Signs of Spring

Signs of spring are every where, so I took some time today to capture this awakening!Three days after sowing, my cabbage and broccoli seeds have already sprouted!  Seeing the broccoli sprouts gave me the idea to sow a larger crop of broccoli seeds just for growing and eating broccoli sprouts.  I love broccoli sprouts but they are so expensive at the grocery store. It took some rooting around beneath the mulch to find them, but I was rewarded by little, red, Peonia shoots pushing up through the soil. The Daylilies are popping out!So are the Irises!But the surest sign of spring was hidden beneath the downspout deflector.Bitey, our “pet” garter snake that lives under the porch is on the move.  I’ve been watching for him since the weather turned warmer and haven’t seen him, but it looks like he’s awakened from his winter slumber.  And by the size of his tracks, I’d say he’s grown quite bit!

Smells Like Spring!

I do not recommend smelling floral fragrances all at one time, as I did.  Though I stopped to smell the coffee beans in between each fragrance, I still ended up feeling slightly dizzy afterward.  Floral fragrances can do that.  I’ll work more on describing the scents in better detail when I work with each one individually.  But for now, here are my initial reactions.

Gardenia #1: Earthy, soft and subdued.

Gardenia #2: Non-traditional.  Earthy and spicy.

Gardenia #3: A true gardenia.  Bright and green.

Mystery #4: Sweet, clean and cottony.

Mystery #5: Coffee-like, fruity, warm and spicy.

Mystery #6: I like this one a lot, but had a hard time describing it.  Do I detect lavender?

Mystery #7: Fruity, sweet with hints of citrus.  Reminds me of my Mock Orange bushes.

Mystery #8: Warm, spicy with hints of vanilla?  I like this one, too!

Mystery #9: Fruity, sweet, green and bright.  Another new favorite!

Mystery #10: Green, pert, too pungent for me!

S.O.A.P. Floral Fragrances Arrived!

I was doing my happy dance yesterday when the FedEx truck pulled up and my box of floral fragrance samples were delivered to my door step!  I was selected to be a part of Bramble Berry’s S.O.A.P. panel (Soap Opinion Awesome Panel).  My mission (which I’ve accepted) is to sample 10 floral fragrances in whatever product I want, take notes of how I used the sample and how it reacted, and then return a survey to Bramble Berry by April 4th.  I hope my mission isn’t top-secret because I plan to share as much of the process with you as I can. 

Being the “nerd” that I am, I immediately created a spread sheet with a list of each fragrance and spaces for taking notes.  Once that was complete, I opened each jar and took a whiff (stopping to smell coffee beans in-between).  The first notes I took were about my first impressions of the fragrances.  Some I loved right away, others were familiar, and a few just weren’t to my personal liking.I make primarily Cold Process soap, so I plan to test all of the fragrances in CP soap.  I’ll use a basic CP recipe without colorants.  I have three questions when I use a new fragrance: 1) Will it cause my soap to trace too quickly or seize up?  If it traces or thickens to quickly, I can’t create the pretty swirls that I like to create.  If it seizes, well, back to the drawing board. 2) Will it discolor the soap?  Is it going to turn the soap brown?, and 3) How strong is the fragrance after the soap has cured a few weeks?  These are the three factors I will take notes on, in addition to answering the survey questions.

I’ll start the first rounds of testing this weekend!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Another sure sign that spring is on it’s way: I’ve sown my first seeds for my spring garden!  Hubby and I have BIG plans for gardens this year.  We’re using the Square Foot Gardening method to maximize small spaces and make it easier for the whole family to get in on the gardening fun.  We often make sincere attempts at a whole foods lifestyle, but it just doesn’t stick.  I hope our gardens are successful so we can enjoy more whole, organic foods.  I’m also hoping that my children will learn to like vegetables after taking part in the growing process and tasting what REAL food should taste like.  With that in mind, we ordered over two dozen heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds; a seed company right here in Missouri.

With so many seeds and so little experience gardening on this kind of scale, I created a spreadsheet to show when each seed needed to be sown indoors and transplanted outdoors.  It also lists when certain seeds need to be sown outdoors.  We’ll be sowing seeds and transplanting from now until summer!  I can’t wait to harvest my own vegetables'; most of which I can’t find in the supermarket!

Here’s our seed starting station in the basement.  So far, I’ve sown heirloom varieties of eggplant, lemongrass, red romaine lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and onion.

I can see clearly now…

the cold is gone.  Ah, it’s amazing what a little tropical air can do for the soul.  I am not a winter person.  People are baffled by this because I loved living Alaska, but Alaska winter and St. Louis winter are two completely different things.  When winter hits in Alaska (in September), life doesn’t slow down.  People don’t stay indoors.  Schools don’t close.  Food doesn’t fly off the shelves in a frenzied panic over a forecasted six inches of snow.  Life goes on.  In St. Louis, everything seems to come to a screeching halt in the winter.  I feel like I’ve spent the last month in some sort of hibernation.  All my plans for soap projects, posting soaps in the shop, making labels, etc. fell to the wayside as seasonal affective disorder crept in. 

Historically, February has always been my worst month and this February stayed true to course.  Thank the Lord for generous parents and a well-timed cruise to the Caribbean!  Even though I came back to the cold, it wasn’t AS cold and I can see clear signs of spring: daffodils peeking through the soil, buds on the Bradford Pear trees, even the lawn is looking slightly greener.  I sowed my first round of seeds today in anticipation of our last frost in mid-April.

