My Laundry Soap Recipe

It all started with the N.O. Saints going to the Super Bowl. I had never watched a Super Bowl. Never, and I'm almost 40.  It's just not my thing. But growing up a stone's throw from New Orleans, I had to see this one.

So it's the morning of the Super Bowl. We're heading to a friend's house, and we hadn't bought any snacks. I envisioned the grocery stores out of guacamole, beer and frozen wings, so I thought we'd try one on the edge of town that looked little used.

There I am, standing at the end of an aisle waiting for my husband to hunt down some snack or another, and there was a display of soap next to me.

I picked up a bar to read the ingredients (I get fidgety when I'm bored).  To my surprise, it was real soap, as opposed to detergent (petro chemicals disguised as something that should clean, but really isn't all that good). Zote soap: made in Mexico, and I remember the scent from something my Hispanic mother used when I was a child.

"What's "real soap"?" you ask. Fats and oils saponified by adding sodium hydroxide to it and then left to cure. It's how soap has been made for eons.  This soap, other than a light fragrance, pink color, and a whitener (which I suspect is borax), is as natural as the soap I make, and only 79 cents a bar. I bought 2 bars, not much of an investment, and thought I'd make laundry soap with it.

I've made my own laundry soap for a few years now. Something I started post-Katrina when money was tight, but now I do it because I prefer my soap to anything store bought. I normally use batches of my homemade soap that have gone awry - like the green tea & hibiscus fiasco. But when I run out, I don't like using my good soap. Maybe this would make a good back up.

It worked wonderfully! I've tried making laundry soap in many different ways over the years - adding things like borax, baking soda, and washing soda (also known as sodium carbonate or soda ash), but it doesn't make any difference from using solely soap. Okay, it does make a difference, but not in a good way. It's really difficult getting the powder additions to dissolve, and they often leave a residue on the clothes. Maybe it's my water or maybe not.

Anyway on to the recipe and instructions . . .

Simple Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe
Yields 1 gallon
Ingredients:
Bar soap:

• I use any real soap. If it's my own homemade soap, I use 4 to 8 ounces, depending on how strong I want it. OR:
• 1 bar Zote soap: sold anywhere where there's a large Hispanic community - it's found at Albertsons or Calandros locally. Often on the bottom of the shelf and hard to find. Look for the pink and white label.

Water - sink water is fine.
Directions:
Grate the soap using a cheese grater (don't worry, it washes well - it is soap, after all). Any type of grating is fine, from slices to fine. The finer you grate, the less time it takes to dissolve. The larger you grate, the less time it takes to grate.

Place the soap in a large pot, and fill with water to about 2 inches from the top. Fill slowly, otherwise a-lot of lather and foam will be produced.

Put the pot on high heat, and bring to a simmer. Then turn the heat down to medium. Stir until all the soap is dissolved.  It will go from being lumpy, like the picture above, to clear, like the picture below.

Pour the whole thing into a gallon bucket. Add cold water to finish filling the bucket up. It will take one or more hours to gel. Every 30 minutes or so, give it a couple of stirs to make sure the mixture stays homogeneous.

As it starts to cool and gel, it gets thicker and "slimier," but that's normal. When it gels, it will look like the picture at the top. Once it gels, it's ready to use. I place between 1/4 and 1/2 cup (depending upon the load) of the gel in a coffee cup, add water to the cup and microwave it on the beverage setting. This will liquefy the gel. Add it to the running water in your washing machine and wash like normal.

For 79 cents, I now get a gallon of real laundry soap!

Strawberry Pepper Jam Recipe

Continuing with my jam and jelly recipes . . .

