10th ave. soapworks

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one.  People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown.  No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant.  Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen.  They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year.  Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space.  Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt.  But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...

Last spring, I had the idea of creating a soap that represented some of the variety in my town's farmer's market.  The more I looked around, the more overwhelming the possible combinations--herbs, vegetables, dairy, fruits, even fats.  I could come up with a new combination every week as I looked around.  Maybe it was because my choices kept changing that I never settled on a set of ingredients and just did it. Dehydrated ground pumpkin--it makes a wonderful addition to angel food cake I recently narrowed down some of the abundance into my first version.  It may be March, but with the snow of the last two days (and still falling as I write), fresh vegetables are just a dream of the future.  So I used honey, dehydrated pumpkin and egg--all from the market--and dried kale.  (I used my own kale in this batch, not because it wasn't available in abundance at the market last summer, but I really couldn't justify buying anyone else's with a dozen fru...

I was in no way tempted to post 40 things about me, as SoapJam  did recently. But then I realized how much I enjoyed SoapSudsations' post and the peer pressure got to me so I thought I should play fairly and join in. You already read my first 7 here , so here are the rest: 1. I have red hair and blue eyes. 2. I am quiet one-on-one, but become an extrovert in a group setting. 3. When I grow up, I want to be a host/guide on the PBS show Globetrekker. I want to do it all--stay in dodgey hostels, eat suspicious innards, and meet wonderful people. And snag local soaps. 4. I spent 6 weeks one summer living in a school bus, first on a beach in Alaska, then traveling south through Canada into the States. 5. I have worked with autistic kids for almost 13 years, as a therapist and doing respite care.  Love it! 6. I love to cook and bake, especially desserts.  That's why soaping is perfect.  There are no temptations to lick or nibble and I don't have to work ...

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap.  Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days.  Hmm.  If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder.  So....whatsa madder?  It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week.  This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest.   I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing.  I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...

Well, that was a nice surprise to discover....  I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks much to Silvia of SoapJam (one of my most favoritest soap blogs) for thinking of me. VBA RULES:  (Copied from  versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com ) If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. I chose 15 blogs, some old favorites, some new discoveries.  Some of the blogs are about soap and the rest mirror some of my ot...

Remember this not-so-great batch?  It's ok if you didn't; it wasn't that memorable.  I had just resigned myself to the fact that my family was going to be using fruit loop scented soap for months to come when a commenter suggested that it be rebatched into a cobblestone soap.  Genius!  I've always used this method to use up scrap pieces of soap, but this was my first time reinventing a so-so batch. I finally did it last week.  Chopped into little chunks, the colors really popped and the swirls were suddenly gorgeous. I added it to another batch of soap of the same scent.  It so much easier on the eyes, methinks. Thanks so much, SoapJam , for reminding of a great way to turn a less than mediocre batch into a beautiful soap!

The latest book I've been reading and toting around in my little project is The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch, written in 1995. While not nearly so old a book as Soap , it's still older, well, now that I give it some thought, I was already a high school graduate when it was published, so in the overall scheme of things, it's darn near hot off the presses.   (Have you noticed all the plaid and neon the cool kids are wearing these days?  It's just like when I was in high school.  See, nothing's changed!) Anyway, it remains a mostly relevant, thorough lesson in soapmaking, and not just for the beginner.  It includes short overviews of successful soap businesses, how they started, and what makes their businesses unique.  I appreciated the view of soapmaking before the influx of easily obtainable saponification-hardy fragrances and colorants, as well as supplies.  While examining the appendix, I only recognized a couple of the companies liste...