Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving.... and Go Frogs!

I hope you all had a relaxing, tasty Thanksgiving!

We have two Thanksgiving get togethers over here.  On Wednesday we go visit one big group of family, and then on Thanksgiving we visit another group.  Being a vegetarian among a bunch of meat-eaters, and people who like to cook their veggies with bacon, I brought a yummy veg-friendly dish to both places.


This year I decided to try something new, the Festive Chickpea Tart from Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton.  The one I made Wednesday was kind of dry and crumbly.  But the one I made this morning turned out great and I thought it was quite tasty.

I also made Dreena's Artichoke and White Bean Dip, also from Let Them Eat Vegan.  Zoey and I thought it was pretty good.  Make sure to let it sit a little bit before eating it.  I tasted it right after making it, and it was much better by the time it was actually being served.

For Christmas, which will be at our house, I think I'll try a couple of her other holiday meal ideas.

Now as for the last part of the title... You see, Ben is a University of Texas grad.  And yours truly went to Texas Christian University.  And at the moment, we're watching a TCU vs. UT football game.  So, definitely a big Go Frogs.  Otherwise, Ben and his brother (who is also a UT grad) will never let me hear the end of it. 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Newly Listed - Roll On Perfume

I've had three scents of roll-on perfume made up since before Arbor Daze.  And yes, for those of you keeping track, that was last April.  And I just realized today that I never photographed or listed them in my Etsy shop.  Big whoops on my part! 



So here they are, listed just in time for Christmas gifting that special woman in your life (or yourself!)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Ben's Favorite - It's Shiner Soap!

Ben likes beer.  He likes all kinds of beers.  But his favorite is Shiner Bock.  Ben also likes to collect beer bottles.  In our kitchen, the ledge at the top of the cabinets are completely covered in beer bottles.  There are also boxes of other bottles that have no place to go, because the ledge is completely full. 


That is Ben's Shiner corner.  Shiner has made several different flavors, and has changed their Bock label a few times.  I'm pretty sure Ben has most of them.

Years ago when he was out of town for the weekend, I made a batch of soap with Shiner Bock.  I hid it and gifted him all nine bars for his birthday.  It was his favorite soap, and from what I remember, he told all of his friends about it.

Recently he's been... nagging... me to make it again.  So I present to you Ben's Favorite Beer Soap all ready to be put to bed in the oven. 


Unlike my Brighid soap, which is made with beer and a fragrance, or Michelada, which is beer and lime, Ben's Favorite Beer Soap has nothing to add to the scent except beer.  Cheers!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

What's Cookin' This Weekend?

This afternoon I've been working on making restock of two sugar scrub scents that are almost out of stock: Ginger Milk and Oatmeal, Milk and Honey.  Well, hopefully I can make the second one.  I pulled out the fragrance oil and it was surprisingly low.  As in, I hope there's enough for me to put .5 ounces in there.

There's currently some Shiner Bock in the fridge getting nice and flat.  Tomorrow afternoon I plan to soap it up.  Ben's Favorite Beer soap! 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Happy Belated Halloween!

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

This year was the first time Zoey went trick-or-treating.  My little bumblebee had a blast.  For the last month or so since we've been talking about Halloween, she has a sentence that she says over and over.  "On Halloween, if you wear your bumblebee dress, they will put candy in there."


I guess when I explained trick-or-treating I somehow left out the part about going up to houses and ringing the doorbell.  The first house we went to was our next door neighbor.  When I tried to guide her up the driveway, she almost had a meltdown.  "We can't go trick-or-treating!"  But I told her that we were actually trick-or-treating, we just had to go ring on the doorbell for them to give her candy.

After that, it was smooth sailing and she quickly became a pro.  She said thank you for her candy and everything!

And by the end of the night, her little Elmo basket was pretty full.  For someone who only has candy every once in a while, she's got quite a stash of it!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Upcoming Shows

If you're thinking, "where can I come find some of these fantastic soaps?" (and why wouldn't you be?), then listen up!

Saturday, November 10 - Summit HS Craft Show
9:00am-4:00pm
Admission for adults is $2, free for children 12 and under

Saturday, December 1 - L.D. Bell HS Craft Fair
9:00am-5:00pm
Admission is a canned good item

I hope to see you there!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Firecracker Cheez-Its

During this past school year, I received some ridiculously yummy Cheez-Its as a teacher gift.  Spicy Cheez-Its.  Genius.  Ben has been after me ever since to figure out how to make them.  While browsing Pinterest recently I found a recipe to make Firecracker Crackers.  Instead of making it with saltines like the recipe suggested, I used an entire box of Cheez-Its.

Please excuse the extra stuff in the background on the counter.  :)


I used 1 cup of oil, but I think one box of Cheez-Its is less than the 4 sleeves of saltines called for.  Next time I'm trying 3/4 cup oil.  Also, I really don't think I mixed them up for long enough.  She says 5-10 minutes of mixing the crackers.  I didn't mix for that long, and some of the crackers are spicier than others.  :)


They're really good though, spicy, ranch-y goodness.  Yum!  If you like spicy things, you definitely need to make these.


Friday, October 19, 2012

Soap, Soap, Soap

The last few weeks I've been working to make restock of some old favorite scents.  Some of you may remember Red Currant and Coconut Pear.  These two used to be available as salt bars, which are different than my regular soap recipe.  While I love the way salt bars lather up so creamy and silky, I don't love hearing "that's an ugly bar of soap, but it sure smells nice."  So for now, these two scents are going to be available in my regular recipe of coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil and coconut milk powder.

Here they are on the curing rack.  Coconut Pear on the top, Red Currant peeking in down below.


I also made restock of Brighid, which is one of my personal favorites.  A few days ago I poured up some Guinness to let it get nice and flat.   Cheers, anyone?  :)


Yesterday I soaped it all up, and stuck it in the oven to let it do its chemical reaction thing.  I actually need to take it out, now that I think of it...  It will get sliced up and put up on the curing rack this weekend!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fall is in the Air.... Maybe?

This morning was very chilly. So chilly in fact, that I thought it would be a good idea to wear a 3/4 length sleeve shirt, and a tank top layered underneath. Then I made a batch of soap, which warmed me up. Then I went outside. Well, by now it was almost lunch time, and the sun had had time to heat everything up. I have no idea what the temperature actually was, probably high 70s or low 80s, but I realized that it really wasn't quite 3/4 length sleeve weather. Either that, or not quite layering weather. Whichever way, I'm currently wearing a short sleeve shirt.

Jenn, what is the point of your rambling? you might be asking yourself. Well, I logged on to post about some soaps I've been making and saw my bright, flowery Spring blog background. Clearly it's not Spring. And here in Texas it's considering Fall...sort of. So, here we are with a new, Fall-ish, background.

I'll come back tomorrow with some soapy pictures for you! :)