I cling to these signs of spring and watch the buds form on the trees everyday.  I take joy in every extra minute of daylight.  And I hope that these signs of spring are just the inspirations I need to become productive again.

Cherry Chocolate Valentine Soap Tutorial: Phase 2

So, you have your hearts and swirls all ready to go, now it’s time to make the cold process soap!   I’m assuming you’ve made cold process soap before, but if you need assistance Soap Queen TV has some great tutorials!  I’ve included links to Bramble Berry Soap Supplies for purchasing materials.  For this recipe, you’ll need:

• A 5 pound wooden loaf mold.  (My husband made mine for me, but it’s very similar to the one Bramble Berry sells.)
• 15 oz Olive Oil
• 13 oz Palm Oil
• 12 oz Coconut Oil
• 2 oz Sweet Almond Oil
• 2 oz Castor Oil
• 6.232 oz Sodium Hydroxide (this is superfatted at 5%)
• 14.52 oz Distilled Water
• 1.5 oz Dark Rich Chocolate Fragrance Oil
• 1.5 oz Black Cherry Fragrance Oil
• 1 tsp Pink Oxide (mixed with a carrier oil in a container).
• 1/2 tsp Cappuccino Mica (mixed with a carrier oil in a heat-safe, 32 oz container)

Make your cold process soap as you usually would. While you’re waiting for the lye and oils to cool, you can get out your hearts and swirls and give them a good spritzing of rubbing alcohol.  Place some swirls in the bottom of your soap mold; as many as you like.  Reserve some to place on the top of your soap.

Once you have a light trace, stir in the Dark Rich Chocolate and Black Cherry Fragrance Oils.

Pour about 1/3 of the soap into the container with the Cappuccino Mica.  Stir until the color is blended throughout. 

Pour your Pink Oxide oil into the remaining, 2/3, batch of soap and stir until the color is blended.  I didn’t get a dark pink color because my Olive Oil was very green. 

Pour your pink-colored soap into the soap mold.  Next, layer it with your cappuccino-colored soap.  Hint: pour your layer close to the mold so that it sits on top of the soap rather than sinks below.  Give it some time to set up before inserting your hearts.

Once the soap is firm (but not too firm), you can start inserting the heart soaps.  Start at one end and line them up one after the other, so that they are touching.  Press them about 2/3 of the way into the soap so that just the heart “bumps” are sticking out on the top.  Once you have your hearts firmly in place, you can add your swirls alongside the hearts.  You might need to press them into the soap a bit.  Below is a picture of how mine looked when I took it out of the mold but before I cut the bars.When you slice your bars, slice in between the hearts but close enough to the hearts that you can see them embedded in the soap.

Send me a comment if you have any questions.  Have fun!

Cherry Chocolate Valentine Tutorial: Phase 1

I’ve been asked how I made these cute Cherry Chocolate Valentine Soaps.  Here, I’ll provide the steps involved in making these soaps, however, I’m assuming you have a basic understanding of both the melt and pour method and cold process method of soap-making. I’ve provided links for purchasing the items you’ll need through Bramble Berry Soap Making Supplies.  I made the soaps in two phases.

The first phase is to make 18 hearts and a lot of swirls to be embedded.  Note: I didn’t record my measurements for the melt and pour phase, so these are estimates.  You’ll need:

• 5.5 lbs Bulk Clear Melt and Pour Base
• 1.5 oz Black Cherry Fragrance Oil
• .4 oz Dark Rich Chocolate Fragrance Oil
• Brown and Pink Colorant.  I used Bakery Beige from the Sweet Treats Colorant Set and Non-Bleeding Red Liquid Colorant.
• A silicone square tray mold.
• A silicone heart mold.

Hearts: Cut 3 lbs of the melt and pour base into cubes, place in a 32 oz Pyrex measuring cup (or other heat-safe measuring dish), cover with plastic wrap and melt in the microwave.  I melt mine in 20 minute increments until it’s all melted.  Let cool a bit and then stir in 1 oz of Black Cherry Fragrance Oil.  Then, add drops of Non-Bleeding Red Liquid Colorant while stirring.  Add drops of colorant until you like the color.  I wanted mine to be pink and somewhat translucent.   Pour into each heart cavity of your heart mold, spritz with alcohol and wait for it to set up. Note: I put mine in the freezer because I’m impatient that way. 

Swirls: In the meantime, you can make soap for your swirls!  For this, you’ll cut and melt 1 lb of melt and pour soap.  Follow the same procedures above for cutting and melting.  You’ll then use .4 oz of Dark Rich Chocolate FO and your brown colorant.  I added drops of Bakery Beige until I liked the color.  Then, pour it into the silicone square mold, spritz with alcohol and let set.

Hearts: Your heart soaps should be ready to pop out of the molds, so do that.  Then, you’ll use the remainder of your melt and pour soap and Black Cherry Fragrance Oil to make 6 hearts.  Again, I didn’t record how much melt and pour base I used, so it’s possible that you’ll either need more base or you’ll make more than 6 hearts.   Follow the hearts directions above.

Swirls: Slowly remove your slab of chocolate-scented soap.  On a cutting surface, slice the soap in 1 to 2 inch-wide strips.  Then, use a vegetable peeler to peel each strip.  As you peel, the soap will curl; creating swirls.  See my swirls below:

Once you have your 18 hearts and your swirls completed, you can store them in separate gallon-sized zip-lock bags until you’re ready for the second phase.