SOAP MAKING

I finally broke down and decided to make a batch of soap by myself.  I'd been hoping to hook up again with Matt's sister to walk me through it but schedules just weren't going to let that happen any time soon so I decided to be brave and do it by myself.  It was probably a good thing because I felt easier about trying a totally different method of making soap then she does.  I don't know why I was so worried about this project but it felt like I was jumping off the end of a high dive.  Now I'm addicted!!!  Here's my adventures in soap making so far:

My first batch was a recipe from the Mary Jane Farms magazine, Holiday Issue Dec-Jan 2011 issue.  It's a goat milk based recipe.  I was able to procure 10 gallons of frozen goat milk before Thanksgiving so I'm well stocked to start making milk based soaps.  I scented the soap with lavender essential oil and added some fresh rosemary from the garden.  It has a nice soothing scent.  This picture of the soap is while it was still in the mold and wrapped in plastic wrap. 

I will say that this is probably the best soap recipe for a  newbie to try.  It is so easy.  It uses a wand mixer (immersion blender) and does not fuss with thermometers and temps of oils and lye.  Wand mixers are absolutely the way to go in soap making.  It speeds the process of up so much.

The second batch was from Smart Soapmaking by Anne L Watson.  Matt's mom has been rather insistent about wanting someone to make her a batch of patchouli soap so he asked me if I'd make her a batch.  Since he can't stand the scent of patchouli I was somewhat surprised at the request.  Maybe it was his way of getting me to use up my patchouli oil.  This was not a milk based soap like my first one.  She recommends using thermometers but makes it so much easier then the older methods.  She also recommends putting the lye into an ice bath to quickly reduce the temperature and therefore the waiting time.

 I found the molds at Christmas Tree Shop for something like $1.50 per mold.  The recipe filled the two molds perfectly.  I absolutely love these molds and imagine I'll be using them quite a bit for next year's holiday presents.  The detail was perfect.  It's hard to see from the picture but they're well over an inch thick in depth.  The color is a beautiful creamy white.

I decided to do a bit more experimenting with the batch that I made yesterday.  I used the Mary Jane Farms goat milk recipe again but this time added cocoa powder and peppermint essential to it.  It smells divine!!!  Think peppermint patty scent here and you'll get the wonderful aroma.  I had hoped to have a layered affect with the chocolate scent on the bottom and the peppermint on top but that didn't work out.  I thought to swirl it through the soap and it sort of worked but I probably should have swirled it after it had thickened a bit more and probably use something thicker then a chopstick to swirl it with.  It's not the most pleasing to the eye but the smell makes up for it.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS HAM

I had planned on making a turkey or turkey breast for Christmas but after seeing the prices and looking at my checkbook balance I decided to use the ham I bought at Aldi's a couple weeks ago.  I had been shopping at Aldi's when I noticed a sign taped to the ham freezer section saying $5 off all shank and butt hams.  As the ham was less then $10 to begin with, the $5 mark down put it below $5, which made it an even better buy.   Yes, these hams have more fat on them then spiral cuts but it adds flavor during cooking and the dogs love the treats which are good for their dry skin this time a year.  I hadn't planned to use the ham for Christmas but figured we'd cut it up for sandwiches and soups.  It was a very fine choice for our meal.  This ham was so moist and had so much flavor it was hard to stop eating.  Since it was just the two of us I served it with scalloped potatoes and a salad.  Matt fixed leftover slices with fried eggs this morning for breakfast and is already talking about me making some ham and bean soup.  This ham will easily break down into future meals costing less than $1 each.

My Christmas Baked Ham:

1 ham shank
1 cup apple cider
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
1+ tbsp stone ground mustard

I used my cast iron dutch oven to bake this in and baked it with the cover on but you could put foil over a pan if you don't have a dutch oven or small roaster.  Put ham into pan.  Mix apple cider, maple syrup, brown sugar, ground cloves, and mustard together and pour over ham.  Cook for 1 hr. @ 350'.  Remove and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes and then slice.

Variations: 

* You could also stud the ham with cloves for additional flavor. 

*  Apple juice could be used instead of the apple cider. 

*  Here in Michigan Vernor's ginger ale is frequently used but any ginger ale could be substituted for a variation of this. 

*  Another variation would be using pineapple juice and tossing in pineapple chunks for a sweeter flavor.

Technicalal complications

I'm sorry for the lack of posts. Google doesn't want to work with Internet Explorer now so I have no access to my blog except from my phone.  Im working to remedy this. Thanks for your patience.

THRIFTING AND A SON COMING HOME

 Last Saturday we went thrifting.  Knowing my son would soon be coming home on leave motivated us to finally get out and look for a bed for the spare room.  We went to a new thrift store and hit pay dirt as far as we were concerned.  Matt found this cute little wooden cardinal tealight holder originally marked 50c which rang up for 13c!!!  It's an adorable addition to my growing cardinal collection. 

