Coffee and Walnut Soap

Made another batch of soap today. I have a list of reasons I like making soap, and some pictures, but first I have to give a shout out to this website, where I found this particular recipe, and Aldi, where you can buy groceries at verrrry nice prices.

Top 5 reasons I like to make the soap:

1. The more soap you make, the more cost effective it is! 
2. It combines so many fun things: science, art, home economics, etc
3. It takes all the things I like about baking, and all the things I wish were involved in baking, and combines them (preparing, measuring, and mixing ingredients.....and then leaving the project to sit for 24+ hours, and then cutting it up and then letting it sit for a few more weeks...and then using it. And the product not only doesn't expire, it gets better the longer it sits).
4. Safety goggles and rubber gloves are very in style in our apartment right now.
5. The possibilities are endless when it comes to different soap recipes, and learning/inventing them (I am not to the point where I know enough to invent a recipe).

This evening Steve was around and took some pictures of me making soap. The captions are to give you an idea about the process, but are in no way meant to be instructional.

All of the ingredients are edible....except the lye (or, Sodium Hydroxide, or caustic soda...or, as you can see, drain opener....they're all the same. You don't want to eat this. This is the reason for the safety goggles and rubber gloves).

Thank God for immersion blenders. Basically all soap is lye mixed with some sort of fat/oil. This particular recipe also has brewed coffee. Coffee acts as a deodorant, so if you're chopping onions and garlic, apparently it would be a good idea to wash your hands with this soap. We shall see!

Also added some ground coffee and ground walnuts, as exfoliants.

I just liked the motion and color in this one.

Don't be deceived! This will not taste as good as it looks. There is a reason why washing your mouth out with soap should not be a pleasant experience. After the soap is the proper consistency, and additives are added in, pour it into whatever you have designated as a soap mold and let it sit for a while. 1-2 days, depending on the recipe.

No peaking until tomorrow!