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.
Check out the New Pages:
Elixir Profiles.
Metaphorically speaking, the Elixirs are the bottled essence of our Joie De Vivre!
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:
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 are also proud to present to your our Castile Coconut Soap also known as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not DB’s!”
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.
Have a good night everyone!!
I am sure you may have had your suspicions when you wonder how to two doctors can maintain a farm, do all the wiring, plumbing and mechanics, make apothecary products and also see patients. Surely, there must be The Brains behind the operation that is co-ordinating Da Gnome and Munchkin? Yes, today we reveal el jefe in his full glory:
Waiting to be chauffeur driven:
Bossie supervising soap-making:
El jefe deep in comtemplation over the structure and organisation of Casa Mascia:
Do Not Disturb The Brains:
Just a bit of fun and humour for a Tuesday night…
On a different note, here is something for a special friend of ours who is going through a difficult time.
Munchkin has chosen this heart-wrenching song for you and will cry along with you:
And Gnome has chosen this song for you. He will sing along with you too:
Have a Good Night!!
Hello Everyone!! All of a sudden, it is very, very wet. The air feels really damp and muggy. Still no need to complain; we are getting bountiful water to wash clothes to my heart’s content and I can have plentiful hot showers through-out the day!
The farm continues to give generously and there is always stuff to harvest everyday. The carambola (or starfruit) are bearing; I have to pick them partially green before the birds and the bees get to them.
These are the rogue pumpkins that were missed in “The Hidden Pumpkin Technique” which I described a few weeks ago. The pumpkin patch is still going strong and with these new rains, we are getting a second round of flowering.
In this technique, the pumpkins grow and sink into the tall grass; whilst hidden from the hungry eyes of critters and bugs, they can be left to grow flawlessly without a single burrowed hole or bite-mark.
Oh, and last but not least…banana flowers…
This morning, Gnome cut these down and instructed me to give them to the guinea pigs. I gave him a funny look and said,
“I heard that humans can eat them too!”
Gnome said that he had heard about people eating them in India but he wasn’t convinced about the potential tastiness of the banana flower.
Well, I looked at them and convinced myself that they looked a bit like artichokes and therefore there could be some potential for yumminess. Well, let’s see…tomorrow, I am going to try cooking them. Watch this space for the results!!
People sometimes ask us what kind of green vegetables we grow on the farm to eat. This is mainly because, as doctors, we are always advising people to eat green, leafy vegetables for their high vitamin and mineral content which helps maintain healthy growth of cells and promotes healing. These people in turn, go to Punta Gorda market to look for them, only to find one common type of leafy vegetable to eat which is calalloo (Amaranth sp.).
This is fine to eat (though they still complain about the lack of variety) but also they are not found in such great abundance that they can be eaten in substantial proportions everyday. We eat about 100 to 200 grams (1/4 to 1/2 lb) of dried leafy green vegetable a day and this is the amount that we recommend to other people to eat.
Here in Belize, there is a plethora of greens that can be easily grown with the minimum of fuss and maintenance. You just need to regularly harvest (cut back) to stimulate growth and you will have them mostly all year round. The only time there might be a problem is the 2 months of dry season but this can be overcome with daily irrigation which should be possible for a small garden.
Malabar spinach is a climbing vine. It grows really well in wet areas. You eat the leafy parts and discard most of the fibrous stem. It can be eaten raw in salads, steamed or stir-fried.
Chaya plants, also known as tree spinach, needs little maintenance and even survive through drought without much irrigation. They are best chopped finely and boiled for about 20 to 30 minutes.
A more familiar green for people from temperate countries is kale. They need a little bit more care and raised bedding; nonetheless, they can still be cultivated in the Tropics.
This one is called Avuvo, apparently a well-known Nigerian green. The seed was given to us by somebody who had plans to grow Nigerian vegetables in Belize for an export market in the States. It grows prolifically.
Ok, guys go forth and start your own garden of fresh green leafy vegetables! You will find that they taste so much better than the bought stuff! As well as providing ingredients for a healthy diet, maintaining a garden will keep you fit (c’mon …don’t hire a gardener!) and you can save money on your grocery bill.
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.
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!
Good Night!!
Hello everyone!! It has been raining all day today so thankfully, our rain water shortage has been temporarily solved. The rainwater tank is almost half full and we have another full tank as back-up. Phew!! We are so pleased!!
Anyway, onto the subject of chili peppers…yesterday, was town day and it was a hectic run-around of seeing patients for the whole morning, meeting up with people for lunch and the usual in-between hailing of passerbys and acquaintances. Not to mention, the rushing around for supplies in between a packed day. By the time I got home at 4pm, I was exhausted. At this point, I started feeling lethargic and then it got worse because I started feeling sorry for myself. One thing led to another and I developed a headache, sore throat and a low-grade fever. I immediately recognised it as the beginnings of the ‘flu (or some sort of viral infection). Gnome knew there was a problem when I reached over to the computer to write a Blog post and I simply couldn’t even muster up the energy to type out the WordPress address. Gnome admonished me gently for being such an awful patient and told me to have a teaspoon of chili sauce, in a drink immediately.
