Sunday kitchen duty

This is what I was up to on Sunday:   it was my turn to cook the noon meal for the community (30 in number).   My cooking partner is laid up with a bum knee so I got creative with my menu and planned for dishes that I could prepare ahead!    Baked spaghetti is a community favorite.    But one just does not make one dish of the main course...we also provide (and gladly I'd add)  vegetarian and gluten free options.    Then on to the dessert...it was the course that merited a photo:

Peaches and Cream Torte (gluten free)

Peaches and Cream Torte (regular)

This was an absolute delight to make and sooooooo easy.  And of course there were also sugar free and gluten free options.   Let me know if you want the recipe.   It is a perfect light summer dessert.

So now I am back in the soap shop.   Sr. Judy is cutting soap as I write.    I am hoping to be able to upload photos to our Monastery Creations website of  our new Liquid Soap.    It is lucious and so easy to use with it's purple foamer top.   Have a great day everyone and enjoy your summer.

Soapmaker/Baker....Baker/Soapmaker???

Soapmakers generally really like to also bake and I'm no exception!   Tomorrow is the feast of Pentecost and Sr. Rita and I are the Sunday cooks assigned to cook for the community on this feast.   So today we are doing some of the preparation work so that tomorrow goes smoothly and we actually get the meal on the table.  There are a few of us who also sign up to bake for Sunday breakfast and I included that in my service for tomorrow.    This morning I baked up a batch of English Muffin bread and prepped my dessert which will be White Chocolate Cherry Pie.   I'm sharing a photo from the recipe book:

I'm not the only one preparing for the Feast tomorrow.   Srs. Jane and Denise have been working all morning fashioning flower arrangements for Chapel and for our Refectory (dining room):

Sr Jane and Sr. Denise

Sr. Denise is preparing table arrangement for Our Lady of Rickenbach.

Chapel bouquet

Wishing you all a glorious feast of Pentecost....and a relaxing Memorial Day weekend when we gratefully remember all of our brothers and sisters who have given their lives in service to our country.  

Our gratitude goes also our Veterans as well as those who are currently serving in harms way.   May our good God keep you safe.

Swirling saga continues...

By now I have made my 2nd and 3rd batch of swirled soap and am really getting the hang of it.   It's great fun to see how my Sisters are so excited about it.   This is a glimpse of my 2nd batch:

Soap Swirling

Swirled Cold Process Soap:  1st attempt

This is how my first attempt at swirling Cold Process Soap wend down!    Suffice it to say that I learned alot in the process.    I need to make it at a thinner trace so that the soap remains 'pourable' and I need to make sure the batch is bigger so that the mold will be full.   I think it has great potential once I get the hang of how much coloring to use so that they are not so dark.  

So I will give it another try this week and will post more photos so that you can get a sense of what it is really supposed to look like.

Today is the feast of the Ascension.   Our Easter Season is really moving along.   Sundays are wonderful here in the Monastery:  focus is on prayer, quiet, community.   We have recreation together in the evening and have recently learned some fun new card games.   My sister Marybeth came to visit in April and taught us:
"Crazy Hate Your Neighbor".   Sounds like a game played in the monastery?   Well it really is alot of fun and has us laughing and enjoying each others' company.    Have a great week everyone!

Productive Week!

This has been a productive week having made 450 bars of soap.   My inventory shelves are looking alot better.    I am really excited to try a new swirling technique that we learned at the Soap Conference last week.   This is a photo of what it might look like:

One of my customers wanted to order 12 bars of Gregorian Mist soap and I was completely out!   Actually it was on my to-do list.   I emailed her and asked if she wanted to substitute a different fragrance...and her immediate response was she would be glad to wait as it is their favorite.   It is made and is now drying.

I posted this photo to Face Book as I think it is so beautiful.   On Mothers' day we put photos of our Mothers out and this is the table decor that Sr. Denise prepared for the photos:

Tomorrow will be my Hermit Day.   We can take a day of solitude once a month and I'm ready!   I'll remember you all in my prayer.

Meet The Soap Sister

Greetings to you from the Soap Shop at Clyde Missouri!  I've been playing catch-up since returning from the 15th annual Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild meeting.   It is always a wonderful experience of networking with other veteran soapmakers as well as those who are new to the craft.

Through the pages of this blog I hope to share with you the daily happenings of life here at the monastery in Clyde as well as keeping you up on all that goes on here in the soap shop.   Your comments and questions are most welcome!