Sugar Scrubs and Whipped Body Butter

Fall and Winter are my two favorite seasons, yet I always seem to turn into a scaly itchy mess due to dry skin.  Between the cold, our forced hot air heat, holiday dish washing and my lack of swimming my skin seems to revolt by the time Christmas rolls around.

--Ok so I added the lack of swimming, that really wouldn't help all that much with my dry skin.  Any dermatologist worth their weight will tell you the very first thing you need to do to ensure you help your skin retain moisture is to drink the proper amount of water/fluids each day!--

Either way I seem to crack out the lotion ingredients every winter to make some skin nourishing body butter, lotion bars or sugar scrubs.  I should point out that I am an avid user of Cocoa Butter lotions.  I am partial to Palmers but will try any of them.  Even THOSE don't seem to help me in the winter months.  

The only problem with making your own lotions etc is that you need to purchase the ingredients.  You can make some lotions with Crisco and olive oil, but I am more of a shea butter and coconut oil girl.  The following recipes will be made with those types of ingredients.  (If you want to make something but don't feel like buying those ingredients please keep in mind that you can substitute a solid for a solid and a liquid for a liquid - Crisco for coconut oil and olive oil for jojoba oil etc.  I would not suggest using dairy butter in place of she butter, but I suppose it might be possible.) 

Sugar Scrub

This is a basic recipe.  You can so all sorts of fun things with it, see the examples under the recipe.  A sugar scrub should always be two parts sugar to one part oil, I also add in aloe with Vitamin E to all my sugar scrubs but it isn't necessary.  Here is my basic recipe:

• 1 c Sugar (can be brown or white, I use natural in the raw sugar)
• 1/2 c Coconut Oil 
• 1 Squirt Aloe with Vitamin E
• Essential Oil/fragrance of your choice

1. Melt the coconut oil
2. Mix together the sugar, oil, aloe and essential oils.
3. Place in an air tight container
4. Use on hands, face and body to rid yourself of dead skin and moisturize.

It looks like applesauce to me!
I know it isn't super pretty,
but it works phenomenally well!

Some fun concoctions of the basic sugar scrub are:

• Pumpkin Pie Scrub - instead of essential oils add in 1 t of Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Mix as normal.
• Vanilla Bean - Add in 1t of Vanilla extract in place of the essential oil.  Mix as normal.
• Citrus Mixer - combine lemon and orange essential oils. This one is very fragrant and a PERFECT scrub for the summer months. 

Try them out, this one is easy to make at home.  You can use olive oil or crisco in place of the coconut oil.  Your hands will thank you!

Boddy Butter

Shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut
oil

Boddy butter is a wonderful wonderful creation.  It has the ability to turn a scaly mess of an Amy into a normal human again! (OK so maybe "normal" is pushing it, but it removes the scales!) I am not so sure what you can use as an every day in house substitution for shea or cocoa butter, but I will research that and get back to you.  For those of you that WILL purchase shea and cocoa like butters here is the basic recipe that I use:

• 1 c Shea Butter
• 1/2 c Coconut Oil
• 1/2 c Jojoba Oil
• 1 T Cocoa Butter



Out in the cold to solidify

• Essential Oils/Fragrance of your choice

1. Melt the shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil until liquid.  Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
2. Slowly stir in the jojoba oil and fragrance.  
3. Set the mixture aside until it starts to re-solidify.  You want it to be semi soft, but no longer liquid.  
4. Once the mixture reaches the appropriate solidification, transfer it to a mixer and whip it as you would if you were making butter.  This should only take a few minutes.
5. Transfer the whipped butter into air tight containers and use as needed/wanted.

What a beautiful whipped body butter!
(chocolate scented!)

How simple is that?!  It is oil intensive so I find that it is best to put it on after a shower and let it soak in as you brush your teeth and whatnot before you get dressed.  It isn't too bad though and it really hydrates your skin!  

Some of my lotion etc supplies - there is sugar, beeswax,
coconut oil, and shea butter in this tote.
In others there is citric acid, stearic acid, baking soda,
aloe, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, essential oils,
and various molds and pots!
It is a very addicting hobby! 

**If those wondering I buy my lotion etc products from Brambleberry and Camden Grey.  I know there are cheaper sources out there, but I have always received top notch products and service from these two and therefore they have earned my loyalty.

Mozzarella

The little list in my head now has another check!  There were three things I wanted to make by the end of the year, I have succeeded in making two of them - graham crackers and now mozzarella cheese - the third will have to wait until I can really research the best cocoa beans.  

If you aren't a cooker then the process of making mozzarella might be daunting.  I am here to tell you it is SIMPLE.  It takes about thirty minutes (give or take a few) from start to water bath.  In the end you not only have something homemade, you also have a delicious ball of cheese!!  

