Jennie Goutet's Blog: A Lady in France, page 19

This is Living

Today is my birthday, and 46 never felt so good.

In the morning, the kids sang happy birthday to me in the saddest voices you’ve ever heard because Matthieu woke them up early. But then they were off to get some administrative stuff done and I was able to have coffee, read the Bible, and pray in peace.

I got messages and texts and posts wishing me a happy birthday. I’m not usually all that sappy, but I was so touched by every expression of love it felt like God was actually tickling my heart.

It’s almost uncomfortable, this tickling.

Does that make any sense at all?

After lunch, I went to our church women’s meeting, which is held once a month in Paris. I got a parking spot right across the street! We sang worship songs, shared good news – there was so much good news. We talked about what it means to be a strong woman, and spent most of the time in small groups praying.

We prayed about Paris – yes. But we also prayed about Palestine, Syria, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, India, Bangladesh – and on, and on.

Friends surprised me with a gluten-free cake and presents. I jumped up and down from all the excitement. (Just a little bit).

We drove home and Matthieu and the kids had cleaned the entire house.

And there were roses!

By the time I got home, Matthieu was getting ready to take the car out to do a good deed, along with a few other brothers. I won’t say what the good deed is, but it was my birthday present. I just want to laugh with delight – you know when you’ve been so covered in goodness and blessings and you can do that for someone else? Well … that.

It’s miserable and raining, of course.

And we are in heavy construction with no roof.

There is a pile of rubble outside.

But inside it’s warm and dry.

We’re all together.

The kids are here in one place.

There’s love and happiness.

It’s kind of like life, right? When such awful things are going on around us? Outside it’s dark and it feels like the night is only getting darker. It feels like the heavens are weeping over the tragedies without cease. Evil throws a massive pile of rubble to block our path.

But we, my friends, are lit from within.

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We Have Flowers

In case you missed my Facebook post of this video, I thought it worth creating a blog post just for this.

It’s the property of Canal Plus, so I’m including the official link here – this particular video begins around 3 minutes, but it doesn’t have subtitles. Below I’m including an unofficial one with subtitles.

 

Un week-end avec les Parisiens – Le Petit Journal du 16/11

With subtitles:

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How We’re Coping

I was in bed on Friday night when I got a FB notification from a friend who works in a newsroom, asking if we were okay. I looked at the news before responding so I could understand what she was talking about.

Of course we were okay. We were home in bed, but my brother-in-law lives in the area, and is frequently out at night. That night was no different. We sent him a message, then searched on the Internet for more developments. A friend marked me “safe” on Facebook.

The next morning felt bleak. I explained to the kids what had happened and they absorbed it, but then quickly went back to play, and their chatter filled the household. I was tempted to be angry at them for their lack of understanding, but then I remembered:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 

I accepted their insouciance as part of life. I texted my best (Muslim) friend and sent her virtual hugs. She sent them back. We got word from my brother-in-law that all was well.

I’d planned to have a Bible study with a friend and she didn’t want to cancel. So I picked her up at the train station and brought her to my house and we studied. It was good.

That afternoon my friends decided not to attend the charity gala that we had planned on driving to together that night.

I still wanted to go. I didn’t want to give in to fear, and I thought it would be a healing sort of evening – not one where people tried to forget through senseless revelry, but one where people remembered and carried on in a spirt of love and courage. Our church was using the gala to raise money to provide sachets of hygienic products to go with the sandwiches that we* distribute each week to the homeless, among which number some refugees. (*in disclosure, “we” means as a church – I have only been a couple of times)

I felt empty after they canceled. Did my friends think I had no heart because I still wanted to go? Did they think I was so quickly ready to get on with life? It’s true, I face these events in a spirit of numbness and the stubborn determination to soldier on. My feelings seep out slowly over time, in this little facet or in that.

In my bleakness, I went outside and started digging around the bay laurel tree that we want to uproot and replace with a cherry tree.

It took so long to make so little a dent that I stood back to survey my handiwork. It was like moving a mountain.

