Monday, May 30, 2011

A Soap Tutorial

The Memorial Day weekend was fun despite the wind. And lately the wind has been a real buzz kill around here. We had company come to visit!

Chris, Angie and Mycah decided they wanted to see the farm one last time before they make the big move to east Texas--a move that will put eight hours of driving time between me and Lufkin. I'm trying hard not to dwell on that long distance. But did you know Lufkin is only three hours from the coast, and that's a long way from here don't you think? Angie tells me there is a forest in the backyard of their new house. A forest. That seems like another country, am I right? Lufkin is humid and two hours from Louisiana for heavens sake. But I'm not thinking about all that, really.

On Saturday Chris and Keith worked our kid goats, worming everyone and banding the little bucks while the girls slept in. We did fun farm stuff: held chickens, watched baby guineas hunt bugs, watered toads, chased enormous wild hogs on four-wheelers--and the wind was amazingly quiet. It was nice. No wind. So rare of late, and we stayed out until dark enjoying the animals and the evening.

And then Sunday blew in like the proverbial lion. Normal for us, jaw-dropping for our visitors. There was no discussion about going outside, it was 100 degrees and felt like you were standing in front of a super-heated sand blasting machine. House bound for sure. So the guys set up the Wii Fit and laughed their way through the day, and I taught my girls how to make soap.

I wanted my daughter and granddaughter to get a little insight into the magic that is handmade soap. How it is that a pot of oil and a bowl of lye laced goat milk can turn solid and wonderful for the skin. It's just cool to watch.


So we measured. Mycah was a crack measurer. She learned to use the scale to weigh the coconut and olive and castor oils to the exact ounce I specified. She got greasy fingered and discovered that rubbing the excess on her knees would smooth her skin. She poured and melted and stirred the oil pot.




But she stayed well away from the lye mixing process. That stuff is a bit on the scary side it seems.


Next we poured the lye mixture into the oils and stirred a whole lot more. Some soapmakers stir by hand but I like to use a stick blender to speed things up a bit.









Mycah came back to her chair when it was time to add the special stuff. The scent--she had picked Tropical Spice--and the other two ingredients that Angie had decided on: Dead Sea salt and French Green clay. We made a nice tan bottom layer laden with the sea salt and a top layer that turned a beautiful shade of green when the clay was added. Using the soap should feel like a spa experience at home!




We can't wait, but we have to, for thirty days. It takes that long for the soap to cure, but the end result is a bar that is gentle and full of natural occurring glycerin which helps retain the moisture in your skin. It's just magic, am I right?




Did I mention Lufkin is between two National Forests and only a couple of hours from Houston? That seems a long way from my little windy, tree-scarce corner of Oklahoma. But I'll need to be figuring my route as soon as they are settled, don't you think?




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