Tools/Ingredients

• 1 Gallon of Milk - it can be the fat content of your choice.  Obviously whole milk would make a richer cheese however I used 1% and the cheese was still great!  The one thing you HAVE to be sure about is the pasteurization process of your milk choice.  In order to make quick and easy home made mozzarella you cannot (let me stress that again- CANNOT) use UHT (ultra-high temperature pasteurized or just ultra-pasteurized) milk.  That milk you grab from the big chain grocery stores (Garelick, Hood, etc) is UHT.  It gives the milk a great long shelf life, but it causes great loss of folate, B12, Vitamin C and Thiamin.  It also makes creating quick yummy mozzarella at home impossible - curds will not appear no matter how much rennet you use!  In our house we get our milk delivered from a local dairy.  Their milk is gourmet pasteurized so obtaining milk was not an issue for me.  I would suggest you try your local dairies if you want to attempt this recipe.  Call around and ask what their pasteurization process is, most dairies are more than willing to discuss this with you. 
• 1 1/4 c Water - if you live in a city that has a highly chlorine level in your water use bottled.  Rennet and Citric Acid do not play well with chlorine.  
• 1 1/2 t Citric Acid - You can find citric acid a bunch of places.  First make sure you are buying FOOD GRADE.  I have citric acid in the house for my soaps and lotions - that is not the stuff we want for our cheese making.  Local brewery supply stores normally carry cheese making supplies, that would be where I would go if you don't want to purchase your supplies online (which is my suggestion).  
• 1/4 Rennet Tablet (or 1/4 t of Rennet Liquid) - now for the "gross" part.  For those of you that don't know,  traditionally, rennet is a group of enzymes found in the lining of a calf's stomach that helps with digestion. If this thought bothers you, I suggest you don't look at those wonderful cheeses you buy from fancy stores!  There are such things as "vegetable" and "microbial" rennet.  (I use the microbial rennet which is actually made from a coagulating mold - this is fun stuff people!)  If a person tries to sell you vegetable rennet that was commercially made call foul - there is no commercial source of vegetable rennet.  It is normally locally made by people that know how to get the coagulating features out of figs and the like.  Most vegetarian approved cheeses are made with microbial rennet.  You can purchase this online where you get your citric acid.  (I will give you a couple of links at the end of the post for all you people that don't like to peruse random sites.)
• Cheese Salt - not necessary at all, but it is cheap and it is a finer grade than regular old kosher salt.  If you can't find any, but want something that will be that fine grade try some canning salt. 
• A Pot/Pan - it must be big enough to hold your gallon of milk and still have enough room for some vigorous stirring.  It also CANNOT be a conductive metal!!  In other words, stainless steel, glass, or ceramic ONLY.  For those of you that are going to ask, Caphalon pans are coated and therefore should be able to be used.  That being said, the coating is only good if you have never used a metal utensil on it, scoured it, or it is less than about 15 years old.  The coatings can wear away or get scratches.
• Dairy Thermometer- they are cheap and can be purchased with your rennet and citric acid.  Please do not try to use a meat thermometer for making cheese!
• Colander/Cheese cloth/ Strainer - I, personally, use a cheese cloth however that does not mean you need to.  They can be expensive and add steps upon steps to clean up.  As long as you have a fine mesh on your strainer/colander you should be fine - and you will only need that if you too vigorously stir your rennet!
• Slotted Spoon - I really have nothing for this one - it is a staple instrument in every house :-D
• Knife - it needs to be long enough to cut through the curds to the bottom of the pan.  SO if you are using a stock pot, don't pull out a 3 inch paring knife to get the job done.
• Microwave safe bowl - I am giving you the instructions for a quick and simple cheese making - and that requires heating in a microwave for stretching.  You can do this with a water bath but it takes longer.
• Rubber Gloves - not necessary at all!!!  I use them cause I am a wimp and that thin layer of rubber helps disperse the heat from the cheese during stretching so I don't feel as if I am melting my hands!!

Process/Procedure

Curds and Whey (I over mixed my rennet so they are flakey)

Prior to microwaving

Water Bath

1. Dissolve 1/4 of your rennet tab into 1/4 c of cool water.  Mix gently and set aside.
2. Dissolve 1 1/2 t of citric acid into 1 cup of cool water.  Pour into your pot.
3. Add your milk to the pot and turn the heat on med-medium high, stirring constantly and vigorously.
4. Heat the milk to 90F
5. Remove the pot from the heat and slowly stir in the rennet mixture.  Combine using up and down motions for about 30 seconds. (If you stir the rennet mixture for too long you will end up cutting your curds as they form.)
6. Cover the pot and DO NOT TOUCH for at least 5 minutes.  (Rennet is a very gentle thing, it needs to be left immobile while it works or your cuds could be flakey.)
7. After about 5 minutes check your curd.  It should look like a custard or cheesecake consistency with a clear separation between curd and whey.  (Whey should be a mellowly clear color, if it is milky recover and let it set for a few more minutes.  If you did not get any curds, check the pasteurization of your milk.)
8. Cut the curd with your knife, be sure to reach all the way to the bottom of the pot.  Cut it in a criss cross pattern on a diagonal.
9. Place the pot back on the burner and heat to 105 F.  Slowly stir the curds while you are heating.
10. Once you reach 105 F remove from the heat and continue to slowly stir the curds for 2-5 minutes.  
11. Strain off the whey - you can reserve it for recipes - and place the curds in your microwave safe bowl.
12. Place the bowl in the microwave for 1 minutes.  Remove and gently fold the curds into one piece - drain off the whey as you do this.
13. Add in the salt to you preference, I use about 1 t, while you are folding the curds.
14. Return the curds and bold to the microwave and cook for another 30 seconds.
15. Drain and stretch the cheese.  (Stretching the cheese is just that - pull on the cheese like you would taffy and fold it back in on itself.  Keep doing this until the cheese is smooth and shiny.  The cheese must be 135 F in order to stretch properly so if the last round in the microwave did not make it hot enough, pop it back in for another 30 seconds.)
16. YOU HAVE CHEESE!!  You can now form it into a ball, braid it, or make string cheese out of it.  You could even roll it out and add some herbs or pesto.  Whatever you do with it, you will want to finalize your cheese with a water bath.  Submerge the cheese in a cold bowl of water for about 5 minutes followed by a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes.  This allows the cheese to hold it's shape and protects it from getting grainy.
17. ENJOY

