Cinnamon Almond Soap
August 29, 2008|Comments (12)
My beloved Aunt Nancy taught me about making my own soap. I can remember seeing her bins filled with old fashioned lye soap with odd little rippled sides and bumpy bottoms. It was quite a few years before I discovered that my wonderful and resourceful aunt used the plastic trays that candy is packaged in as soap moulds! Brilliant! This explained the funny shaped soaps!
She makes soap the old fashioned way with tallow, lye, and water. I love that soap. It’s good, cheap, and fun.
After a few batches of the “good stuff,” it was time to try out some fun soap recipes. What a blast! Boy, did I learn a lot! I made some real rookie mistakes: forgetting to grease the moulds, failing to stir the soap until the fats and lye water have thoroughly mixed, failing to keep vinegar within arms-reach at all times, wearing clothes I actually care about while making soap (they got covered in little brown/black specks), forgetting to turn on the fan above the stove while making the water/lye mixture **cough, gasp, hack**, and much more. In the end, I got it right!
Some cinnamon almond bars (above) and scented soaps (top of page).
When ready to begin making soap, you should have a few items close at hand:
- digital kitchen scaleold mixer or stick blender
non-aluminum kettle and spoon that you do not plan to use for food ever again
2 thermometers that hook onto the sides of pots
plastic cups
glass measuring cup with a handle (helps to have metric)
container to use as a mould (flexible plastic cake pan, etc.)
vaseline (not needed for the flexible resin cake pans)
large jug of vinegar (to neutralize the lye)
Next you need to gather ALL of your ingredients and measure them into the cups before mixing or heating anything. Use the scales to make sure you have the exact amounts!
SLOWLY and carefully add the lye to the water in the glass measuring cup on your unheated stove with the fan running. Stir constantly. DO NOT SPLASH. If you should get some lye on your skin — pour vinegar over it immediately!!! NEVER add the water to the lye!! Clip thermometer to the glass measuring cup and step away. You do not want to be around the fumes! Be careful and do not touch the glass because it will be very hot.
Now, heat your oils and fats. Follow the recipe’s instructions. Add the lye/water mixture to the oils when the temperatures are roughly the same temperature (between 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit).
Waiting for the lye water temperature to drop a little more. See my old kettle with the broken handle? Trash becomes treasure!
Stir for twenty minutes with the mixer, then every fifteen minutes (resting during the 15 minutes) until it reaches trace. Don’t worry if you don’t reach trace right away. Every batch of soap is different! You will know when you have reached trace when the temperature rises 2 or 3 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here we see the soap when it is just a few more minutes before reaching trace.
At trace, you can add scents and coloring agents (like cocoa, cinnamon, mustard powder, etc.). Stir and pour into moulds. Follow the recipe instructions. I usually cover the moulds so they will cool slowly but that isn’t necessary. I generally don’t mess with them for 12-15 hours after pouring. Then I take them out of the moulds, cut them into bars, and let them sit on racks.
Here is some cinnamon almond soap that has just been poured into the moulds after reaching trace and stirring in almond oils and cinnamon. Notice the texture — like a thick cake batter.
Recipe for Lacy’s Cinnamon Almond Soap:
- 600 grams coconut oil400 grams palm oil
460 grams olive oil
40 grams shea butter
560 mils bottled water
220 grams lye
almond essential oil for soap
3 Tbsp cinnamon or cocoa
Add lye/water mixture to melted fats when both reach 100-120 degrees. Rest overnight or longer. Release from mould.
I like to use the plastic containers that usually contain strawberries for storage and hardening of the soap. I simply turn the entire box over each day and don’t have to touch the bars of soap or anything. It is very inexpensive and ideal for small batches. Below are a few bars of cinnamon almond soap before hardening and also before shaping:
Meadowlark Mustard Giveaway
August 27, 2008|Comments (1)
Guess what, folks!?!? My very good friend, Meadowlark, is offering a giveaway of her homemade mustard. Two jars are up for grabs! Go comment and tell her your favorite canning recipe for a chance to win.
Now why did I go and tell y’all? I really want that mustard but sacrifice means love so I’m keeping you posted. Also, be sure you check out NEWS at Razor Family Farms (GRIT.com) for the new post!
Buying on a Budget
August 27, 2008|Comments (13)
With rising food costs, gas prices that could skyrocket at any given moment, and the uncertainty of election year — there isn’t a lot of spare cash in most households. This means that we must make our dollars work for us whether we are living in the country, the suburbs, or the city. Perhaps now, more than ever, we need to be careful what we are supporting with our limited funds. You know?
So what are the best ways to cut costs regardless of where we live or how much time we have to devote to squinting at tiny ingredients labels or driving around looking for “locally grown” produce stands?
- Create a meal calendar. Start small. Just plan two weeks worth of meals and shop around that rough sketch. Try and make the meat stretch into two or three days worth of meals. Example: Make a large roast on Friday, have stroganoff on Saturday, and then stir-fry on Sunday. You can use the leftover roast to slice up in the stroganoff and stir-fry. See? Not hard at all. Here’s another great site to look at (click here).
- Call around for price deals. Don’t drive from place to place for one item. Find out which store has the most items at competitive prices and go there. Stick to the list unless you find fresh produce on sale that you are able to preserve (canning or freezing).
- Stop altogether or greatly reduce going out to eat in restaurants. Pack a little cooler with slices of bell pepper, cucumbers, apples, grapes — something to keep you from getting hungry while you are out and then paying exorbitant prices for food.
- Know that it is not always possible or feasible to buy everything organic. So, here’s a list of the fruits and vegetables that are most likely to carry multiple harmful pesticide residues: apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, spinach, and strawberries.
- Start an indoor garden (many of you can start it outdoors but I’m making this list for everyone) and grow your own bell peppers, tomatoes, and/or fresh herbs.
Do you have any other ideas/suggestions? Please share!
A random commenter will receive a packet of basil from Seeds of Change and two coupons for Earthbound Farms Organics as a thank you for putting up with a post filled with pictures that I did not take (except for the salsa and the lunchbox). Congratulations, Ann!
Looking for a new blog to read? How about two? Check out The Fishing Guy and If Only I had Super Powers. I love, love, love them.