Strawberry Pepper Jam Recipe
Ingredients

• 5 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 c minced Serrano peppers (measure after mincing)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 large bell pepper, also minced
• 1 tsp butter
• 4 cups white sugar
• 1-1.75 oz pack powdered pectin, plus 1 TBSP from another pack
• 1 1/2 tsp Serrano pepper seeds
• 1/2 tsp bell pepper seeds

Directions

1. Clean and sterilize jars, lids and rings.
2. Make sure you wear gloves when dealing with the peppers. Also, set the seeds aside for later use.
3. Place strawberries in a blender with the lemon juice. Blend until it reaches the desired chunkiness. Pour into large pot with peppers, butter and sugar.
4. Place pot on  medium heat and bring to simmer. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the pectin and the pepper seeds.
5. Turn heat to high and bring to a rolling boil (bubbles stay when you stir). Boil 3 full minutes or until it reaches 221 degrees.
6. Ladle into prepared jars. Screw on lids.
7. Water bath: place the jars in a large stock pot or canning pot. Add enough water to cover plus 1 to 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes.  Remove the jars from the pot and let cool at room temp for 24 hours. 
8. Check to make sure the lids sealed by depressing he center. If it pops back, it is not sealed. Try giving it another water bath. If it still doesn't seal, refrigerate it and use it within the month.

Blueberry Grand Marnier Sauce Recipe

I was messing around in the kitchen on my 20 year old's birthday. She wanted plain cheesecake with strawberry topping, but my husband's not a big fan of strawberries. He is however a fan of Grand Marnier, a French liqueur with a slight citrus taste. And he likes blueberries. So I created this for him to top his cheesecake with - it also ended up as a topping for ice cream and pancakes and, well you get the idea.

 Blueberry Grand Marnier Sauce Recipe

 Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cup blueberries (I used Dole frozen Wild Blueberries)
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP Grand Marnier
• 1/2 TBSP cornstarch

Directions

1. Put the blueberries, sugar, butter and lemon juice in a pot about 3 or 4 times as large as the ingredients (it tends to expand as it cooks). Put on medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Simmer10 minutes. 
2. Turn the heat up to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil 3 minutes. 
3. Remove from heat. Add Grand Marnier. Using a sifter or a fine mesh strainer, sift the corn starch into the mixture while stirring so that the corn starch doesn't lump.
4. Allow it to cool (should take about 20 minutes). Then pour on whatever you want.

Abita Strawberry Beer Jelly Recipe

With the last of my jellies simmering on the stove, I'm going to try to take a minute to get another recipe written down. Right now, 6 or 7 of my original recipes are floating around the kitchen written on the backs of receipt paper. As they emerge, I'll post them so that I don't lose any. The ingredients are all similar - it is, after all, jelly or jam, which is always some fruit, sugar and pectin with a couple of other optional things thrown in. But the proportions for each one is different.

So before I lose one . . .

Abita Strawberry Beer Jelly Recipe

Yields 24 ounces of jelly
Ingredients:

• 1 - 12 oz bottle Strawberry Abita Beer
• 1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
• 1 - 3 oz pack liquid pectin (I used Certo)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp butter

Directions:

1. Wash and sterilize lids and jars.
2. Use a pot that is much deeper than the ingredients - this jelly will foam quite a bit, even with the addition of the butter. Place all of the ingredients in the pot. 
3. On high heat, while constantly stirring, bring to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirring) for 3 minutes. 
4. Skim off any foam and then ladle them into the prepared jars. Screw lids on tightly. 
5. Place jars in a large stock pot or canning pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars plus 1 to 2 inches.  Cover the pot with a lid, and bring the water to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then remove from water using a jar lifter device. 
6. Let the jelly sit at room temp for at least 24 hours to make sure to gelled.

A Jelly Tale of Woe and Strawberry Jam Recipe

Ever since I stepped off the path well-traveled (i.e. using other people's recipes) I knew that one day my jelly would fail to gel. Especially with my goal of using less sugar and more fruit.  The Strawberry Jam I made Thursday failed to gel. It's runny to say the least, and even when refrigerate, which gels even runny jelly. So lets give this story a happy ending and turn that runny jam into toast and jam.

4 reasons why jelly fails:

1. Didn't reach the correct temperature.
2. Not enough sugar. 
3. Acid content too low.
4. Not enough pectin.

I boiled the heck out of it - 3 minutes of a rolling boil at least.  A rolling boil is where there are big boiling bubbles even when you stir.