OK I know it seems like a lot - but remember I am wordy!  It was simple and fun and I can't wait to make my next batch.  It seems that, depending on the milk/process, you get about 12-16 oz of cheese for every gallon of milk.  So if I only paid $5 for my gallon of milk I am saving at least $3 off the local cheese we normally buy!!  I would love to give you a calorie count, however it is difficult to do.  I tried to calculate my cheese, made with 1% milk and it came in around 60-75 calories per ounce. 

 

Isn't that GORGEOUS?!

I am a firm believer that once you have fresh cheese you will NEVER buy that horrible pre-shredded stuff in the refrigerator section of the grocery store again.  If you try this, let me know if you believe that as well!

Links: 

New England Cheese Making Supply - They have EVERYTHING you could need/want.  They even sell kits!!

The Cheesemaker

GetCulture

Crochet

I have decided to learn to crochet and I LOVE unsolicited/solicited advice!

In the past I have tried my hand at knitting - the bottom of my closet is currently home to 4 beautifully UNFINISHED scarves.  I learned how to create them but never how to finish them.  One of these days I will pick that up again.  Lately, however, I have been finding more and more crocheted items that I want to make - some of them even seem beginner friendly.  The item that made me run out and buy a crochet hook is this!  I want to make these "cozies"into beautiful cuff bracelets for myself.  I am determined.

This is just the start of my crochet path.  I have already had to call an Aunt about what I am terming a 'crochet catastrophe'.  I fear I learn better from watching - a person sitting next to me that is, not a you tube tutorial.  I was able to make a chain within my first try, but once I attempted to add on to that chain I was ending up with extra loops and fly away yarn.  I finally (read: after 15 minutes of complaining and 5 minutes of actually thinking about what I was doing) was able to add to the chain, but now I am stuck again - at the "turn".  The cozy seems so easy, I refuse to allow this to defeat me. I will pack up my yarn and hook and bring them to the next family party.  Be forewarned - if you know how to crochet I will corner you!!

I will update with some picture as soon as I have something substantial to share.  Until then, just picture me in a rocking chair crocheting away.  (Ha - we don't even own a rocking chair :-D)

Here is my work so far.  To say I just taught myself this I am pretty happy with the results.

As I am sure you can see in the picture, I botched a few "stitches" early on, but my work seems to be getting more assured and neater.  My main issue is that I seem to pull the crochet too tight so then I go to push the hook through I have to pick it apart.  Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this?

The Waiting Game

As many of you know I have returned to lotion/soap etc making with a vengeance.  I truly enjoy creating lotion bars, soaps, bath bombs, and anything else I set out to make.  I guess you could say it is like a form of baking (yet another thing I truly enjoy) - or you could just chalk it up to me being the daughter of a mad scientist and enjoying the process of experimenting with "chemicals" to see what I can create.  

What I don't enjoy is the waiting between the ordering process and the actual experimental process.  Don't get me wrong I love the fact that every possible butter or oil is available at my fingertips.  Though I enjoy scouring country shops and fairs, they aren't always the most convenient and reliable sources for all materials - and honestly you can only take so many trips to Amish Country a year :-).  I do like that I can buy whatever it is I am looking for at the click of a mouse.  That being said, I am not a very patient person.  When I get something into my head I want to act, not think about it for a week or longer waiting for supplies.  I am the type to read a book cover to cover in one sitting just so I can mark it as complete.  I like starting things when the mood hits me and pushing through till they are finished.  

Most suppliers of quality butters, oils and other natural products have been experiencing a boom recently.  Apparently everyone wants in on the "natural, organic, handmade" market.  Due to higher demand their normal turn around of one business day has been stretched to a week - not including shipping time.  This means that I come up with a wonderful idea for a new hand and foot cream, order the magical new butters to make it (and improve upon my basic lotion bars), wait the 7-15 days for it to arrive at my house - and promptly lose all interest in making it seeing the feeling has past.  The materials then sit in my newly appointed "Amy Cubby" of the new desk till the feeling hits again.  This is not an efficient system at all.  I wonder if there is a way for me to keep the truly productive/creative feeling surging through the staging and shipping phase - any suggestions?