Magic

You can do magic...you know darn well when you cast your spell a heart of stone can turn to clay…doodedoodoodoo

Well, or something like that. The song is driving me crazy today! It's the doodedoodoo part that keeps playing in my head. I think I am trying to drown out my screams after seeing Lady GaGa in her meat dress this morning. They should warn innocent coffee drinkers that stuff is about to flash across their morning TV. Sheesh. The soap-making mess I create in my kitchen is all the madness I can face that early in the morning.

Anyway. The lumps in my soap pot got me thinking about that dress again. So I want to make perfectly clear right here and now that I do not put meat fat in my soaps. All those white blobs in the pot are hard palm oils, shea butter, and palm kernel flakes. Vegetable and plant oils only--the kind that are extra nourishing and attract moisture to our skin.

But the magic part--now that's the part that just tickles me silly. Seriously. How is it possible that a huge pot of greasy oil (and that is all that is in this pot, I swear) mixed with a little water and lye can produce soap? It's a chemical process called saponification, but who understands that stuff? Other than scientists and probably my husband, and maybe lots of folks. But to me it is magic.

Poof!! I stir this simple brew (a lot.) And then I blend in some secret ingredients when it starts to get nice and thick, but those things are for aesthetic purposes only. It will be soap with or without my extra attention. But I can't live without those special touches! It's when I get to make my own magic: Calendula petals, ground oats or rosemary, mesquite bean flour, exotic fragrances, and for color, maybe some saffron or cinnamon. It doesn't always turn out like I think it will, but I like a good mystery.

And I promise any mention of "eye of newt and toe of frog" will only occur when I'm reading MacBeth.