I'm not willing to add more sugar. Most jelly and jam recipes have far too much sugar in it. The ratio is often 1 cup fruit to 1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar. Insane! I want jelly fruit, not fruit flavored sugar. I reversed the ratio for this recipe to 1 1/2 cups fruit to 1 cup sugar, so I knew there was a good probability that it wouldn't gel. Still - no more sugar.

Acid content was good. 1 cup of lemon juice to that amount of sugar and fruit is fine.

What went wrong? I suspect my ruby liquid was a product of the last. By pureeing the strawberries before measuring, I used a much higher quantity of fruit than standard recipes would use. I think 1 1/2 boxes of pectin powder would have been fine, but 2 boxes would make it perfect.

How do I fix it now? Start by pouring all those jars of jelly back into the pot. Now rewash and re-sterilize those jars. I need to get another 1/2 box of pectin into the jam, but at this point, the powder would not dissolve in the slightly gelatinous state of the jam.

Also, I want to fix this recipe in a way that I can duplicate the recipe without having to go through this "re-batching" process again.  I'm going to use 1/4 cup of warm apple juice to dissolve the pectin. Next, bring the jelly to a simmer, and then add the juice/pectin mix to the pot.

I bring it to a rolling boil for 3 full minutes, and then re-jar them.

Result: It's much better, but still a slight bit runnier than I'd like. I'm leaving it as it is - it's a great Strawberry Butter, but next time I make it, I'll start with 2 packs powdered pectin.

And now the recipe in it's new and improved form:

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam Recipe

Yields about 70 ounces 

Ingredients:

•  7 cups fresh strawberries, pureed in the blender
• to measure after pureeing, first add 1/2 cup lemon juice to the blender, add strawberries and blend until you have 4 cups (that would 3 1/2 cups berries and the 1/2 cup lemon juice). Repeat once more for a total of 7 cups pureed strawberries and the 1 cup lemon juice called for below)
• 1 cup lemon juice (see above)
• 1 1/2 tsp butter
• 5 cups sugar
• 2 - 1.75 oz packs powdered pectin (such as Sure Jell)

A note on berry selection. If you look at my pic above, you'll see some green berries. Why would I put very unripe berries into the jam? Because the less ripe, the more pectin it has. A few unripe berries added to the mix are like pectin filled pearls and help the jam set better. But don't use too many; they're also less sweet.

Directions:

1. Prepare lids and jars like normal (see previous posts)
2. Put pureed fruit, lemon juice, butter and sugar in large pot.
3. Bring mixture to a simmer, and simmer on low for 15 minutes, while occasionally stirring.
4. Add both packs of pectin. Increase heat to med-hi and bring to a rolling boil for 3 full minutes while constantly stirring.
5. Remove from heat and ladle into prepared jars filling to 1/4 to 1/8 inch from top. Make sure rims are clean and screw lids onto jars.
6. Place jars in a large stock pot or a canning pot and cover with water plus 1 to 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil, and then boil for 15 minutes. This water-bath helps prevent the jam from spoiling.
7. The only thing left to do is to let it cool and enjoy!

Mini Lavender Honey Cheesecake Recipe

First of all, this recipe isn't an original of mine. I've tweaked it, of course, but the credit and inspiration goes to David Hagedorn from the Washington Post: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2009/04/08/lavender-honey-cheesecake/

Second, a word of warning for those attempting a cheesecake for the first time: It's a 3 day process.

Day 1: Set all of the ingredients for the filling out to thaw to room temp (that's above 68 degrees). That wasn't too hard, was it? But it is important. The filling will NOT mix correctly if you have cold ingredients.

Day 2: Make the cheesecake. That's a little  more difficult, but this cheesecake is very simple and almost foolproof as far as cheesecake recipes go.

