December 27, 2019 · 6:35 am

Ponche Navideño

Ponche is THE best drink Mexico has to offer during the Christmas holiday season. This year I decided to try and concoct it myself. Much to my delight, it turned out perfectly! So if you are interested in preparing this hot beverage for your New Year’s Eve festivities, let me share the recipe that Doña Lupe, one of my sister-in-law’s tortilla makers gave me.

There isn’t an exact quantity for each item because it depends on how big the pot you are using to boil it all in and your personal preferences. I’ll give you approximate measurements for 5.5-Quart pan. I recommend you don’t fill the pot to the top with water until you have all the ingredients in. 

  • 12 tejocotes, which are are small orange crabapples from the Crataegus Mexicana Hawthorn tree. If you can’t find tejocotes in your local market, crabapples will work. If crabapples are unavailable, you can leave this ingredient out or add additional green apples.
  • 1 peeled naranja (orange)
  • 1 length of caña (sugar cane) about three feet or so peeled and cut into pieces about 4 to 5 inches long.
  • 8 tamarindos with the shell and veins removed. Soaking them for a while makes it easier to remove the shell and veins. 
  • 6 guayabas cut into halves or quarters. 
  • 2 handfuls of pasas (raisins) or higos (figs) whichever you prefer. 
  • 1 large handful of jamaica (Hibiscus).
  • 3 or 4 sticks of canela (cinnamon).
  • 1 to 3 cones of piloncillo (brown sugar cone) depending on your personal preference and the size of the cone.
  • 1 manzana verde (green apple) sliced.
  • 1 pera (pear) sliced.

Top up the pot almost to the brim with water. Simmer on low for several hours, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. The drink is served hot with bits of fruit and sugar cane in it. You can spice things up by adding some rum to the mixture, but it’s not necessary as it’s simply divine as it is. 

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December 25, 2019 · 7:58 am

Natural Healing — Flor de Nochebuena

flor de noche buena.jpg

Most everyone knows that the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) was adopted in the United States as a Christmas decoration when Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Ambassador to Mexico, introduced the plant into the United States in 1825. So since this weed was so highly esteemed by the neighbors to the north, the Mexican too adopted this plant as a holy Christian symbol giving it the name Flor de Nochebuena (Christmas Eve Flower).

However, it was valued prior to Christianity reached the shores of México. The Poinsettia, or Cuitlaxochitl as it was known in Nahuatl, was used by the pre-Hispanic indigenous people to make clothing dyes and treat fevers.  It was also thought to host the souls of fallen warriors making it a symbol of new life.

Nochebuena grows wild in many areas of Mexico. It isn’t a small potted plant that you may be accustomed to seeing at Christmas though. It can grow between 10 to 15 feet high if left it its own devices.

There is a mistaken belief that the Flor de Nochebuena is toxic. Although other plants in the spurge genus are, the Euphorbia pulcherrima has a low toxicity level. The latex from the sap can cause allergic reactions. If the sap gets into the eye, it may cause temporary blindness. Ingesting parts of the plant is mildly irritating to the stomach and may cause diarrhea and vomiting.

In the states of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Puebla, and Mexico, the sap is applied directly to the skin to treat warts and labial herpes. The latex from the sap is also used as a depilatory in some areas. Apply the sap to the hairy area, allow to dry and then rip off.

In the states of Morelos, Puebla, and Sonora, an infusion of the bracts is used to increase the milk supply of nursing mothers. Sometimes the woman will lick the sap or eat raw leaves as well. This use comes from the Aztec belief that the plant contains milk since the sap it exudes is very milk-like in appearance. In fact, this use was recorded in the Florentine Codex as well as by Francisco Hernandez.

The leaves are used for external inflammations and arthritis. They are warmed and applied directly to the affected area. For a treatment of a swelling caused by a blow or a bruise, the bracts are boiled to make a poultice then lime is squeezed onto the area which is then wrapped. The ground leaves are also used to treat ringworm.

Infusions made from the bract combined with bugambilia and gordolobo (mullein) are used to treat heart conditions and respiratory infections. Infusions from the bracts are also used in to regulate menstruation. Another decoction from the plant is made to be used externally as a vaginal wash when there is excessive bleeding.

So this year, instead of tossing this decorate plant out after the holidays, perhaps you should add it to your home apothecary. 

*****

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December 20, 2019 · 6:14 am

Lady’s Leg

Since we’re practically bursting at the seams with our animal population, we had to move Lady from her stall to the patio to make some extra room for the new kids. The result of the move was a seriously injured Lady. 

What it looks like happened is she lay down in the night to sleep. When she stretched, her hoof went under the fence, which wasn’t a problem while she was on the ground. However, when she got up, it got stuck on one of the bars of the fence. She panicked and pulled up, and the bar went through the top of her foot and embedded itself about 2 inches into her nail. 

We heard her thrashing about around 6 am. I don’t think she had been stuck too long, maybe 15 minutes or so. When we came out to investigate, we were shocked she hadn’t screamed, because it looked pretty bad. My husband was feeling woozy just looking at it. 

I held Lady’s head, stroked her flank and talked to her throughout the whole ordeal while my husband cut the wires on the fence. That wasn’t enough to get the hoof out, so he had to use a saw and cut the bar several inches above where it entered her foot. Once that was cut, she could stand but still had this 6 inch metal bar in her foot. 

Ouch!

My husband tied a rope around one end and had my son pull straight up on it while he held down the hoof. In a few minutes, the bar was out and the wound was bleeding profusely. My son pulled so hard that when it came loose he gave himself a black eye. My husband also cut his arm on the wire in the process. Personal injuries aside, we distracted Lady with some alfalfa as my husband sprayed some “azul” antiseptic on the wound. Infection is something we definitely want to avoid. 

The Puppers wanted to help their big doggy friend (or at least that’s what we think they think the horses are) and tried to lick the wound. Since it already had some antiseptic on it, we didn’t want that. So Terry had to head to his doggy day care up the road (the backyard of my sister-in-law’s house) so the Puppers could be in our backyard since George and Terry still aren’t friends. 

Terry wasn’t thrilled to be alone in the dark up there, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

The next day, my husband brought home a tetanus shot for lady. After reading the directions and understanding that we had to wait 21 days after the application para sacraficio (sacrifice), we headed out to administer the shot. As my husband is afraid of needles, he told me he’d cover Lady’s face and I would give the shot. Fine. I attached the needle and was all ready, but my husband didn’t think it was tight enough. He took the syringe from my hand and pressed the two sides together–ejecting all the medicine in the process. So much for the tetnus shot.

Looking a little thin there Lady!

She’s sad and depressed, but still up to her old mischief. She managed to unhook the latch on her restraint by pressing it against her food dish. Then casually wandered over to the barrel full of corn and popped the lid, helping herself to a cob or two. I watched her do this from the front porch. When I called my son to latch her restraint again, she lifted her hoof to him showing him her injury. She got two more cobs of sympathy corn from him. 

Still, she’s been off her feed lately and is looking positively scrawny. Fortunately, the wound in her foot hasn’t been infected and is starting to scab over. Poor Lady.

Red’s hamming it up for the camera!

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