SSDreamin Blessings and curses

[Corn Woman]

Beautiful kitchen, don't you just love it? I hear you on the snow yuck!! Storm blew in today so spring is a cruel joke here as well.

 

[SSDreamin]

I'm in need of a Cindi proof soap recipe that requires no scale as well...share I don't care if it's ugly!! I like ugly stuff

OK, this is a really easy, really goof-proof castile soap recipe.
2C. Olive oil
1/2 C Lye
3/4 C. Water
Heat oil to 80 degrees. Let it sit to cool to 75 degrees before adding lye. Add lye to water. Stir well with a wooden spoon (keep vinegar on hand to neutralize if it splashes). After lye is mixed, and oil has cooled to 75 degrees, slowly add lye mixture to oil. Stir well and continue stirring 15 minutes until soap traces (looks like pudding). I cheated here - I had a hand mixer, that I got cheap. I cut a hole in the middle of a piece of cereal liner bag (bag the cereal comes in, that I saved for rolling pie dough and tortillas with ) I slid the beaters through the hole, clicked them in place, then 'mixed' the soap - using the cereal bag as a splatter shield. The soap traced quickly this way. Then, I took the bottom of an old Velveeta box (that I had saved because I thought the size would work perfect for this, and it did - filled it to about 1/2 inch from the top!), that I had lined with tin foil, and poured the soap in. Here, I freaked. Nobody has ever commented that the soap will bubble and 'cook' AFTER it's in the mold - or maybe I did something wrong, but it worked out in the end So, if it bubbles and cooks, don't worry! I set the box/mold on the stove, because it was HOT! After and hour or so, I moved it to the counter. After it sits in the mold for 24 hours, you can take it out, slice it up, and (I set it on an old cookie rack, for good air circulation) set it out to dry. It will take 4-6 weeks to harden/dry well. You CAN use it immediately, but letting it harden will make it last longer. It didn't suds up a lot, but I really liked how it made my winter-chapped hands feel!

 

[Wannabefree]

AWESOME! thanks sis!!

 

[Denim Deb]

Man, you scared me w/your title! I read it quick and thought you were leaving! Glad to see it's just winter you want to leave.

 

[Wannabefree]

She better not be going anywhere!!

 

[SSDreamin]

We had a productive last few days around here. Big pig girl went to the processor. It was well past time, but we had to find someone interested in a great deal on half a pig, to pay the processing bill DH was just too worried about attempting it ourselves, so we loose half the meat, but it gets done quickly, and I hardly cried at all! I snapped a picture of her the night before she left - the hutch is 6 foot, and she stretched end to end! DH said she was twice as long and stood head and shoulders above the other pigs at the processor! Blue pig girl seems pretty lost now though.

I probably shouldn't post this for fear of the possibility of negative comments, but I canned a bunch of cheese today - 5 half pints of cheese whiz, 9 half pints of mild cheddar, and 14 half pints of American. Six hours start-to-finish. The stuff did NOT want to melt! In for a penny...in for a pound - I plan to do up more butter tomorrow or Monday too

I also made mayo for the first time (thanks Cindi - I forgot to write where I got it, but I'm pretty sure it was your recipe!) and it turned out great!

DH made a big batch of corn tortillas the other night - and they were fantastic!! This was - at least - our 4th recipe we tried. None of the others were even close to 'normal' (I confess, they have to be almost identical to store bought, minus the chemicals, of course, or I don't like them!) but these are spot on. I told DH he's hired - he can make them all the time, since we eat an average of 48 corn tortillas/week I make our flour tortillas ( average of 24/week ) with a really good recipe, so I think it's only fair he do the corn

We worked on the bookcases that are on either side of the fireplace this week - they look beautiful AND help shorten the room like we wanted (the room is 14 X 30 - too long to feel like a normal room, in my opinion).

I got the indoor greenhouse set up, and 95% of the seedlings planted. It is so nice to see them popping up out of the soil, especially since we are still buried in snow and cold!

The soap is drying well. It definitely isn't good enough to sell, or even gift, but it will work great for us!

Feels good to have the energy to check some stuff off my list!

 

[Denim Deb]

Only problem w/checking stuff off your list is that more gets added to the bottom!

 

[BarredBuff]

You DID have a productive day! What does canned cheese look like, any pictures?

 

[Wannabefree]

Yep we need pics

That mayo IS easy sis, glad it worked out for you!! Tortillas......

 

[SSDreamin]

Just for you guys: A picture of the canned cheese

Cheese whiz on the left, American on the right, Cheddar in the middle ( the cheddar does NOT look that orange in real life. I tried several pic's, but it looked the same in all of them???)

Here are a couple of Big pig girl. I took these on Friday, so I could have a few picture's of her before she left.

This is her in comparison to their hutch (hutch is 6 foot wide)

This is a shot of the two girls together - Big pig is showing off the hams, and Blue pig is OBVIOUSLY not ready yet

Notice all that nasty white stuff? Ugh! I think everybody - human AND animal - is sick of seeing it!