We also picked up two more of the Harry Potter series, both hardbacks, for $10 each.  The books looked like they were in brand new condition.  I think we just need two more books to complete the entire collection.  Matt's been waiting for us to pick up book three so he could continue the series in the correct order so now he has reading material. 

I also found this beautiful headboard marked down to $9.99.  With a bit of cleaning up it looks very nice - not to masculine, not to feminine, and not to childish.  I apologize for the disorder in the picture.  Matt had been putting in the molding around the floor so we had pushed everything to the middle of the room.  It was fortune that we went thrifting because Wednesday my son informed me he'd be home the next day!  Wow, talk about very little warning.  Matt and I managed to pull the room together and he has a peaceful place now to rest and sleep.  Matt even managed to get our old tv brought in and hooked up the cable for him. 

On a serious note, I haven't posted regarding my oldest son being injured in Afghanistan as it was very personal for me and I was very emotional for a while.  About a month ago he was shot multiple times while on patrol.  He was extremely lucky and none of the shots caused any serious injury.  He's been in a hospital in Qatar since and wasn't sure they'd let him come home on leave.  Thankfully they did because mom really needed to see her son to make sure he was okay.  Creating a sanctuary for him was my labor of love and a way to focus my energies.  His Purple Heart Medal is beautiful BUT I wish he'd never gone through what he did to receive it.  I was one of the fortunate that when I got the call it was from my son and not a stranger.  My heart and prayers goes out to all those moms who aren't so lucky. 

BALLS AND SUCH THINGS

This post didn't go where I had planned.  I had planned on it being a description of the ball we attended last night in a positive light - but my thoughts took on darker notes and I decided to go with those thoughts. 

One of the great things about our area that I do like is that there's a yearly ball held in October.  It was started by a group of friends to celebrate the life of someone who'd died and who'd left them money to have a celebration for him.  Unfortunately few know the original history of the Ball.  In school I loved attending the proms each year.  The first year I attended a prom I was in 8th grade but my boyfriend who was a junior and asked me to attend.  The funny thing is I never attended my senior prom.  The Ball is like a prom for grownups and a lot more fun to say the least.  There's even an open bar which we never had at our high school proms.  It was a huge surprise that a friend came from out of state to attend and never told anybody she was coming. 

As great as the Ball has been, I'm wondering if it's not getting to large and will experience a slow death.  As typical in our society, everything needs to be bigger and better - but is it necessarily better?  When I first started attending the ball about 8 or 9 years ago there was 130 person capacity and it never sold out the first couple years I attended.  We were a bunch of friends having fun - there was an intimacy to the group.  Everybody knew most of the people or recognised them.  Then the organizers changed a bit and with the increased promotion and popularity of the the ball started selling out.  One couldn't wait until the night of the ball to buy tickets, you had to buy them in February when they went on sale to ensure you'd be able to attend or take a chance that somebody would be selling tickets prior to the ball.  The decision was made that the venue wasn't large enough and we had to move to another location and increase the capacity to 200 and then the following year to 300.  This year brought another change in venue with a 500 person capacity.  Tickets sold out in just three weeks.  This year also brought a change that the Ball was held inside a hotel instead of commuting people back and forth between.  Due to problems with the venue this year there's talk of another new venue next year and a huge price increase that have people already grumbling.

The intimacy of the original Ball has fast fading.  I no longer know most of the people attending.  Larger and larger groups of strangers are coming and a lot of them are young.  It's no longer about who has the best outfit but who has the biggest entourage with to vote them king or queen.  Those that wear costumes don't bother even dressing to the theme of the ball anymore. The theme this year was Alice in Wonderland and yet a zombie won as king over a mad hatter and a march hare.  Some spend outlandish amounts on costumes.  A friend of mine confided he'd spent $1500 this year on a custom made costume for the Ball.  It was absolutely beautiful version of the Johnny Depp's Alice's white queen - but seriously was it really worth $1500?  Granted he got his picture taken with a lot of people and if attention is what you want.....  Another friend also had a similar costume custom made and she was nominated for queen - she also lost out to a female zombie.  I'm part of the group that dresses like this is a formal ball and I wear a formal long dress for it.  I've also never spent more then $50 on a dress.  I'm in agreement with those that don't like the costuming because we feel this is a ball and not a costume party.  We use to brag about how cheap we got our dresses at garage sales and thrift stores - now people brag about how much they paid for custom ones.

Yes, I'm set in my ways and I don't like change for changes sake.  I'm starting to hear the grumblings though and can't help wonder.  Are the organizers starting to go too far in their attempt to make it bigger and bigger instead of allowing it to stay smaller and more intimate?  Does everybody that says they want a ticket really have to have one?  Do we really need people from other states attending?  Will people get hotel rooms but not buy tickets and just meet up in the rooms instead, which is what's happened to another event in our area. 

In all honesty, this ball felt like an ending.  Of what I'm not sure.  Possibly my morbid views are due to the fact we may not be here next year and it could very well have been my last Ball. The Ball has long since lost it's celebration aspect and has become a huge party and is now becoming a huge costume party. Maybe it will be easier for me that so I don't feel the loss of community so closely if we do in fact move.  It's always a sad thing though when a book you enjoyed so much comes to an end and you have to close the cover.  Whether or not there will be a sequel is unknown.