But then I remembered a mountain is moved one mustard seed of faith at a time. I continued to chip away at the roots, and my husband came out to help. My friends texted back to reassure me. No, they did not think I was heartless at all. They understood that everyone grieves differently.

I curled my hair, put on a long dress and extra coats of mascara, and we went. Juliet cried from fear, but I assured her that we were not going to be in Paris proper, and that it was a private event which no one knew about. We were perfectly safe. Still, we prayed together and I promised to text the young neighbor who was staying with them the moment we arrived and the moment we were ready to leave.

The evening was heart-warming. Olivier had worked the entire day to set the flower arrangements in place. They were … extravagant.

(I got to take this one home)

Bernard was on his feet cooking all day, and countless others helped with the food preparation and the decorations.

Etienne and Annick worked tirelessly as they always do to see to the arrangements. Annick bustled about all night, without cease – in a beautiful dress, her face radiant, and her shaved head exposed for the first time since she began her battle with cancer. I love her.

Life goes on in Paris. #jesuisparis

A photo posted by Jennie Goutet (@aladyinfrance) on Nov 14, 2015 at 11:23am PST

The teens and college students, and even some of the younger singles dressed up in black dresses, or white shirts with bow ties, and they served us.

We ate a creamy lentil soup appetiser with toast, crème fraiche, and sprinkled with nuts, mushroom risotto with seafood and a cream sauce, a selection from the cheese platter, and chocolate mousse set on a patisserie for dessert. It was delicious.

We listened to the good that is being done each week through the ministry to the homeless, and then we listened to the perfect entertainment that had been professionally rehearsed.

On Sunday, the Town Hall in Paris canceled our church service, along with all public assemblies. So we had house church in our home. Bernard – along with Francine and Rado – stayed up until 4:30 in the morning, cleaning up after the gala. They were there for church in the morning. Other families assembled with us.

Matthieu led a worship service, interspersed with scriptures, songs, and prayers. He reminded us of Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Who are we fighting against? Let’s keep our perspective on who because it’s not against flesh and blood.

My perspective is this: Isis wants us to mistrust Muslims and the Syrian refugees, and to start hating them to the point of rising up against them in civil war. ISIS want us to begin their “holy war” for them. They want the violence to escalate. But let’s not do that. Let’s not join them in a hatred that blindly charges an entire religion or a race as guilty, and condemns them as the enemy!

Isis wants us to hate and retaliate against Muslims and Syrian refugees. Let’s not join them in hate! @aladyinfrancePowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This

No. We are not fighting against flesh and blood. Our battle is against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We had lunch after our mini service and Lord’s Supper, and then my friend was ready for another Bible study. Matthieu and Patrick worked outside to continue to (try and) uproot the mountainous bay laurel tree while Elizabeth and I studied with my friend and our kids played together.

All things considered, it was a victorious weekend when I look back on how we coped – victories overriding the defeat. Sometimes it seems there is a mountain of spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But by digging and digging and chipping away, the mountain will be uprooted.

Even if it’s not until the end of the age.

No king is saved by the size of his army;

    no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

    despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

to deliver them from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the Lord;

    he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

    for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

    even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33

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Fall Gardening & Sephora Giveaway

We spent time outdoors gardening on Veteran’s Day. Our kids had friends over and Matthieu and I did some manual labor, recorded here with some uninteresting photos, dulled by fall weeds and dead leaves. It’s hard to make a garden look good in the fall, isn’t it?

Except for a few bright spots.

The first thing I focused on was our peach tree that we planted in honour of the baby I miscarried. The kids call him by the baby’s name: Alistair.

He wasn’t happy over there so close to the laurel hedge. I think it sucked all the moisture and nutrients from the soil. So we moved him down a level.