I happened to have a glass of beer in front of me (therapeutic dosage to warm myself up of course…honest) so I stirred in a teaspoon of chili sauce and downed it. As soon as I drunk it, it really hit the spot and the I felt an immediate release in my sinuses and head. I felt so much better.
Gnome’s Medical Prescription: Beer
And one teaspoon of Chili sauce:
Culpeper describes this experience very nicely:
“…will so pierce the brain by flying up into the head through the nostrils, as to produce violent sneezings, and draw down abundance of thin rheum, forcing tears from the eyes…”
I went to bed soon after this, feeling nice and toasty. And so today, I still feel tired from fighting off the ‘flu and my energy levels are considerably lower. However, I have managed to keep the other symptoms at bay (fever, headache and cough) with a teaspoon of chili sauce in miso soup three times a day. By no means is this an instant cure-all but it does cut short the length of an ailment and lessons the symptoms so it is worth doing. I will probably continue this regime for the next 3 days at least. I have noticed that with natural remedies, it is not usually a once off dosage but rather a course.
Also, Chilis have nutritional value which can aid in mounting a proper immune response: vitamin A, C, E, B6, Potassium and Manganese and Riboflavin.
It is still raining here in Toledo…yay!! Have a Good Night everyone!!
Hi Everyone!! If you are a regular reader, you may remember that our well pump broke about 6 months ago and we have been relying on rain-water since then. Thankfully we have had rain water without much of a hitch since we live in the district of Belize with the highest rainfall. Coupled with hope, prayers and chorusing with the frogs, water has not been an issue….well, until recently. It has been so dry for 14 days now (this dryness is sooooo rare for this region and we are not in dry season) we are down to about half of a 550 gallon tank only so we are on Red Alert!! Bucket Washes and no showers.
The saga continues…
Early yesterday morning, Gnome noticed water dripping out of a hole in our water tank (our rainwater tank). Remember, there is no water in the well-pump tank. He went over to have a better look and discovered that a nail from the water tower had punctured through the base of the tank and we were fast losing our precious water. With Gnome swiftness, he used a hose-pipe to transfer the water into the empty well tank. Phew!! Thank-you Gnome for noticing…because if he had not noticed the dripping water, we would have no water left by the end of the day.
Okay, so we need rain. And we are looking at the weather report and there are no indications of rain. We are now looking further afield for hopeful signs through frog ribbitting, rain hawks, the man in the shop down the road and whatever takes our fancy.
Still no signs. Arrrrghhhh!!!
We still hope. The man in the shop said,
“It no look like it rain but sometime it come from nowhere!”
In anticipation, Gnome has patched up the water tank to receive rainwater.
Anyone know a good Rain Dance? Munchkin and Gnome are prepared to Boogey On Down!!
Hello Everyone!! I have been experimenting with peach palm a lot since each bunch weighs about 10kg (22lbs). Peach palm or pejibaye (Bactris gasipaes) is a palm which is indigenous to Central America. These trees produce bunches of orange-coloured fruit which can be eaten as a carbohydrate.
Once cooked, they have the texture of a sweet potato and they taste almost fruity. In this recipe, I cooked up some of this carbohydrate, mashed it up and flavoured it with rosemary which really helps to bring out the peach-like flavour. This recipe is gluten-free and would also be a great base for a vegetarian burger.
We had our Peach Palm Patties with a generous dollop of chilli sauce! If you would prefer this as a sweet, you can omit the rosemary and serve these patties with honey and ice-cream…yum…now that’s a real treat!
We have only written three posts in the last month so I am using this post as an opportunity to catch up. We have actually had very hot and dry weather for about 10 days with no rains until today actually. In the last 3 to 4 days we had to go on “red alert” as the water supplies were going down fast. This meant bucket washes (no long showers) and hand-washing clothes. The well-pump still has not been fixed yet but Gnome has a plan to use compressed air to pump the water up to the surface…all we need is a compressor.
I have heard the frogs ribbitting on for rain and we have even joined them in their gloriously orchestrated croaking. The grey clouds are gathering above our house as we speak! Let us continue Ribbitting!! We are down to half a 550 gallon tank of water and we need two 550 gallon tanks totally filled up. When we are on “red alert” a lot of activities are postponed including soap-making…this requires a lot of water for washing up and cleaning of big pots, buckets and utensils.
I will leave you with some pictures from The Spice Farms which is situated in Golden Stream in Toledo, on the Southern Highway of Belize. The place is owned by another fellow medical doctor (anaesthetist) from the United States, formerly from Kerala, India. Being Doctors/ Wannabee Farmers together, Dr. Mathew was nice enough to give us a guided tour of his establishment last week. Lots of vanilla, black-pepper, cinnamon and other spice plants to see.
Have a good night!! Let’s hope for a massive downpour tonight!!