Scratching an Itch

 I've been itching to make some pure Castile soap for the longest time.

 It's not like any soap I've ever made and I was curious.

 Castile soap is made with only olive oil, distilled water and lye. I added a bit of honey to improve the lather and a few drops of lemongrass essential oil for fragrance.

 I was nervous. It either goes one way or the other. It either works or it doesn't.  It's finicky.

 So far, so good. I got it in the mold but it was still a very thin batter after blending for what seemed like forever.

 I wanted to try and do something with the tops but it wasn't getting thick enough to take a spoon to it. Think frosting. I made a little incubator with a heating pad for it in hopes some heat would move it along. It didn't.

Oh, well....the top never did get hard enough to do anything with. It just made ugly glops. I should have left it alone. I ended up putting it in the oven with the light on for the night to keep it warm and the next morning is was pretty hard so I cut it. Now it has to sit for 6 months to a year in order to make it usable. Pure olive oil soap will melt away in the tub if you don't give it a long cure.

My new stick blender did a great job. Now I can't wait to make more soap with it but it's got to wait until we get the kitchen finished. Every inch of precious space is being packed with boxes of junk at the moment.

At least the downstairs craft room has been left unscathed. I've got a lot of little holiday soaps to wrap.