It’s been quiet around the soap works the past week or so. We took an intensive CERT Train-The-Trainer class that went 8 hours a day Friday through Sunday, so no time left for much else, but very productive.

Received a Brambleberry package today containing another silicone soap mold, a large bottle of Cucumber-Lemon fragrance oil, a free sample of Key Lime Tart fragrance oil, and a new mini-mixer. Just like Christmas!

We’re loving the silicone mold, although it would be nice if it were just a bit larger. Two inches longer and another inch wider would be perfect, but don’t think there’s such an animal out there.

The next soap we want to make is called Windsor. She found the recipe in an older soap-making book. It’s been around for many years and has tallow in the recipe. She first started thinking about making soap 10 years ago or more, so naturally thought of making it the old-fashioned way. She went to the local meat-packing plant, bought some tallow, and processed it.

It’s been sitting in the freezer all these years. She wanted to start from scratch, so last week we visited the same plant and came home with 13 lbs of suet. Mostly a pretty clean white with only a few discolored spots. Instead of rendering it on the stove, she put it into two crock pots and it produced a beautiful clear oil that she strained into canning jars. By putting a flat and ring on the jars, most of them self-sealed. Once cooled, the tallow hardens into a beautiful pure white solid.