I think he’s going to be much happier here. We put the tomato stakes around the grass seed where the peach tree used to be to give the spot a chance to avoid being trampled on. We also moved the magnolia tree to here:

There’s nothing interesting to look at over in that corner as it is, and I think it will fare better without so much sun. We have another similar tree in front (planted at the same time) that is three times its size and it’s more shaded. So I think that must be the trick.

The roses were too squished. When I planted them, they were so tiny, I could not have known how they would grow.

Five of them! The two Charles de Gaulle rose bushes needed to be pulled out or they would not survive another season. They were getting overshadowed by the taller roses and the black bamboo.

Even the largest, healthiest rose bush was too close to the bamboo and looked ugly next to it. So the Charles de Gaulle roses (they are lavender in color) are now here in full sun – (it’s the optimistic pod sticking out of the soil there)-

and I re-spaced the three larger rose bushes like so.

In bigger plans (which might require renting equipment), we’re going to cut this apple tree down (which doesn’t bear good fruit), and move the spindly one away from the kiwi so it has a chance to get some sun and nutrients.

I know. It’s such a busy picture you can’t even see the apple tree ) it’s shaped like a “Y” over on the left.

We’re going to cut the bay laurel bush right there and plant our spindly cherry tree in its place. The cherry tree is currently also planted too close to the laurel hedge.

Clearly nothing should be growing there except grass. The cherry blossoms will be a lovely thing to look at from the studio where my husband’s office is.

We’re going to turn this shady area – former bin for compost made with asbestos and cement – (where nothing grows) into a fountain. At least that’s my plan. I have begrudging support from my husband.

And we’re going to remove the hazelnut tree. It’s nuts are too small to eat and it’s a little messy and bushy. In fact this whole area – between the hazelnut, kiwi, bamboo, wisteria … it’s just so messy looking. Not in a wild, untamed way, but in an “eyesore” kind of way. It’s not peaceful.

I want at least two bench swings and we’re thinking this might be a good place for one of them.

Oh yes. Do you see the scaffolding? Oh la la, my friends. The adventure has begun! We have no roof at the moment. And boy, is it loud!

 

I’ll keep you posted on that because I know you’ll want to see the way things develop. And wait until I tell you about my birthday present later this month! squeeeeal!

I promised you a giveaway. This is my second community post this week, related to the blog swaps I’m doing. At Simply Ashley Nicole’s blog. It’s a really fun post to read because five of us put collages up of some of our favourite fall items. (Wanna see mine?)

You can click over there and check out what’s trending in our humble lives and have a chance to win a $15 Sephora card! To win you must enter and follow all the entries in the giveaway widget! Here are the participants:And here is the Giveaway! May the odds be ever in your favour. (Is that how it goes)? You have until the 16th to enter. (I hope you win).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Gluten-Free, High-Fiber Bread Recipe

I have a really good recipe for gluten-free, high-fiber bread. It’s the kind you can eat fresh with dinner – (I made it to go with lentil soup) – and also the kind you can toast for breakfast.

And it’s easy to make because you stick all the ingredients in the Cuisinart, and then spread them into the bread loaf. No kneading required!

Put 2 Tablespoons of honey, 1/2 cup of milk into a glass measuring cup. Fill it with water until you reach 1 1/3 cups. (Alternatively, you can measure it separately, but you need 1 1/3 cups of liquid). Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds and add 2 teaspoons of gluten-free yeast. Let it rise.

It will react to the warmth of the liquid and the sugars in the honey, and when it looks like this, it’s ready.

Put all the ingredients in the Cuisinart, apart from the flours and the yeast mixture. That is: 3 eggs (room temperature is best to help things rise), 3 t xanthan gum, 1 t salt, 2 T olive oil, 1 t baking powder and 2 t apple cider. See how the baking powder and apple cider react? It’s like taking science class all over again!

Then add the flours and fiber, yeast, and blend it. Flours are a half-cup each of: gluten-free oat, brown rice, millet and tapioca. Most of these already have lots of fiber. But then the additional fibres are: 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1/4 cup flax seeds, which you grind before adding. (Don’t forget the yeast before you mix).

