Annette made some mandarine curd and David made some red onion pickles.  Here is the recipe:

Red Onion Pickle Recipe
1-2 Onions
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
Salt
 
Slice up the onion and put it in a saucepan with the vinegar, sugar and salt.
Bring this up to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave it for about 5 minutes to cool down and infuse.  If you want it a little softer leave it on the boil a little longer.  

Helen and Mandy gave a fantastic demonstration on how to make goats milk soap and standard soap.  The goats milk soap was really interesting as Helen had frozen milk which she pounded up with a pestle. When she added the combined caustic soda and water to the goats milk the temperature was quite low.  Helen and Mandy were a bit worried that the milk might curdle as that apparently can happen if it is too hot but it worked perfectly. 

Mandy then showed us how to make the basic recipe but told us about all the different things that she adds to her soap.  There was quite a robust discussion about all the things that you could try.  The ladies even gave us a sample to take home - but we do have to wait the six weeks for it to dry. 

Thank you so much to Mandy and Helen for doing such a fabulous demonstration.  I just love to see people sharing their knowledge with one another.  As we have said we are definitely not experts at what we do but it is so good to see people getting together to learn from each other. We always go away from these workshops inspired and motivated. 

I made Jam Surprise Muffins for morning tea and several people asked for the recipe so here it is:

Jam Surprise Muffins (gluten free)
200g gluten free self-raising flour
100g caster sugar (I put in less)
1 large egg
75ml olive oil
150ml milk
1/2 teasp vanilla extract
40ml strawberry jam

For the sugar coating:
25g butter, melted
25g caster sugar

1. Heat the oven to 190 degress.  Line a 12 hole patty tin with paper cases.  Next sieve the flour into a bowl and stir in the sugar
2. In a large jug mix together the egg, olive oil, milk and vanilla extract using a fork.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently together until just combined.
4. Put a teaspoonful of the mixture in the base of each paper case.  Top with a dollop of strawberry jam.  To with the rest of the muffin mixture.
5. Bake for 10 minutes until well risen and firm.
6. Put the sugar in a shallow bowl.  Brush the tops with melted butter and dip in the sugar to coat the tops. 

I am finally catching up on some blog posts from some of our recent activities. On the 23 February Margaret conducted a terrific homemade laundry liquid and soap making workshop. The 15 ladies who attended the workshop were all quite amazed with how easy the soap was to make.  Although the instructions look quite complicated on paper when you actually see someone make it it isn't quite as difficult as first thought. Margaret also gave each participant a sample of soap to take home.

The laundry liquid is quick and easy to make.  Margaret even grated the soap as seen in the picture which really didn't take long at all.  Once again all the ladies were able to take some laundry liquid home to try it out.  For the instructions on how to make the soap and laundry liquid please click on the link - Soap and Laundry Liquid Instructions. Margaret used the instructions from Rhonda Hetzel which can also be found on her wonderful blog - Down to Earth.

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.