Soap Makers Help!

[BirdBrain]

Cyndi, sorry to hear you got laid off!!

Did you put that bird in to brine frozen?

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Did you put that bird in to brine frozen?

I did! Figured the brine solution had to be kept cold and the turkey needed to be thawed anyway ...

3 of our turkey customers brined their turkeys (For 2 of them, it was the first time they cooked turkey). They all called after and told me how wonderful their turkey turned out ... every bit nice and moist. They've already reserved their turkies for next year. I haven't heard from the rest of our customers ...

It was hard getting laid off. I've been working 36 years straight and it seems so odd. Jobs in my field aren't too abundant ... most have been shipped off to India (I'm a senior computer programmer/analyst). Being the head bread winner of the family, it is especially tough. We're beter off than most who have been recently laid off. We don't have CC debt, only the mortgage and utilities. There is a bit of savings in the bank, but once I pay off the medical bills, the savings won't last long. Still, we have a couple freezers full of food and enough canned goods to get us through until summer.​

 

[ametauss]

Cyndi -- I know how you feel -- My DH got laid off as an IT programmer/Analyst last fall and still has been unable to find a position in his field.... Thank-you Mr. President for the stimuls and Job creation....

Was that too mean to say??

 

[Morgaine]

Oh Cyndi, I'm so sorry about that. I did not realize that you got laid off you job. I hope you find something before you have to dig into your savings.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Quote:
Nope ....

 

[L*A*G*]

I sorry you got laid off Cyndi.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

But I've been a soapmaking fool! I've put up 88 lbs of soap the past few weeks!

Just unmolded the Mint Eucalyptus and the Lavender Mint today (nailed the 2 color swirls on both of these!)

 

[ametauss]

go Cyndi go!!!

 

[smom1976]

I was just thinking about you this morning Cindi.. Thinking about how I havent been able to chat or swap or any of that .. but as I talked to you in my email long ago about how you were living my dream.. well I am going after it. Will be graduating nursing school with my Bachelors in June. So whatever YOUR dreaming GO AFTER IT! If I can do this anyone can.. I still have more schooling to go, but I will someday live my dream.. Turn a bad situation into a good one

I will be keeping you in my prayers.

 

[MullersLaneFarm]

Thanks for the prayers! I've been thinking about what I want to do know .... the IT profession is pretty much contracted out to India .... or we'd have to move to some city ....

Some pics of the Mint Euc and Lav Mint .... inside pictures are bad ... those CF bulbs are so yellow! The colors are so much more vibrant IRL

Mardi Gras (Lavender Mint)

Mint Eucalyptus

Also made a custom ordered log of soap ... Lily of the Valley ... It was slow to trace but I got a nice medium trace so I could do an in the pot swirl. Poured it into my vertical log mold. Within 15 minutes it was overheating and had a rust-brown goo bubbling up.

When I unmolded, it had tunnels and a couple pockets of brown goo about 2" from the bottom. Looks as though the FO wasn't thoroughly blended. Strange ... I added the FO after the milk/lye solution and was SB off and on for over 10 minutes.

Told the customer & made another batch. This time, I made up enough oils for both the log and 30 bar Kelsei mold. I added the FO to the oils and stirred well. Then went about making up the milk/lye solution.

Still took long to trace, but no overheating in the log mold. Came out beautiful! Now, the slab mold ... since I didn't gel it, I'm having problems getting it out of the mold. I'll let it sit for a week or so.

Heard back from the customer (a repeat, it turns out) and she asked if Lily of the Valley was the same as my Lily of the Wood ..... um, no ... Lily of the Wood is a patch/lav/LOV mix .... sooooo, I need to make another log.

In the meantime, I cut up the failed batch of LOV (should have used gloves) and crockpot it. Turned out well, but my hands are suffering.