Living Room

I realized I never put up a picture of my living room so here it is. I love it during the day when all the light spills in. Even on cloudy days it's lovely to look over and see the doors and the lines of the metal fence through the doors and windows. And I love how the floor gleams. The one thing I don't love is the blue milk cart my TV is sitting on but since my postdoc budget is not going to be able to cover an alternative for quite some time it is something I can definitely live with. On weekends I like to sit on one side of the sofa and flip through my New Yorkers, or when I'm industrious, flip through papers. Tony can usually be found sitting on top of a cushion or curled on the other side by my feet. Or curled on my tummy while I read. Just as he is lying next to my laptop now...

Making Soap

Because I'm a girl with a lot of hobbies I decided the only thing to do is to add to the list. I made my first batch of soap yesterday using the following recipe that I devised with the aid of this very nice lye calculator and the instructions at the simple dollar:

70% olive oil (11.2 oz)

20% coconut oil (3.2 oz)

10% crisco (1.6 oz)

handful of ground oatmeal

handful of lavender buds

Melt oils together (not too much, try not to exceed 120 degrees or it takes forever to drop back down) and then toss in the oatmeal and lavender. In a separate bowl combine:

2.2 oz lye

6.1 oz milk (previously frozen and then broken up into a bit of a slushy)

(Note to self: I found this mixture reached near 120 degrees)

Once the temperature of both reaches near 100 degrees, combine lye mixture into oil mixture (NOT the other way around) and then stir for a million years with a spoon or spatula until it becomes thick. Then pour into molds (any kind of container really) and leave somewhere to cure for a few days (I'm not sure how long yet, it was certainly still too soft today) and then remove from mold and cut up with a knife. Then leave to cure for 6 weeks before use.

Obviously, use some common sense with the lye and don't re-use anything that has touched the lye for food. I highly recommend looking at the tutorial on the simple dollar since they provide very detailed instructions and have pictures to boot! I was watching a baseball game at the same time and could not be bothered to take pictures of this process.

Update 12/4/10: I've started using the soaps and am enjoying it a lot. I do feel it could use more lather though so next batch I will try 70% olive oil, 25% coconut oil (4 oz) and 5% crisco (0.8 oz). I will also not use milk (to see if the soap will be white) but will retain the lavendar buds and oatmeal for texture. I have to say I've been looking forward to my showers just for an opportunity to use soap. Once my bathroom sink soap is done I will replace with a homemade bar I think.

Soymilk

I did it! I made a soymilk that was free of unpleasant grittiness with the right amount of salt and sweetness. Now I shall jot down my notes so I can remember it next time.

Make soymilk in machine according to instructions. 1/2 of a rice cup of dried soybeans works out well for a single batch (75 grams according to manufacturer's directions). Fill water to JUST above the bottom line. After it is done, strain through muslin cloth to remove residual grit. Add the following and boil for a few minutes. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

Two batches of soymilk

1/3 cup sugar (and a dash more perhaps)

1/4 tsp salt

Birthday!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday (I keep on feeling I should be making a bigger deal of this or freaking out or something but I really don't mind being in my 30s at all. In fact I'm looking forward to it) and I had a lovely day full of electronically sent well-wishes and phone calls. One thing that did come via mail was this:

The very nice Bunny got me a new TV! It's funny because she has been the source of all the TVs I've ever owned (ok two so far). The first she gave me when I was moving to Philly. She had gotten it free from one of her friends and passed it on to me. I don't even know what those TVs are called, tubes? It had a thick back. (Look how smart I sound! Thick back!) Anyway, I am completely delighted with my present and finally got around to watching Ponyo last night. It was a beautifully drawn movie, but the story was pretty boring I thought. I didn't think it was one of Miyazaki's best efforts. I still have Firemen's Ball to watch and then I'll be back on track with my Netflix.

For my birthday dinner, I decided to make myself cupcakes (using the recipes from allrecipes for Simple White Cake and Chocolate Frosting) and they turned out exactly the way I hoped. I'm pretty basic when it comes to sweets, and all I wanted was some old school easy-ass cupcakes. And these were it.

Dinner was homemade pizza. Now, I love all kinds of pizza: fancy thin crust pizza, Papa John's pizza, Pizza Hut pizza (which is sort of like pizza but is really it's own thing), New York style pizza, deep dish pizza, etc. But I have a special soft spot for the pizza I make myself in my little cast iron pan. It's taken me a few tries to get it to how I like it, but now it is something I fix fairly often, as you can see from previous blog posts. So after several weeks of not having a kitchen at my disposal, I was very eager to make pizza for my birthday:

Might I say too, what a joy it is to cook in my new kitchen?? I still find myself using small bits of counter at a time because I'm sort of used to being scrunched up, but even still it is more space than I've ever had for cooking before. And I love that I can throw stuff into the dishwasher after instead of facing a giant pile of messy dishes and measuring cups and bowls. Woohoo! So far being 30 is great!

Living Alone

The Bunnies left yesterday before first light (literally) to catch their 6:30 AM flight home. I spent the day doing minor home things (organizing, cleaning, putting things away, snacking, grocery shopping, etc) but also made my first loaf of bread using the bread machine that Ferret and Tortoise bought me as a graduation present. I followed Ferret's Amish White Bread recipe that he adapted from allrecipes.com and it turned out fabulous. I wasn't hungry at all when it came out but how could I resist fresh warm bread? Alas, I could not, and ate a slice promptly with a bit of brie.

For breakfast, I had another slice topped with cheesy egg. I'm trying to be good and not waste any food so am being very careful with my food purchases. Had a bowl of peach and a big mug of earl grey tea with milk. I love homemade bread.

And here is a last picture of a Tony cat sleeping peacefully and companionably by my side. This was taken last night but as I look to my right, I see there he is again in the same chair, fast asleep in almost the same way.