I spent a bit of time today catching up on cake recipes from the Festive Season for Belize Wild Recipes. I simply had to write about them because this year, for the first time ever, they actually worked out. This is a typical baking disaster…this one was Christmas Spice Cake:
I have also posted up a “Black Cake” recipe which was very kindly given to me by Barbara Nightingale. I haven’t tried the recipe yet…it will have to wait until next Christmas!! And sorry no picture because we polished it all off before we could get a photo!
The morning started off with a torrential rain which filled up our tanks. Yay…this means that we can continue to have long hot showers and keep on using the washing machine. We are thankful for small blessings! After the rains, we walked together with a wheel-barrow of seedlings to plant out (gosh…this is Munchkin and Gnome romancing!).
We planted out Carob seedlings. We are especially excited about these because these can be a nutritional chocolate alternative and the seeds are a source of guar gum. We planted these on high ground because they are not supposed to like “wet feet.”
Carob Seedling.
We also planted some good varieties of mangoes…I know that this sounds rather mundane for the tropics but on our farm we have NO mango trees! This also happens to be our favourite fruit so we are trying to catch up. When we first came to Belize ten years we spent all our time planting unusual edible tropical fruits and forgot about the ubiquitous mango.
Freshly Mowed Field Ready For Mango Planting.
We have found from our own personal experience as wannabee farmers that the best way to plant a seedling is to cut the bottom off the plant pot and set it in a shallow (6 inches) hole. This ensures that the roots are not disturbed and also you can weed-wack around it without damaging the plant.
Planted Mango.
Ooooh look our betel nut is flowering…not sure what to do with it so we will have to do some research on that one…
Betel Palm Flower.
And, last but not least, the mushrooms are coming out with the rains. This is Turkey Tail mushroom which can be boiled up for a tea and is rich in anti-oxidants.
Turkey Tale Mushroom.
This is Chicken of The Woods. We are waiting for them to get bigger so that we can harvest them to eat. When you cook them up, they taste just like chicken. Yummy…can’t wait!!
Since we have been doing a super clean up of the farm in this fabulous weather (bright and sunny with no rain) I thought I would take this opportunity to share some pictures of the farm. It is remarkable how great it looks when it is not all bushy with high grass!
When we first came to Belize, 10 years ago we ventured into the bush in search of rosewood seeds to start a grove on our farm. Over years, there has been much logging of these magnificent trees and they are dwindling in number. We have set up this grove as a “seed bank” so that there will still be opportunity to cultivate these trees in the future. Our rosewood trees are looking good and gives a shaded place for a cool picnic area.
Rosewood Trees.
The first young fruits of the soursop have just started which is a much-loved fruit of the Tropics:
Soursop
And this is roseapple which tastes of rose petals. They are actually very hard to spot because of the green colour…if only they would turn pink or red! I think all of our resident birdies taste of roses since they are the ones eating most of them…
Flowering Rose Apple.
Last but not least, our lovely pond area where we would like to house a gaggle of geese! One day, we shall have loads of geese a-honking in our pond!!
Oooooh!!! Munchkin was let loose in the kitchen to make a Christmas Cake! If you follow the Blog, you will know that there have been many baking disasters in the past…especially around the Festive Season when she has good intentions in baking but they never turn out! This “Christmas Stollen” was fortunately rescued and morphed into a Monster Christmas Chaos Cake!
Trying to work yeasted dough for baking in a 35C (95F) kitchen is bound to end in disaster. The sticky dough expands within seconds, doubles in bulk within minutes and if you don’t get it into the oven quick smart…it is bound to explode all over the place. Not a pretty sight to see a red-faced, hot Munchkin anxiously trying to mix dough quickly before it all splatters on the walls! Arrrgh!!!
Anyway, the Stollen was rescued and become a gorgeous Christmas Cake decorated with dried sapodilla from the farm:
Christmas Chaos Cake.
Enjoyed indulgently with vanilla glaze drizzle. Mmmmm…what a save!!
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.
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.
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.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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Malabar spinach (Basella alba) grows really well in Belize especially in wet places. Our patch is growing prolifically:
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.
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.
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.
They are deep-fried in oil and puff up when cooked.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
We have made Moon Cakes, off season!! Well, as far as we are concerned, Moon Cakes should be happily enjoyed all year round!!
Moon Cakes.
This time we used a yam paste which consists of lotus seed and the vegetable taro.
Yam Paste.
This is fresh taro…maybe we can make our own paste sometime.
Taro.
We have stashed them in our Moon Cake Treasure Chest…
Munchkin and Gnome Moon Cakes.
And, of course, a couple for the Duckie Bag. The Duckie Bag is our manual coffee/tea making facility (ie. thermos flask and teabags, coffee,sugar and milk) that we take with us everytime we go out.