NORTH DAKOTA

It has been very busy of late.  We just returned last Tuesday night from our trip to North Dakota.  We absolutely fell in love with the Fargo area.  Unfortunately we weren't able to see other areas of the state during this trip, but we're planning to return.  Our five days there were filled with activities though and we thoroughly enjoyed our little vacation.

By accident I discovered Viking Ship Park while checking out a map for area attractions so we ventured across the bridge to Moorhead, Minnesota, to check it out. Seriously, who could pass up checking out a Viking ship?  This mural is at the entrance of the center.  The ship has a wonderful story about it being built by a teacher from Minnesota who had initially planned the contruction of the ship, the Hjemkomst (Homecoming), and to sail it to Norway, the land of his grandparents (ie The Homecoming).  The design was based on ships the Viking would have sailed in approximately 700 AD.  Construction was planned to take three years but actually took ten years to finish.  He constructed it in an abandoned potato factory.  Unfortunately the man died of leukemia at the end of construction and wasn't able to see the completion of his dream.  His children promised they'd finish his dream for him and did in fact sail the ship to Norway after his death in 1982.  Incidentally, on it's way from Minnesota to New York through the Great Lakes the ship made a stop in Detroit and there's a letter with Coleman Young's signature on it displayed at the Center.   

The Stave church replica was later built and donated to the center in 1998.  It's a replica of the Hopperstad Stave Church in Vik, Norway, which was built in approximately 1000 AD.  The dragon  carvings on the trim of the roofs are clear indications of the Viking influence and a marriage between their pagan beliefs and the Christian beliefs starting to spread into Norway and other Viking areas.  The church from the side looks like a pagoda and there's a belief that the Vikings, probably from Denmark, made it to China and were influenced by the architecture there.  Our guide gave us a wonderful history lesson on the Vikings.  The carvings are unbelievable and completely done by hand.  The entrance to the church has panels that are heavily carved.  The stave shingles that give the name to the style of church are made using three cuts on the ends of each board.  There's a covered walkway around the entire church, sort of like a porch, where they would walk around the church meditating before they entered it.  It's very visual and our guide said that was intentional due to the fact that the priest and the people probably wouldn't have spoken the same language so the people would have only understood through the pictures.  Our guide was phenominal to say the least.  Below is a picture of the baptismal on the left and one of the carved beams in front of it.

JULY, DOG COOLING POOLS, AND CLOTHES LINES

 I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned how much I love shopping at Tractor Supply (TSC).  I absolutely hate going to malls in general, but love going to a Tractor Supply.  This spring when we were cleaning out the garage we discovered Tip's wading pool had cracked so we had to throw it out.  I'd gotten to the point I wasn't paying for another wading pool to have it crack and knew that Tractor Supply would have some type of container that Tip could cool off in without me having to constantly replace it.  To your left you'll see Tip in his new pool cooling off from our hot July weather.  If you look even closer you can see his tongue sticking out at us because nobody else can get in his pool with him.  This is a heavy rubber material that I guarantee is not going to crack or break.  I'm assuming it's some type of watering or feeding container.  For $29.99, it works wonderfully.  Tractor Supply always comes through for me.  Of course I picked up some other items while there including a new bird decoration for the flower beds.  Matt and I both lucked out and found a bunch of clothes on clearance.  There's a 12' windmill decoration I'd love to get to grow some type of vining plant on.

Tip overheats really easily and loves laying around in a tub or pool of water to stay cool.  If we're hiking and come to a stream he'll immediately lay down in whatever water he can find to cool off.  Some dogs like water and others don't.  Lacey is the exact opposite, she hates being submerged in water.  Tip is actually quite intelligent that he knows he'll cool off quicker if he lays down in water since it cools the stomach/chest area.  In the show/competition circuits, owners will frequently use various cold mats to help keep the dogs cool.  Our dogs never liked the mats and they were a pain to travel with so we quit using them.


One thing I've been asking Matt to do for me is to put in a new clothes line.  There was one behind the garage when I moved in but the poles were rusted.  The first time I tried to hang clothes on the line the poles bent and broke off.  This spring Matt bought me some new poles but due to the wet weather and other things never got them installed.  It took a while, but he never fails me and he finally got the poles put in and the rope strung.  I love hanging my laundry out, especially my sheets for the clean sunshine scent.  The lines typically hold at least two loads of laundry.  I had Matt install it on the opposite side of the yard across from our garage and next to the fence by the neighbor's garage for several reasons.  There's a blackberry tree on the fence line behind our garage and I didn't want to chance blackberry stains on the clothes, bird droppings from birds eating the blackberries, or blackberry mash on shoes behind tracked into the house.  If we decide to stay, the area behind the garage is the only section that doesn't have electrical/cable wires running overhead so I'd be able to put in a fire pit.  All very logical explanations I think.