Your loaf pan needs to be heavily buttered or it will be difficult to get it out in one piece. You could also use butter, then wax paper, and more oil on top of that to help the baked loaf slide out easily.

Let it rise in a warm place. Like on the radiator.

It takes somewhere between one hour and two. Preheat the oven to 350°F (or 175°C).

And bake it for 40-45 minutes. This is where I start to lose the daylight and the good picture quality. If I were a food blogger, I would have made this in the morning to get great pictures. As it is, I’m a lifestyle blogger and I wanted to make it, blog it, and feed my family with it. So here it is – fresh out of the oven – in time for dinner.

Flip it upside down on a wire rack and let it cool just enough to slice it easily.

Feel free to add a pat of butter. Hey, you’ve already redeemed yourself with the fiber.

Goodness

Hallooo! My title is just a fancy way to say I have things to tell you today. Good things. Things I like (or am participating in). And oh my goodness, are they ever good.

The first …

TOOL KIT FOR A GOOD LIFE

I’ve known Kerstin Auer for a couple of years, and I’ve watched her start her online coaching business, and blossom as a result. I’ll tell you a secret about Kerstin:

She’s a licensed plumber. And she can pull off a logo with purple butterflies. How can you not love a woman like that.

I wanted to tell you about her coaching “Tool Kits for Better” which you use to coach yourself. It’s sort of brilliant, isn’t it? True, some of us want the one-on-one time with a coach, or we want others’ input into our lives. But a lot of us (including me) want to figure things out ourselves. These tool kits help you do that.

So far – as you’ll notice if you click here – her Tool Kits include one to guide you towards a better perspective, another for a better purpose, and another for better authenticity. She’s putting one out each month, and some of the titles to come are Tools for Better: mindfulness, goals, and simplicity. She’s constantly creating and working on further ways to help people reach their personal potential and well-being.

In working through the Tool Kit for perspective, I was struck by this quote:

“Gradual changes for the worse often become your new normal because you want to suck it up and push ahead.“

That is totally me! I’m all about sucking it up and pushing ahead. But if you keep going like that, you might not realize you’ve gotten off-track and are headed in a direction you don’t want to go.

And then there’s this one:

“Switching perspectives in a skill you can learn and it’s a skill that plays a huge part in your self-coaching success.“

With this tool kit, you’re led through an activity of examining a situation (of your choosing) and trying to view it from a different perspective – trying out different filters. This helped me to practice the art of switching perspectives in a situation that struck close to home.

You also get a chance to look at the larger picture and take inventory with a view on your heart, mind and soul. All those rich resources that you already have inside of you!

These tool kits are only $7 a piece. If you’re in a space where you’re ready to dig deep and change your perspectives, Kerstin’s kits are a great place to start. She’s also a good friend to have, and I know she’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. Click here for her bio, blog, shop, and even to take a fun quiz.

AN ACT OF GOODNESS

I admire Jeremy and Amy Katzer and their daughters, Hannah and Hope, because they got it into their hearts to help some of the women in Ecuador, Nepal and Cambodia avoid a life of slavery – or start life anew after being freed from slavery. And once it was on their hearts, they went after it with a gusto. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but my husband’s precious Aunt Christine devoted her entire life to this same mission in Peru, until her death in 2009.

This is a video that shows some of the clothes these women are making and the inspiration behind the idea.

Concretely, you can click on the Kickstarter program and donate money to help them get this beautiful project off the ground. The clothes are truly stunning. And the great thing is, depending on the donation, you are given incentives – including sample articles of clothing! You definitely need to take a peek here! They’re a third of the way to their goal, and even a small bit on your part makes a difference. My husband and I made a donation in memory of his aunt.

There are still 23 days left for you to donate too!

A GOOD GIVEAWAY

You may have noticed that I have sponsors over there on the sidebar. Apart from Melissa, these lovely ladies are here through a blog swap.

Melissa is an artist. Her work can be found at M Bailey Illustrations and she does the most exquisite watercolours and sketches on Etsy – many of which are French-based. You can go feast your eyes on all that loveliness.

