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Way back when I first bought my soap molds, I noted the soap cutter and thought I’d like to eventually get one. It’s quite easy to cut the soap by hand with a butterknife but the bars vary between 3 and 5 ounces. The more we talk about selling the soap the more I think I need a smaller variation between bars. I finally broke down and bought the soap cutter. It’s slower to cut the bars this way but now my bars vary from 4.25 ounces to 4.5 ounces, a much more reasonable variation.
Strawberry Mascarpone Pastry 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed Preheat the oven to 425F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lay out the puff pastry on these. Spread with butter and dock with a fork (poke holes all over so pastry will stay flat). Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 425F until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet. Mix together mascarpone, cream, salt, vanill and Grand marnier until smooth. Cut puff pastry into quarters and serve topped with mascarpone mixture and then strawberries. Serves 8.
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Goodreads        ![Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy [UNABRIDGED]](
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"Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy [UNABRIDGED]") 
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I was chatting to someone on the phone over the weekend and we’d been talking about soap at one point and then later on I was telling her how I made fruit/veg bags with nylon netting from JoAnns so I can stop using those throwaway plastic ones. She had the brilliant idea that I could package my soaps in this same stuff for scrubbie soaps. I still have plenty of the stuff lying around as well as plenty of embroidery thread so I gave it a shot. I worried that it might be a bit too scratchy but so far it seems fine. Thanks 
I’ve been meaning to sew some reusable shopping bags for quite some time now. I’d heard a report on the news about how they need to be periodically cleaned but the store-bought ones I have don’t lend themselves very well to cleaning. I found a few different patterns on Etsy and settled on 
Over the weekend I organized my soaps and fiber samples. The soaps had been hogging counter space while they cured but now they are neatly stowed away in boxes the perfect size for 5 pounds of soap. The fiber samples were just all over the place on my desk and tacked to various and sundry cork boards around the house. A wee bit more tidy is a good thing at my house.
I made more than a little soap last week and it was amazing how differently each batch worked up. It seems that I need to use less fragrance oil than I do essential oil and I took notes accordingly. I made coriander/matcha tea with apricot kernel, lavender with rhassoul clay, black cherry/amber with cranberry seeds, black cherry, kumquat, spearmint/eucalyptus with activated charcoal, and sea shore.
This week I’m planning to make several batches of soap. I’m out of lavender which is just unacceptable and I have some new scents I want to try. First up is coriander which I combined with a sample matcha tea and some sample red Hawaiian salt. My first salt soap didn’t do well as it exuded a lot of water but I wanted to give it one more shot. This salt is a much finer grain than that used it my first attempt and it look nice so far. The soap did trace VERY quickly, hence the lumpy bumpy look. Next time I’ll have to try stirring with a spoon instead of using the stick blender.
The best flowers are the ones that show up completely unexpected as these beauties did Friday night. Daniel was up and about early yesterday morning trolling the kitchen for something to eat. I have all sorts of lovely summer fruit down in the freezer so I broke out some blueberries to make this lovely 
All week long I’ve been busily making soap. The last batch has gone into the molds this morning so I’ll have plenty of soap ready for holiday gifts. Seen here I have lavender with rhassoul clay, rose with jojoba beads, plumeria, dragon’s blood (sandalwood base), and ginger apple. Still in the molds is a winter citrus blend.