As I told you in last
Thursday’s post, I made underarm deodorant using baking soda, corn starch,
solid coconut oil, and lavender essential oil.
After packing it into clean deodorant containers, I stored it in the
refrigerator because it looked a little soft.
The cold temperature hardened the deodorant, which made the consistency
very similar to deodorant that you would buy from the store.
I have used this
deodorant exclusively since I made it. I
am pleased to say that this really does work as well as the store-bought
deodorants. (If you’re grossed out
easily, don’t read this rest of this paragraph.) Since I don’t find it easy to bury my nose in
my own armpit, I had no choice but to ask Charming to give me the “smell test”. Over the past few days, he’s become
accustomed to me sidling up next to him and asking in my sweetest and most
romantic voice, “Honey, would you smell my arm pit?” I must say the first time I asked him to do
that, he had a question in his eyes that I interpreted as, “Is it time we take
a little trip to the dementia unit at Loving Arms?” However, once the initial shock wore off, (like
any man who is all boy at heart) he readily took a big whiff and reported that there
was “no discernable odor present” and went back to what he was doing. He did this for three days in a row without
getting annoyed with me. Bless his
little heart. While it is somewhat strange
going to the refrigerator each morning to get my deodorant, using a home made
deodorant with so few harmless ingredients beats using the store-bought,
chemical-laden deodorant that I used to purchase. I am definitely happy with the results.
Another recipe
that I said I would report back to you on is the dandelion wine. I made it three weeks ago. When I was cooking the wine on the stove as
the recipe indicated, Charming said the smell was absolutely awful and could
hardly stay in the house. (This coming
from a man who had no problem with smelling my armpits for three days in a row…go
figure.) I didn’t think it smelled that
bad and it actually tasted really good prior to my putting the yeast in to
ferment.
So this past Saturday
was the fermentation deadline. When I
lifted the cloth off of the crock, I could tell that the yeast had done its
work. The bubbling of the yeast had
stopped and it definitely had that fermented smell. I strained the liquid from the
dandelion/lemon/orange solids and put it into a clean bottle and put the cork
in it. The color of the wine is like
that of pale orange juice, which makes sense as the dandelions, lemons, and
oranges that I used to make it were all yellow.
Neither Charming nor I are particularly fond of alcoholic beverages, but
the taste of this wine isn’t bad. Charming
thought it had a taste that was somewhat between a beer and a wine. We both agreed that, in a few months, it
should taste even better. The recipe
made a big bottle of wine, so there’s plenty for a crowd. I have it sitting on the bottom shelf in the
linen closet. I plan to bring it out
during a family gathering at Christmas-time when my brothers and sisters will
be around to try it. I’m sure it will
bring back memories and plenty of conversations of when my father used to make
it when we were children. Here’s to good
memories!
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| Freshly bottled dandelion wine. |
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| Nice color and clarity. (How's that for "wine talk"?) |
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