There’s Courtney from The Everyday Elegance – for my younger readers – to whom elegance seems to be innate rather than acquired. That is most definitely not my case. (Neither innate nor acquired).

Lemon-Sage Soap & Family News

Hi everyone! As you know it’s my week of soap, and this third recipe is for lemon-sage cold process soap.

Many of you didn’t bargain for soap-making when you subscribed to my blog – you’re more interested in French stuff or family news. Well, you soap-makers know the process by now so this third recipe is the short version with less pictures.

If you’re new to soap-making, have a peek at my green tea soap post, which has all the important instructions about how to make soap, including safety tips. And if you missed it, you can also look at my lavender-sugar soap recipe.

For this soap – besides the basic ingredients listed at the bottom – you’ll need dried sage (this is from our garden), essential oil of lemon, and –

I added turmeric for color.

It turns the batch orange, but by the time the soap is cured

it is the loveliest shade of lemon-tinted green.

I’m sort of surprised at myself, but I think I like this fragrant soap even more the lavender!

Which is saying a lot.

That’s it for soap today. Don’t forget to look at the bottom of the post for the recipe and instructions, and at the tutorial, which gives step-by-step guidance.

Otherwise … oh my friends, I’ve been happy. I don’t know why. My heart is filled with peace and contentment.

I love the fall.

We’ve started the major construction on our house and the only thing here that’s going to stay is the iron window grates. The rest will be covered with exterior insulation and the vines will have to grow back. We’re getting away from the peachy-brown tones and will have white (house and iron shutters), black (the window grates), and blue tones for the wooden shutters. And more importantly, we’ll have more room.

I’ve been going places with my kids. The dinosaur exhibit at La Défense

Jardin d’Acclimatation (my daughter may be in junior high, but she’s still fresh-faced and fancy-free)

and we’ve gone to Paris.

Sometimes I forget how lovely it is to be there

to window-shop

and take the train

and see Mr. Eiffel’s grand creation from every angle.

My memoir has just two more rounds of edits before being re-released and I’m excited to share the abridged version. I know it’s going to be so much better with tighter wording and a more appropriate title for the subject matter. I have also plunged into the world of romance with the Viscount and Ms. Whitmore, and am happily ensconced in the edits and revisions there.

Finally, we had a mishap …

and our comrade-in-arms fell in the battle of Pillow Fight – he who had preceded us by centuries. But it was a chance to show a young man grace, and a beautiful reminder that

“we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (from 2 Corinthians 4)

I hope today finds you not crushed, not in despair, not abandoned, not destroyed,

O Treasures.

Cold Process Lemon Sage Soap   Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 1 hour Total time 1 hour 15 mins   Serves: 8-10 Ingredients 2 thermometers, one long. 1 mason jar 1 bowl soap molds saran wrap and towel gloves white vinegar ¼ c lye ¾ c distilled water ⅔ c coconut oil ⅔ c olive oil ⅔ c another oil, like almond, canola or grapeseed ¼ t turmeric ¼ c dried sage 20 drops lemon oil Instructions Prepare all your equipment and protect yourself well. Heat all the oils in the microwave for 1 minute. Slowly pour the lye into the distilled water, a little at a time, until it's dissolved. Let sit for close to an hour until both the lye mix and oil mix are between 95 and 105°F. If you need to, heat the oils again for another 15 seconds or so. Pour lye slowly into oil. Stir by hand for 5 minutes. Add turmeric, sage and lemon drops, and use immersion blender until it looks like vanilla pudding. Put in molds, cover with saran wrap, and then a towel. Let sit for 24 hours. Remove from molds and let cure for a month - covered loosely with a towel, but with exposure on all sides to air. 3.5.3208

 

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Cold Process Lavender Sugar Soap

This is our week of homemade soap, and today’s recipe is for cold process lavender sugar soap. I used the lavender from our garden, and if you’re interested in growing and harvesting your own lavender (easy as pie), make sure to read my post here, which gives you all the details you need to know.

