Wednesday, December 18, 2019

A Day of Making

 It's been dreary here. We're supposed to be painting the foyer but it's just too wet and dark to think about it.



Instead The Mister wanted cookies so we made some. Bridget calls them Seven Layer Cookies but we always knew them as Hello Dollies. They were my grandmother's specialty. We also made a pan of Browned Butter Chocolate Chips. They were okay but not worth the trouble.


 After cleaning up one mess in my disaster of a kitchen I made another.


 I wasn't happy with that Castile soap I had made last week. It didn't look like the bars that others had made. I thought it was the oil so I bought some lighter olive oil to see if that was the issue.



 Now that's what I was looking for.



 It was lighter but it still behaved the same way. It was too thin a batter to move so it had to stay on the table in a heat pad incubator until I could safely tuck it away for the night.



 The next morning I had just what I was looking for. A loaf of creamy white soap made with nothing but olive oil, lye, distilled water and a very few drops of a slightly fruity/herby fragrance oil that does not discolor.


See the difference? The soap on the bottom was made with the darker oil and a few drops of lemongrass essential oil that I suspect may also have contributed to the yellowing. Now I have to wait at least 6 months to try it out and maybe 6 more to get it completely cured. As fast as time is moving around here these days-that shouldn't be a problem.

8 comments:

  1. Those cookies all look wonderful. I'm having a chocolate attack at the moment and in my infinite wisdom, (because I'm trying to watch my weight), I have none in the house. That picture is making me want it even more if that's possible. :-)
    The soap is beautiful and I'm glad that you finally got what you wanted with the second batch.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. Wasn't yesterday's weather just awful? Those cookies look mighty good. And that soap - I still can't believe what a long cure time.

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  3. I guess it's like dyeing fabric-the slightest tweak of one component and you have a completely different color! The new bars look pretty but so does the browner one!

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  4. Soap making - always so interesting! The difference that the lighter oil makes is quite amazing!

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  5. What a contrast in the soap coloring. I bet you'll love both of them when they've cured.

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  6. I always knew those cookies as Seven Layer Cookies. I can only bake them if I am going to be sharing them with others. They are so addictive to me. Your soap making experiences are so interesting. Great that you got the results you wanted on the second try.

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  7. Such an experiment! Great that you got the result you wanted but as I love everything lemongrassy, i would not mind the change of the colour. Liana

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