Hello Everyone. We have fresh produce from our farm to sell and will be in Punta Gorda tomorrow (and every Wednesday) to sell our stuff. Email or Facebook us if you are interested and we can drop it off for you in town tomorrow.
We have the Peach Palm Miso for sale. This product is made in the same traditional way as normal miso but we have used Peach Palm (Pejibaye) instead of soya bean.
Peach Palm Miso.
This is a gluten-free, vegan natural flavouring for soups, sauces and marinades. Simply use this as an alternative to a bouillon cube. You only need to use a teaspoon at a time so one bag goes a long way. Check out The Apothecary for prices.
We will also have our coconut cream for sale which can be used for curries, stews, coconut rice and smoothies.
Straight after the SHI Fair, we had to run up to Independence and did not get home until late. I was hoping to get these pictures up earlier but such is life!
Our table: pretty messy after rummaging through bargain boxes! Copal Medicinal Soaps in the middle and bargain tooth-powder to the left.
Vendor selling Plantains, Cho Cho and the roots, in the middle are Cocoyam.
Jars of yellow ginger (tumeric):
Toledo based business marketing and promoting a new BBQ sauce. Good Luck to them:
Overall, there was a moderate turn out and we received a lot of good responses to our products. This year, there were not so many visitors from other districts of Belize.
Hello Everyone!! Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) will be holding their annual organic fair at PG park today (31st October 2015). We will be there armed with our Casa Mascia Goodies.
This one is always a favourite at fairs: Cheap Sale (or Runaway Sale or Explosive-One-Time-Only Sale or Everything-Must-Go-Sale!!
Casa Mascia Cheap Sale.
Come and rummage through our bargain box: there will be all sorts of exciting things (exclusive once off) like Cacao and Lemongrass Insect Repellent, Lavender balm, Grapefruit Balm, Tooth-powder or Tooth-whitener with lovely essential oils and lots more. You can’t beat a bargain!
We will also be selling fresh Balam (Mayan White Cacao) fruit for all you organic gardeners out there.
Balam Fruit.
We will have our usual favourite stuff including Copal Soap, Medicinal Oils and Ointments. Oh, and two buckets of Chocolate Artisan Soap going at a Run-away Price of $5.00 (Best Price, as they say here in Belize)!!
Copal Medicinal Oil Vial.Chocolate Soap Galore!!
Hope to see y’all there. Otherwise, if you are not in Belize, we’ll have lots of fun photos for laterz.
Hello Everyone!! The Elixirs Page is up and ready for you to read. There is an introduction to our Elixirs giving general information and there are also detailed profiles on five of our liqueurs. The Ginger Elixir is a brand new one for the season.
Hello Everyone!! The tourist season is just round the corner and we are gearing up for the new season. I have added a few more additions to our product list. There are still more new products to come..how exciting!! We are now offering Copal Medicinal Oil in Vial form:
Copal Medicinal Oil Vial.
This smaller sized bottle (30ml) is an ideal size for traveling. Copal Medicinal Oil has natural anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties which can be used for cuts, scrapes, burns, scalds, skin infections, insect bites and fungal infections. For all our Copal fans out there, the medicinal oil is still available in the larger bottle (120ml) and ointment form.
We made this because of popular demand for a local liquid soap made from coconut oil. It is completely detergent free and contains no artificial ingredients. It is available in original (unscented), peppermint and orange citrus essential oils. It is mild enough to be used for face, body and hair. In fact, it is so mild that it can be used for sensitive skin and babies.
We also have this brand new Herbal Air Freshener; it has lovely essential oils including clove and lemongrass which act in synergy to remove odours and naturally disinfect the environment.
This nifty little sprayer is great for home use and can double up as a car freshener too. Also, it can remove pet odours without harming animals.
Check out The Apothecary for more detailed information on our products.
We have been busy little bees working with Joanna at Botanica Belize for a product launch at Wild Orchid, Placencia in Belize. Here are some pictures to show you the line of products that will be available.
Body and Sol Castile Cleanser.Botanica Belize Ater-Sun Cooling Mist.Botanica Belize Essential Oil Blends.
Wild Orchid is a resort offering luxury marina lots and villas on a stunning 26 acre property. The products will be show cased in November 2015. Good Luck to Botanica Belize!!
Also, on the subject of products. I will be writing a collection of pages on our Elixirs with Cocktail Recipes. In preparation, I have tried looking for some appropriate cocktail glasses…of course, none could be found in Toledo! This was what I came up with…they are quite fun and funky!
Hi Everyone, every now and then we have to do the mundane work of website administration. After all, one of the reasons why we took on this Blogging was to try to make some money from the Apothecary. Having done this for almost a year, I can confidently dispel the myth that you can “quit your day job” if you have a website shop. No, people are not flocking to buy our wares on-line. We find that people just enjoy reading our posts especially for the funny stories and the recipes. In turn, we have decided that, despite the lack of monetary return, we will continue Blogging because it is an outlet of expression for both of us, especially in my case. I had aspirations of becoming a writer/ journanlist before I became a medical doctor and I find that I can re-cultivate my writing skills through this form of expression. Besides, it is a really good way of informing family and friends of what we are doing so they need not worry that we are stuck in the middle of nowhere deprived of entertainment and variety.