Otherwise, in case you missed Monday’s recipe, that is where you find the step-by-step, detailed instructions with photos. It gives you the how-to, as well as tips for making this a safe process. You won’t want to miss it, so click here before you begin making soap. If you already know the process, continue reading for the cold process lavender sugar soap recipe!

(Don’t forget to Pin for later).

Melt your oils – 2/3 cup of coconut, olive, and another type, such as canola, grapeseed, almond, etc. I used grapeseed for my third oil. I heat them in the microwave for a minute.

Measure 3/4 c distilled water in a mason jar, and slowly pour 1/4 c lye crystals as you stir. You’ll want to protect yourself, and make sure you’re adding them slowly enough that the crystals can dissolve before you add more.

(It was raining so I put mine under the tree to protect it).

Wait for nearly an hour until both the oil and lye mixture cool off to between 95° and 105°F. I try to get it as close to 105° as possible, and usually have to heat the oil back up for 15-20 seconds so that it reaches the correct temperature range at the same time as the lye.

Slowly pour the lye into the oil mixture and stir by hand for 15 minutes.

Use an immersion blender until it reaches trace (like vanilla pudding).

Add 1/4 cup of slightly dried lavender blossoms (a week should do the trick to get the buds to fall off the stems), plus 1/4 c sugar, plus 10 drops of lavender oil if you really want a stronger scent. My soap smells very fresh with only a slight hint of lavender.

When it’s well blended …

place them in your soap moulds. I had 6 small ones

and I complemented with a silicone cupcake pan where I made 4 more.

Cover your moulds with saran wrap, and cover that with a towel.

That keeps the heat in, which is good for the saponification. After you’ve let them sit like that for 24 hours, remove the soaps from their moulds and place them on a tray, lightly covered with a towel. If you have a tray in grid-form where there are holes you don’t need to do anything. But if they are resting on a solid surface you’ll need to turn them over once a week as they cure. Let them cure for one month. (For tips on cleaning the materials, click on Monday’s post, link at the top).

I chose to add sugar because I wanted the soaps to lather well. This is the lather for the green tea soap.

I don’t know if you can see the difference with the lavender sugar soap, but it’s creamier and there are more suds. It is a little softer than the tea soap, while still being a true bar soap. Nothing mushy about it.

It was just what I was hoping for.

I keep getting more ideas for soap. What are the types of fragrances you would be tempted to try? Or would like someone else to try?

How to Make Cold Process Soap (With Photos)

When I set out to make cold process soap, I was looking for a step-by-step process with photos. I wanted to know what it looked like when you poured the lye into the water. To tell you the truth, I was afraid I would blow something up. Since I was entirely successful (and am confident you will be too), I decided to photograph the soap-making process for you. It takes the mystery away.

So this is my week of soap. You’ll either love it or you’ll hate it, depending on how interested you are in making your own soap. (But I do promise to include pretty pictures each time, and will be back to my regularly-scheduled programming next week).

I got the recipe and instructions from DIY Natural, and have not strayed from the exact proportion of oils, temperatures and lye quantity. These have not failed me yet, so many thanks to Betsy for providing such a reliable recipe – and for the safety tips.

I also took tips from Kenna from Modern Soapmaking. She tells which ingredients to use to get what you desire out of the soap, whether it be lots of lather or something durable and long-lasting. I recommend clicking on both of their links and checking their sites out for some expert guidance.

I don’t know what prompted me to want to make soap, but I’m sure it had to do – at least, in part – with all the lavender in our garden. I have this desire to use what we have, even if crafting and homemaking is not my strong suit.

But for this first recipe, I made green tea soap. I used matcha powder and green tea leaves, but that creates a dark soap. If you want to go lighter, you can skip the matcha. I just wondered if the benefits of green tea extended to an exterior usage, as well as an interior. In either case, the green tea leaves are a natural loofah.

