Here is the recipe for the pickles.  Have fun!

After being inspired at Rhonda's Pips 'n' Cherries workshop, I made my first batch of soap on the weekend.  I was a little cautious and made sure I had everything ready to go.  I locked the cat away so that she wouldn't accidentally get too curious and check out what was happening. I set everything up on the verandah and decked myself out in all the safety gear.  I was really pleasantly surprised with how smoothly it all went.  There was a little bit of time waiting for the caustic soda mix to cool down but that wasn't a problem, just required a little patience.  It didn't take long for it to mix to get to trace which is the sign that you look for which tells you the soap has become stable and is ready to be poured into the mould.  That sounds complicated but really it just reaches a thick consistency and ripples form on the surface and stay there. After leaving them overnight they came out of the moulds beautifully and are now drying on a rack.  It is going to be hard waiting for them to harden before we can start to use it.  How exciting - my first batch of soap.  I will definitely be doing it again as it was so easy. 

Here is a link to Rhonda's instructions for making soap - How to make cold processed soap.

I great tip from Margaret - if you are looking for a candy thermometer you can get them from "King of Knives" at Grand Central for $7.95.

On the 1 September we had our first Simple Living Toowoomba Workshop.  Glenys Milligan showed a group of ladies how to make cauliflower pickles.  The smell that filled the kitchen was just divine.  As well as learning how to make the pickles we also learnt how to make sure that the bottles were sterilised.  One interesting tip was once you have filled the bottles and put the lids on, tip them upside-down.  This helps them to seal. I will add the pickle recipe tomorrow.