Apothecary tweaks include:
The Apothecary has been better organised into categories. In the soap section, we are offering soaps in plastic wrap, tin and rolls of 50 to give people more of a choice (and a better price). Also I have added the pictures of the body sprays which have been missing for a whole year. Still more pictures to come…
Also, there is a new Custom Orders page which gives information on special orders. It gives a list of possible products (anything really from hair care to nail care to foot care…you name it..and we will create it) and available Belizean raw materials that can be used to create brand new products. There is a whole list of lovely local stuff; here are some pictures to entice you:
Cacao Butter.Cacao.Fresh Lemongrass.Ylang Ylang.
There is still more administration to come including New Products and a full list of Elixirs.
Just the other day, Gnome was asking me if I could make some sort of dessert which wasn’t heavy like cake but something light and sweet.
We have been processing a lot of coconuts lately so I tried to think up of something with this ingredient.
Our Lovely Coconuts.
Then I suddenly remembered that a long time ago (10 years to be exact) when we first came to Belize, a Hawaiin- Filipino couple had invited us to their farm and served us this delicious dessert made from coconut milk. I had forgotten about it until now and so I rummaged through my personal recipe books and found that I had written it down. I recall that my friends had mentioned that there are variations of this dessert Haupia and that some people like to add fresh fruit to it. I have opted for simple and pure coconut milk squares. They are soft, silky and melt in your mouth.
Haupia: Easy Coconut Dessert.
Gnome was very pleased with the dessert and scoffed off the whole lot in one sitting. This is very unusual for him because he does not have a sweet tooth.
Yum Yum!!
Check out the full recipe for Haupia: Coconut Dessert in Belize Wild Recipes. It is soooo easy to make and it is made from simple ingredients including cornstarch and sugar. If you live in Toledo, you can purchase our coconut cream from Green Supauls (Punta Gorda) to use for this recipe. Otherwise, use fresh or canned coconut milk.
Coconut Cream For Sale At Green Supauls.
You only need to use a 1/4 of this bag, diluted with water to make up the coconut milk component of the recipe.
Enjoy!!
If you haven’t already…Get Your Vote In!! C’mon guys!! We need your votes for the favourite candidate for Paradise Piggies!!
We have been busy little bees over the last 6 months or so making Chocolate Artisan Soaps for the new tourist season which starts around November. Here are a collection of pictures to show Gnome’s artistic expression…it is the Italian in him!!
Gnome: An Artist.
An Artistic Tumble of Chocolate Artisan Soaps. Sheer Indulgence. What Every Woman Secretly Wants!!
Chocolate Soap Pile.
Soft Midnight Tones for the New Season:
Chocolate Artisan Soap.
Add Panache and Flair To Your Bathroom:
Chocolate Artisan Soap.
Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. Delicious and Seductive Warm Colours.
Chocolate Artisan Soaps.
The “Must Have” Chocolate Artisan Soaps. Sets Aside Your Bathroom From The Rest.
Chocolate Artisan Soaps.
Live Life To The Max..Maximal Velocity With Chocolate Soaps.
Hello Everyone!! It is so difficult finding a time slot to write a post; right now, the Internet is reliable from 4am to about 8am…this is however, our outside farm time and business emailing. After 8am, the Internet is virtually non-existent with a few minutes, now and then, of Internet activity to download emails. Not enough to quickly write a post for a Blog. At about 5pm, the Internet starts back up in spits and spurts…this is when I dive in and take my opportunity. After 6pm, Gnome uses the computer/ Internet to do Linux stuff. Oh and by the way, we share the one computer so that also limits usage.
Sometimes, because of all these complications, there is simply no opportunity to write a post. Hence, the reason why you might get short periods of silence.
Anyway, it was town day today. Instead of waking up at 4am, we made a compromise and woke up at 6am. This is still really early because nothing really starts opening in Punta Gorda until about 9am. The Government offices start at 8am but they aren’t really getting down to business until a later in the morning. If you ask me…the best time to go a Government Office is at 11.30am which is just before lunch. Don’t go at 11.45am because they will already be enroute to their favourite Rice and Beans joint. Supermarkets (the majority are Chinese owned) open after 9am…the Chinese can be a tad tardy and if you drive pass one of this places, you usually see the Belizean workers loitering outside waiting for their Chinese bosses to open shop. It is all very slow and everyone takes their own sweet time to start up.
So, at 6am, we were up and jumping about like hyperactive frogs waiting for the faithful opening hour. Gnome was laughing at the fact that we had to wait three hours for everyone else to start. It is extraordinary how farm life works on a completely different time line from town life! Anyway, we mixed up a batch of chocolate soap in the interim:
Making Chocolate Soap.
We are making Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Cocao Butter soap for the new tourist season in November. This is the Milk Chocolate Soap:
Solid Chocolate Soap.
Oooooh…looks like you could eat them!!
Anyway, we managed to get into town…trundling along slowly. Here are some pictures of places that we frequent in Punta Gorda.
We usually pick up the “chocolate trash” from The Cotton Tree Chocolate Factory. We use the trash for mulch around our trees:
Cotton Tree Chocolate.Chocolate Waste For Our Trees.
And this is Tropic Air; we deliver all our orders nation-wide with Tropic Air because they are reliable, very friendly and they have a flight everyday so orders can be dispatched on the same day (yes…you can get 24 hour delivery in Belize).
Tropic Air Office.
The staff are absolutely lovely:
Tropic Air Staff.
After town, we went to visit our friend Isabel at Cotton Tree Lodge.
It was really muddy and wet driving up to the lodge. At one point, our wheels nearly got stuck…we had to go on 4-wheel drive for the whole time. Boy, what a drive…the heavy rains have really made these back roads difficult to travel in.