Here’s what you need to do. Prepare 3 different oils – 2/3 cup of each. You’ll need coconut oil and olive oil for sure. One makes the lather, and the other makes the hardness that keeps the soap from falling into pieces. And then you need a third oil – grapeseed or canola or almond or the like.

Measure out 1/4 cup of green tea leaves and 1 teaspoon of matcha (if you decide to use it and have the darker coloured soap).

Measure out 3/4 c distilled water into a mason jar. Put 1/4 cup lye crystals to the side so that it’s handy. You should be wearing gloves and long sleeves, pants, and closed toed shoes when you measure the lye, but it’s even more important when you mix it with the water. So have all those things handy.

You’ll need two thermometers – one long for the mason jar, and one shorter (like a candy thermometer).

And then make sure you have your immersion blender. This is indispensable – it won’t (easily) work any other way. Not by electric mixer, not by hand mixing.

And you need soap molds. The ones I bought online were smaller than I expected, so I supplemented with a 6-cup silicone cupcake pan. I was easily able to pop the soap out when it was done.

When you’re ready to start, heat the three oils together in the microwave for one minute.

Then, you want to start pouring the lye crystals very slowly into the water. The lye heats up the water through a chemical process. Do NOT dump them in all at once because it could cause an explosion if they lump together. Pour them in slowly.

(I rarely scream on my blog, but this part was worth a little yelling to make sure you don’t hurt yourself).

I know, I know. It seems scary, right? I asked my husband to help me with this part while I took pictures.

He kept stirring with a spatula until all the crystals were dissolved and the water was clear again, being careful not to breathe in the fumes. The fumes were not as scary as I thought (I read that they can sometimes make you feel a tightness in your throat). But do make soap in a heavily ventilated area, like the outdoors.

And then we just needed to wait. You need for the both the oil mixture and the lye mixture to return to a lower temperature – between precisely 95° and 105° F. Every time I’ve made soap, I still needed to heat the oils again for another 20 seconds since they cooled off faster than the lye.

And here’s the surprising part – from the time the oils and lye mixture cool down enough to be in the proper range … it takes about one hour. I had no idea it would be that long and I thought you would like to know.

When it’s ready, pour the lye mixture very slowly into the oil mixture and stir by hand for 5 minutes.

You want to make sure that every oil particle touches every lye particle (if that’s possible) so that the saponification can begin.

I want to mention here that once the lye mixes with the oil and saponifies, it is no longer harmful to your skin. Do make sure the soaps sit and cure for a month before you use them.

After timing the hand-mixing out for 5 minutes, add your tea and use an immersion blender to thoroughly blend it together.

(You’ll notice that I forgot, and added my tea while I was hand mixing, but it made no difference – the soap still turned out perfectly).

It should take another 5 minutes or so, but you’re looking for the texture to change and become more like vanilla pudding. That’s when it’s at “trace.” It changes color a bit too. Some of my soaps take longer than other to reach trace.

Put the soap in the molds. Now, while it won’t hurt your skin as much as pure lye, I found that it’s irritating before it’s has a chance to cure. So keep your gloves on.

When you have them all in the molds, cover them with saran wrap

and wrap them with a towel or two. This keeps the heat in and allows the saponification to continue. You’re going to keep it like that for 24 hours before popping the soaps out of the mold. I put them on a tiered filing tray with metal trays that allowed the soaps to breathe, and then I covered them loosely with a towel. That way I didn’t have to turn them over once a week to make sure the air reached all sides.

What to do with the equipment? Well, first of all I recommend setting aside the material for soap-making use exclusively. We have an immersion blender, a bowl, a 1/4 measure cup, a spatula, and a mason jar only for soap-making.

To clean the mason jar, we put white vinegar and swirled it around on all sides with the thermometer to neutralize the lye.

For the rest, I waited a couple of days before washing everything so that the mixture had saponified even further. And then I just used hot water. The soap is already in there!

