Yesterday I made a batch of soap using Crisco, olive oil, coconut oil, coconut milk, sodium hydroxide, and blueberry fragrance oil. I grated up a bar of pink hot processed soap that I had made last Christmas, and stirred it into the batter. I am dying to cut the bars. I need to leave the loaf in the freezer for one more night. I also have to make sure that the soap defrosts before cutting. If I don't, the bars will crack. Ask me how I know...(I learned these things the hard way.)
I experimented with putting some green shavings of soap into my last batch of Coconut Dream soap. I was initially disappointed with the way they looked, but after using them, the green color appears. I think they would be fun for children. The look and texture of these makes me feel happy.I love the pale pastels of milk soaps.
I also baked a blueberry lemon tea bread the other day. My neighbor had given me a huge bag of fresh Meyer Lemons from her tree. I squeezed them with my Braun electric juicer, and poured the juice into ice cube trays. I don't want the lemons to go bad. This way I will have enough lemon juice for the rest of the year. Lemons are very expensive in the stores. My own tree hasn't given me any fruit in the past few years. This morning I noticed several blossoms ready to bloom, so I am hopeful.
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I like the one with the green shavings in it (kid at heart maybe 😉). It's a subtle bit of texture.
ReplyDeleteI like that one, too, Lady Locust. Thank you. The pale colors are pleasing to the eye. Milk soaps have muted shades. I love the effect.
DeleteYour blueberry lemon tea bread looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteWhat type of coconut milk do you use in your soaps Stephenie? Cans of coconut milk?
The canned coconut milk is supposed to be better, Nil. It doesn't have any gums. This one
DeleteWas a bit tricky. It started to solidify; I think because of the Crisco. I used Sprouts' house brand of coconut milk. I froze it in ice cube trays.
i love making homemade soaps! even when they dont look like they should when they are first cup once you start using them - they start looking lovely. your tea bread looks delicious xx
ReplyDeleteHi Angela, Yes, I agree. I am looking forward to seeing how the cut loaf of coconut milk soap looks. Homemade soap is so exciting to use.
Deletecitrus trees need lots of water & food, (have a Meyer too) mine sits in the chook pen & gives me lemons every year (it has the grey water running on to it atm) the years it didn't fruit or flower was when it had massive green growth, sun & air couldn't get in under the leaves, so gave her a good hard prune & opened all the middle back up (now the cockatoos do this for me) I've had lemons every year since. when it's been dry like recently the lemons are very small & usually the tree just dumps them off the tree (drops) even with the water, guess they need fresh water too. i get roughly 3 crops a year usually 2 are good. they don't usually like really hot weather. good luck.
ReplyDeleteyour soaps are beautiful!
your tea bread looks delicious! love blueberries!
lovely post
thanx for sharing
I pruned mine, too, Selina, and now I'm getting blossoms. The long drought we experienced was hard on the soil. This year we have had a lot of rain, so I am hopeful.
DeleteI'm sure your soap will look gorgeous with the pink shavings in it! That blueberry tea bread looks delicious! I have a package of blueberries in the fridge and plenty of lemons on my tree...you are giving me ideas! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Bless. I will slice it today. The bread is a nice mix of flavors.
DeleteSo nice of your neighbor...I hope you get lemons on your trees soon! Your soap always looks so creamy and nice. Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. The coconut milk makes a very creamy soap.
ReplyDeleteYour blueberry/lemon cake looks delicious. It reminded me that I still have a few baggies of frozen blueberries from last years crop to use up. The blueberry bush has started to flower so I am hoping for another good harvest this summer. Our Meyer lemon is in a big pot and it is just about ready for its second crop. I am shocked at the price of lemons in the stores.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you had such a bumper crop of blueberries, Anita. I am seeing a lot of blossoms on my Meyer lemon tree, too. I need to feed all of the citrus again soon. Aren't you glad that you don't have to buy lemons?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephenie, for posting some of your soap recipes! My last batch never-fail soap from Rhonda's blog has gone a bit weird on me. As it dried, it developed white spots throughout - your green experimental soap has reminded me. I've been reading up to find out what this could be and I suspect they may eventually turn yellow, which is an indicator of oil not being fresh. I was using a different olive oil from the last batches that I bought on sale at the supermarket. I think I need to experiment a bit more and your soaps always look perfect. I have some shea butter I bought to use for my deodorant and it's a bit strong smelling so I'm going to toss it into your goat milk soap recipe I found you had posted a while back.
ReplyDeleteHi Pipistrello, That's odd. I've never had white spots develop. Let me know how you like the Shea Butter Goat's Milk Soap recipe. It's one of my favorites. Thanks for the compliments on my soap. I've had a few problems, but it's usually if I try to unmold them too quickly. Happy soapmaking!
ReplyDelete