap and oils).
So, what’s happening for Christmas lunch…mmm…it’s gonna be goose this year with home-made wine. This is our Christmas plant this year…calamondin…look, they are like orange bobbles…who needs a Christmas tree on the farm?!
Just a Shortie!!
Hello and a Happy Wednesday Mornin’ to y’all!! Just a shortie to sneak in some pictures from the farm. By the way, it has been raining so we haven’t been able to clean up the farm once again. Awwwhhh…what can we do…we can laugh or cry about it. Some pictures for your enjoyment:
Very trendy coffee table picture of our cheese rolls:
Dried tobacco from the farm; Gnome has been twistin’
We are waiting for our sesame seed to seed…very nice looking plants, by the way:
Oh and looky here (Gnome just commented on the fact that ‘I sound like somebody trying to be a Southerner but not really a Southerner’).
The next thrilling instalment of Munchkin and Gnome!! Yes!! Hand Noolde Machine!! Let the marathon begin!!
Bumper Ride!
We had a right old bumper ride a few days ago! We were driving along the highway and we suddenly heard a scraping, dragging noise coming from the back of the truck. The bumper came half way off!! To make things worse, it was pouring down!! Gnome stopped the truck by the side of the road and ran out to assess the situation and quick smart, ran back into the shelter of the truck.
Gnome: ‘Munchkin, the bumper’s handing half way off! What are we going to do?’
There was no place nearby to take shelter from the pelting rain. So, I thought the this was the most sensible thing to do:
Munchkin: ‘Let’s have a cup of tea!’
It wasn’t the response that he was looking for but it seemed logical enough so Gnome agreed and we sat down in the truck and had a cup of tea.
It was quite funny…we were actually really cool about it and we didn’t get annoyed about the situation. Gnome asked me if we had anything in the truck to fix the bumper problem temporarily…something like rope or string. I reached down underneath my seat and pulled out a burlap sack…a fairy must have packed this for us…inside the bag, there were two ponchos, 3 large belts for securing loads and a whole lot of string. The first thing I said was:
Munchkin: ‘Do you want the purple or the blue poncho???!!’
(Ha-Ha!!! I was trying to be funny!!)
Gnome didn’t quite get that I was Humorous Munchkin at that point and he said,
Gnome: ‘…this is not the time or place to be choosing colours of ponchos!!’
(Ha-Ha!! Guffaw!!!)
It stopped raining after a while and we both donned the ponchos and went outside. The bumper was still welded on the left side but loose on the other side. It was a shame that it didn’t come off entirely because that would have made it easier. Anyway, it was the usual Gnome Magic.
He just made it look easy and simple…he secured the belt with the bumper and added a bit of string for support. An old man came along to help us which was a very nice gesture. Hey Presto:
Now, we are driving about like this. It’s not anything unusual in Belize…some people are driving around with a belt or rope securing something loose on the truck. We have joined the ranks of Belize-rigged trucks!! Now, Gnome with have to learn to weld…mig or tig?? We are not sure because we both know nothing about welding!! We better learn quick…
We Herd Geese!
This is a funny conversation that we had today. At least, it made me laugh and guffaw!! I was looking at recipes on the Internet because Gnome said that the chances of finding a chocolate eclair in Belize was very, very slim (almost impossible). I have cravings for chocolate eclairs and they consume my thoughts entirely sometimes!!
Anyway, that part wasn’t really the point of the story. I decided to look at recipes for choux pastry (I made it before a long time ago when I was a medical student…I went through a crazy phase of making profiteroles). I think that if I really want to satisfy my need for a chocolate eclair (and stop the day dreaming) then I have to make choux pastry and stuff them with cream and then put on the top chocolatey layer (mmmm….yum…yum!!).
That part still isn’t the point of the story!! To get the point, I found a very nice choux pastry recipe (it was explained very well with the scientific principles behind the reasons for the ingredients and manipulation of ingredients). When I scrolled down and read the profile of the writer, it was really cool…the description included working in organic farms around Italy ,etc, etc and the finally he mentioned that he once herded 200 sheep on a mountain top (for how long, I don’t know…but it sounded too cool, right!!). So, I got all sucked in about cool blog profiles so I told Gnome about it and mentioned:
‘Can you think of something cool to say about us?”
Gnome’s response:
‘We herd geese!!’
Yes Indeed!! Picture Munchkin and Gnome herding geese around our farm in Belize!! So Cool…Ha-Ha!! Now, we have a blog profile to brag about!! 😉
Two Fat Fairies!
Gnome wished for two fairies to help us out with the unenviable task of tidying up the house. I think we need an army of fairies! But anyway, Gnome’s wishes have come semi-true because we have two fat cats that are licking up the kitchen floor every time we are cooking or processing food. Every bit counts! Gnome has got back into the routine of grating coconuts everyday:
It is a messy job with coconut grated bits flying everywhere. The cats have got into the habit of waiting for Gnome and then scrabbling about like mad under his feet. Yes, so we have two fat fairies to clean up the floor after us. This is a picture of them resting, after feasting on coconut:
These two cats are bestest buddies…they lick and groom each other but, yes they will still fight over food! Just a short and sweet post for today!