What to Do in Chantilly

I suspect this post will be Part One out of Two to talk about what to do in Chantilly because we plan to go back with the children. I will give you a pictorial tour of the two places we visited this time around, and mention a few more that we plan to see next time we go. That way you won’t miss a thing!

First, there’s the Domaine de Chantilly, which includes the 115 hectare park, the château, and the Grandes Ecuries – the large stables, which are now a huge equestrian museum.

The Domaine de Chantilly includes a 115 hectare park, an equestrian museum, and the château. @aladyinfrancePowered By the Tweet This PluginTweet This

It was raining when we visited, and between that, and getting sidetracked in the annual Journée des Plantes, we did not visit the park, which has French, English and Chinese gardens.

I didn’t realise what this was when we went, but this wall and gate here house the equestrian museum.

Here is the view of the gate connected to the equestrian museum from inside the city

And here is the back entrance to the equestrian museum, which was as far as we got. We’ll return and see the interior – hopefully along with one of its famous equestrian performances – when we return with the children.

But let’s take a look at the château, which we did see. The Petit Château (a portion of the whole) was constructed in the 16th century.

The rest of the château was built in the 19th century for the fifth son of the reigning King Louis-Philippe 1 (the last king of France) – Henri d’Orleans, Duke of Aumale.

Here’s a look inside the Petit Château portion.

Its more impressive feature (to me) is the library. The duke was a well-read man.

With an expensive (tiny) religious relic held under protective glass.

Here’s standing on the landing of the stairwell, whose railing you’re asked not to touch. I wonder why …

When we go up, I think we’re in the dining room directly, if my memory serves me correctly.

The table is very low, showing just how much we’ve gotten taller over the centuries.

Now, I’m not sure exactly where the old château ends and the reconstruction begins, but to the right is the art gallery, with the oldest paintings in France, apart from the Louvre.

There are the Grand Apartments – the gilded public rooms,

such as the music room

and the monkey room. (Apparently, that’s a thing)

There’s also a stained glass gallery, which we saw across the courtyard when eating at La Capitainne.

Finally, there are the private bedrooms, where you see family portraits, and paintings of the Duke’s exploits in Algeria.

(I took this picture because I’m studying up on the Regency period – I want to write a novel set in that time period and his dress was just perfect. He’s even got the knee breeches and would be allowed entry into Almack’s).

So that’s the château. I didn’t put up all the photos – you can thank me for that – but that’s only because I also wanted to share with you the Potager des Princes which is within walking distance of the château, nestled inside the town of Chantilly. This is the perfect place to bring kids.

Potager is pronounced poe-tah-jay and means “vegetable garden.” This park was bought in 2000 by the Biennaimé family and was restored without government subvention and opened for the public. Here are some of the gems.

There’s the chicken symphony.

The chickens peck grains on drums and cymbals to the tune of a loud classical arrangement. The kids can touch the chickens afterwards.

There are also the races. A place where a horse race is held is called a hippodrome. So what do you do when the race is for rabbits instead of horses?

You have a lapinodrome!

And the kids can pet the rabbits too.

There are peacocks, swans and duck, goats that the kids can feed …

And then there are the gardens.

One of the things the family did was to restore the old theatre, which is where Molière played Tartuffe (considered too risquée for the general population).

It looks unassuming, but this little piece of perfection holds puppet shows and sundry other shows throughout the year.

Come with your kids, or come because you love gardens.

“The garden is the purest form of art created for human pleasure.”

And that’s it. A visit to the château and the potager, with the determination to come back and visit the horse museum, the hamlet that inspired Marie Antoinette’s in Versailles, the lace museum, and I think I remember reading that you could take a mini river cruise on the Nonette, which rejoins the Seine. Not sure about the latter. But this should give you plenty of ideas for visiting Chantilly, whether it’s with the entire family, or en amoreux.

If you’d like to know where to eat and sleep while in Chantilly, check out my post here where I talk about just that. If you’re visit coincides with the Journée des Plantes each October, you can also read more about that here.

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