Day 3: Eat the cheesecake. Sounds easy, right? But the temptation to eat it fresh will be overwhelming! Cheesecake, like a few other desserts, needs a day to "cure" and for the flavors to mesh. If you eat a piece an hour from the oven, and then wait a day and eat a second piece, you'll see what I mean. Don't give in to temptation. Wait 24 hours to eat the cake.

Another small word of warning, after eating this yummy thing, I didn't eat anything else for 3 hours just to let the flavor linger a bit longer. If you at all like the taste of lavender, you will love this. A friend told me it was the best cheesecake she's ever had. Ever!

Now on to the recipe:

Mini Lavender Honey Cheesecakes Recipe
yields ~36 cupcake sized cakes.

Ingredients:
For the crust

• 2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

•  1/2 cup vanilla wafers, crumbled (about 14)
• 3 tablespoons plus 2/3 cup good-quality honey (I buy local, and the darkest I can find)
• 2 (4-8 oz packages) pounds full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream (room temp)
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract

For the topping

• 1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used Dole's frozen Wild Blueberries)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 TBSP sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons dried lavender - food grade (I buy mine in bulk at Herbalcom.com)
• 8 ounces (yes, 1 more package) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
• 1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt (or you can sub Yoplait's vanilla Custard Style, it does change the taste a bit though - just make sure it's thick)

For garnish

• Spray whipped cream
• Little royal icing flowers (optional)

Directions:
Position the oven racks in the middle of the oven and none on the bottom. You're going to keep all of the pans as close to the middle as possible.  Preheat to 350 degrees. Line 3 regular cupcake pans with cupcake papers.

For the crust:  

An easy way to make the vanilla wafers into crumbs is to use a rolling pin and a gallon zip bag. I don't remember where I read this, but it's a brilliant way to make crumbs for crust. Place a modest amount if cookies (or graham crackers) in the bag. Zip. Roll with the pin until it's crumby.  Don't be too frisky or the bag may pop.

Combine the wafer crumbs and sugar in a medium bowl. While stirring, drizzle the melted butter onto mixture. It should be oily, but not saturated. Put 1 heaping TBSP of loose crust mix in each cupcake cup (or 1 level TBSP packed mix). Then using a glass that fits just nicely into the cupcake pan, press into the bottom.

For the filling: 

Combine the 1/2 cup of crumbled wafers and 3 tablespoons of the honey in a small bowl. Set aside.

Beat 2 lbs (4-8 oz packs) of cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer on medium speed for several minutes, until it is smooth and creamy.  Now you see why it's so important for the ingredients to be room temp. It will never get smooth and creamy if it's cold. It'll stay lumpy.

For the next few steps beat on low speed - otherwise the texture will be weird. Also stop often to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula. Add the remaining 2/3 cup of honey and beat until incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Next the vanilla extract. Finally the sour cream. Don't over beat it. Once each ingredient is incorporated, stop. I have over-beat it on the left. I know because it shouldn't have air bubbles. I'm so OCD when it comes to mixing the filling, and the over-beating warning is mostly for myself.

Next fold the wafer-honey mixture into the batter - that means stir with a spoon - DON'T MIX with an electric mixer! This step will add texture to the filling and is also what makes this cheesecake fool-proof. Even if you over-mix like I do, it'll still be fine because it's supposed to have a crumbly texture.

Now, pour the filling into each prepared cup. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup, about 2/3 full for each cup, and had plenty to go around. If you run out, just take a teaspoon from each one (starting with the most full) until you fill all of your cups. If you have extra, portion out an equal amount of the extra into each cup.  Mine looked like this.

Place the pans all as close to the middle of the oven as possible. I had to cook mine in 2 batches, since only 2 pans fit in my tiny oven at a time. So if you have to do that, that's fine. Bake for 30 minutes, until the filling is set but still slightly wobbly in the center. It will look like the picture on the right. It's okay if it cracks. That's what also makes this cheesecake foolproof. We're going to cover it up with a topping, so the cracks won't show!

