Tag Archives: Sorrel

Just a Quickie!

November 30, 2020 Munchkin

It’s just a short one today because we are both really tired. Shock…horror…it hasn’t rained for three days and it is actually drying up. Gnome ran out today to try to chop the brush, that has grown up with the rains, in the goosie coup. I am trying scrub the walls inside the house…with the non-stop rains for two months straight…there is mould everywhere.

Alas, there is so much work to do!! And you know what…this year, we never finished a whole round of mowing…and, not because of the usual machinery failure but because we have had so much rain. I can’t remember the number of times we have had to stop halfway and start all over again.

Anyway, this is a quick catch up on farm activities. Here are a few pictures from the farm. This is our giant loofah; we have been eating the young fruit as vegetables.

We have a found a different type of sorrel which produces early; it flowered in September and we are harvesting right now; we are drinking sorrel tea every morning. It is high in Vitamin C and apparently good for hypertension.

This is our usual Belizean sorrel which is harvested at Christmas time…see how different they look…

This is a snake that we saw eating a frog. It was so intent on digesting that he allowed me to do a photo shoot:

Oh, and one last picture…what’s that…another one!! Could not resist it…another boy!! More about this crazy scamp next time…

Belize, Elixirs, Farming, Plants

What Happens To January?

January 20, 2018 Munchkin 2 Comments

What happened to January? We are more than half way through already!! Despite this, we are still doing our New Year’s greetings…maybe it is just us because we don’t see people that often. Anyway, there is always work to be done and there is never enough time to do it all. I have been catching up with harvesting; what we both hate is leaving stuff on trees and watching them drop to the ground. Today, I harvested the sorrel (roselle). I have to admit that I feel very lazy when I think about these because you have to sit and take off every single sepal. My problem is that I don’t like sitting down and this task forces me to be sedentary.

You have to remove the sepals from the pods:

Seed Pods Separated From the Sorrel Fruit.

These are the sepals all nicely cleaned up:

It is however very satisfying once it is all done. This year, I am making Sorrel Elixir (liqueur); I am making two versions: one has very little sugar and they other is more syrupy. I think that the sugary one will do very well poured over ice-cream and desserts. The colour is really amazing when you see the sorrel infusions. It looks better than this in real life.

But then it gets very dark as it matures:

Once it is mature, it tastes a bit like a sherry.

Here is the sepal picture again just because it is rather beautiful!

Have a lovely day!!

Amusing, Belize

Goosie Bump Done Gone!!

December 2, 2017 Munchkin

So. did the bump go first or after? Our Chiney Goose (Chiney White) had an enormous bump (knob) at the top of the beak, which is characteristic of a Chinese goose, and the bump is slowly shrinking…

The former “second in command” goosie has been ostracised by the rest of the group and he has been forced to swim in circles on the pond all by his lonesome self. What happened??

So, the big question is:

“Did the bump go first which led to the bullying…or did the bullying come first leading to poor self-esteem and then the loss of the bump.”

Gnome’s response:

“Munchkin, maybe you should get out a bit more…”

Okay, so Gnome isn’t interested in goosie psychology (nor goosie psychotherapy or rehabilitation) so let’s move swiftly onto our usual farm pictures.

Here is a picture of our first sorrel (roselle) flower which means that we will have a Christmas harvest. This is a picture for Joanna (you know who you are!!).

This is a wild plant…it looks like a Christmas decoration, don’t you think?

Ooooh and an owl butterfly that wondered into our house. Aren’t they pretty…

Have a great Saturday!!

Belize, Food

Hibiscus (Sorrel/ Roselle) Spring Rolls.

April 21, 2015 Munchkin

Hi Everyone!! There was no post yesterday because we had a power-cut in the evening. We had to rummage around in the dark for all our candles…it was most inconvenient. We really need to get energy independent one of these days.

Again, boredom and excitement (what an oxymoron) are stimulating us to run around like busy little bees. Right now we are starting our day at 5.30am… as soon as the sun comes up. After that, it is a race to get things done before the on-slaught of heat! Today, Gnome was mashing and his comment of the day was, “I had good results from the Mashing today, tomorrow I will be Sparging.” Other than that, he didn’t say much else. He also made some nice sandal-wood scented soaps.

I have posted up a recipe for Hibiscus Spring Rolls…catching up an a back-log of old recipes. Hibiscus is also known as Roselle; here in Belize, everyone calls it Sorrel.

And these are my yummy Hibiscus spring rolls with shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots (my own, of course) and water chest-nuts. No meat, so they are vegetarian spring rolls. The hibiscus adds colour, crunch and a mild sourness to the whole culinary experience. Lovely!!

Belize, Farming, Plants

The Mind-Boggling Truth Behind Biomass.

March 27, 2015 Munchkin

As Gnome would put it, “Biomass is a Bitch!” and I truly agree with him, after the amount of work I have done in gathering medicinal herbs to dry. As mentioned before, we are working in partnership with BotanicaBelize to produce a line of facial products. One of the products is a facial tea which is jam packed with an array of medicinal herbs and plants (according to the season in which they are picked). This entire week, I have been picking Red Head (Hamelia patens), Plantain, Bamboo, Hierba del Cancer, Lemongrass, Hibiscus (Sorrel), Sage, Basil, Chanca Piedra, Noni Leaf, Mint, Culantro and Jackass Bitters.

And it is not just a few plants here and there as I gaily skip from one plant to the other. No, it is actually a real labour of love where I gather bunches and bunches of each plant in a wheel barrow. I sweat and I use muscle power (Munchkin Power!). You will not believe the amount of fresh stuff that I have had to harvest to get a final dry weight…for every 2oz (60g) of dry weight in material, I have to gather 1.5 lbs (600g) of fresh herbs! And this is dried noni leaf…about 2oz dried.

So, when you buy any dried tea like chamomile or mint, to give an example, each teabag is actually 1 oz (30g) of fresh herb. It is totally mind-boggling…plus a lot of work if you do it yourself!

Anyway, I am glad I have done it! It is nice to hoard everything in jars to display:

Yay!! I managed to get all the herbs gathered and dried in time, despite Gnome’s frenzied time with Miso (!) Everything is All Right and I managed to finish off all the drying process this afternoon despite a surprise early afternoon blustery storm.

Belize, Food

Tropical Italian Sauce with Roselle and Star Fruit.

January 26, 2015 Munchkin

Since we are in the Tropics it is great idea to use exotic fruits and vegetables in an Italian sauce. In this recipe, I have added starfruit, roselle (sorrel) and malabar spinach.

Here is the yummy Tropical Italian Sauce with Pasta…

It tastes great and is really easy to make. For the full recipe click on this link: Tropical Italian Pasta.

Ok guys, have a great Monday and hope you are all eating something yummy for dinner!!

Belize, Food, Plants

Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce.

January 21, 2015 Munchkin

The Roselle plant (known as Sorrel in Belize) can keep on producing fruit if you pick it regularly. I am on my third picking and still drying the sepals for tea.

In my research, I have not seen much culinary use for this hibiscus except for teas, drinks and jams. Because of this, I have decided to come up with a few ideas of my own.

My first invention is Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites:

Serving Suggestion 2: Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites.

The chicken is seasoned with cinnamon and cumin which compliments the subtle berry-tones in the sweet and sour sauce. Wow…look at the colour…it is such a gorgeous red!!

If you are interested, read my full recipe in Sweet and Sour Roselle Sauce with Chicken Bites.

Casa Mascia Apothecary