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping: 
 Combine the blueberries and water in a blender. Blend until it's as smooth as you can get it.  Pour into medium saucepan. Add sugar. Over medium-high heat, cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the berries are very soft and everything is warm.

Add the lavender and remove from the heat. Let the mixture steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. I used a strainer over a coffee cup (pictured above), and when that wasn't fast enough (it drains slowly), I added my tea strainer to the process and another coffee cup. I strained it a couple of more times to make sure there's no solid lavender in the syrup. There should be about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of lavender syrup; discard the solids.

Beat the last 8 oz of cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer on medium speed for several minutes, until it is smooth and creamy. Reduce the speed to low, then add the yogurt and the lavender syrup (pictured above). If needed, use a spatula to make sure the mixture is blended together completely.

Remove the pans from the oven; let it rest for 5 minutes, then spread the topping evenly over each mini cheesecake. Using the same method as with the filling, if you don't have enough to go around, take a teaspoon from each, until all are topped. Or if you have too much, evenly distribute it among all of them.  I filled a soup spoon for each cupcake.   If you're cooking them in 2 batches, wait until all are cooked before topping.

Cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Believe me, it's much better the next day.

When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the pans (I used a fork to help pry them up). Spray a swirl of whipped cream on top. If you want to be really fancy, top with a small royal icing flower (I like my little violet!). Or you add a couple of fresh blueberries or a sprig of fresh mint leaves.

These came out so yummy! I could have eaten them all - seriously.

Homemade Tile Cleaner Recipe

So maybe I'm a little more crunchy than I thought I would be. Before you judge, let me explain how I came upon the path of making my own tile cleaner.

I was about to hop in the shower a few nights ago, when I thought about utilizing the time it takes for the hot water to make it from the other side of the house to my shower for something other than sticking my hand in the water every 10 seconds to see if it's hot. Cleaning the bathroom sounded good - well, as good as cleaning the bathroom ever sounds.

I couldn't leave the room for obvious reasons, so I had a nearly empty bottle of Comet Liquid Bathroom Cleaner and a full bottle of some other stuff that had bleach in it. I used the bleach stuff in, what I thought was, a small quantity, yet sufficient to clean. After my shower, my husband refused to shower until the bleach smell left the room. Not a big fan of bleach smell.

Fast forward a few days. Between being sick for weeks on end and busy in the few moments I felt well, my house has become a wreck. A pretty filthy wreck at that. And our bathroom (not the master bedroom one, but the other) was filthy. The kind of filthy that makes you consider the bushes outside as a good place to go. It needed serious cleaning, scrubbing and sanitizing. I didn't want to use the bleach stuff again, because in the quantity I needed, my nostril hairs would singe.

I didn't have near enough Comet to clean it, but looking at the bottle I noticed the active ingredient was citric acid. "I have citric acid!" I thought. A 1 pound baggie of it was stuck in my freezer looking like something more nefarious, but was actually left from my "Fizzing Bath Bomb" experiment, that obviously didn't go well.  I tried looking up cleaner recipes that had citric acid. I found a couple, but they weren't what I needed, so I improvised.

The result worked better than bleach has in the past, plus no bleach smell. My tiles are cleaner than I thought they would be. So before I totally forget what I threw together, let me share it.

Natural and Effective Tile Cleaner Recipe
1/4 cup Citric Acid Powder
1 cup Hot Water
1 cup Vinegar
1 tsp Tea Tree Essential Oil

Dissolve the Citric Acid in the Hot Water. Pour into a spray bottle. Add the Vinegar and Tea Tree Oil. Shake (after putting the top on the bottle). Squirt on dirty tile, toilet or whatever and let sit a couple of minutes, then scrub and rinse. Repeat squirting, scrubbing and rinsing until clean.

I used Tea Tree Oil because I had an excess of it lying around (don't ask). But many other essential oils would work in it's place. I wanted one that didn't have a strong lingering scent and killed germs. Lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, or spearmint are a few I can think of off the top of my head.  Whatever your preference is.

Who am I kidding? I am becoming as crunchy as Muslex.