Handbrewed Soaps Beer Challenge Results

Well I am happy to report that our beer challenge was a success and that by the end... everyone was in great spirits thanks to the wonderful beer that was tasted.  My dad joined in the tasting too. Though he had no idea the types or breweries, he hung in there and drank whatever was in front of him!  We tasted four different beers, all of which have a personal story...

1)  The first was a Leffe Blond.  We actually discovered this beer when we were in Holland.  Eric had a gig there a week before we got married, so I (OF COURSE!!!) tagged along.  We found this great pub in the back alley of a back alley in Groningen... and drank ourselves silly with this beer:

2) The next beer was from our own hometown here in Oakland.  It was Ale Industries, Golden State of Mind. I also picked it because we make beer soap for them using their beer... you can find them in their tasting room in Oakland and Concord.  I personally love this beer because the taste of the camomile and cardamom really comes through...

3) Next was Laguitas Hop Stoopid, a good Hoppy beer.  I threw this one in to trick Eric.  He's been drinking a lot of IPA's lately, and I was hoping he'd confuse it with the other IPA I would have him taste.

4) Finally, Eric got to his favorite "go-to" beer....  Bear Republic's Racer 5.  This, without a doubt, he got....  He KNEW this beer!!!

We hope you enjoyed their Father's Day!  Cheers!

Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Life, Family, and Business

Today is Father's Day and what better day to tribute this blog post to one of the most important men in my life... my Dad!

Background:  My Dad was born in Chicago and moved to Oakland as a toddler.  He attended Oakland Unified School's from K-12 and then became a Coach, Teacher, VP, and Principal in the very same school district he was raised in. Currently he is retired.  This man has taught me, my brother, and many students in Oakland some key lessons about life, family, and business that I'd like to share with you!

1)  Go Big, or Go Home:  My dad is the king of of doing things big.  Whether it be Christmas decorations (he is know for constructing a life size toy soldier!), dogs (we had a standard size poodle growing up!), or sports (taking Skyline High School to the OAL championships in 1985) he goes big on everything.  In my soap business he was the one to come up with the idea of building my soap studio, rebuilding my soap molds to increase production, and creating a schedule of soap making that increases not only soap production, but increases time with my family.  He is always thinking 3-12 months out, which is why he goes big.  Leave an impression for yourself and others, think where you'll be in the future and figure out in the moment what you can do now to make that happen.  To explain this better, see point 2.

2) Set a Goal, Focus on it, then Actualize it:  When my dad gets an idea, there is nothing to distract him from it until it is complete.  This could take the form of a home project or setting up work projects with local companies for his student to give them real life experiences and a better understanding of the importance of staying in school. My dad has always been a great leader in modivating people to follow their dreams.  He often uses a target metaphor to call people to action, "Think of your dream/goal as a three ring target.  The inner circle (the bulls eye) is your goal, you are the only one that can affect that.  The second outer circle  is the area that you can affect with others, but you can't do it alone. Either you may need help or you may need to others need help.  Then there is the third ring.  In this ring, you can't do jack about.  Whether it's opinions of others, the weather, whatever...  there's no reason to worry about it because you can't do anything about it! If you spend time in the third ring, you won't get much done.  So,  spend 80% of the time in the center circle and 20% in the second circle.  The inner circle will take you to where you want to go, the 20% is to better the community around you to help those that need the support you got.  Always give back."

3) Perseverance:  Sometimes your goals are harder to reach than you thought. Things don't always go the way you planned.  Actually most of the time they don't.  My dad never said, Don't give up.... But he taught that through his actions. If he got a "No!" to an idea, he'd take it to someone else or try another strategy.   He also taught us to identify when it was time to walk away from something with integrity when a "wall" maybe to strong or high to get through.  For example, if you are in a position to create positive change but a boss or higher up makes decisions that actual go against this change.  If it's affecting your health, your family, take a break...  let someone else lead the fight or do it a different way, but on your own terms. This leads to point 4.

4) Innovation/ Entrepreneurial Mind:  In the past, he and my mom owned a couple local / indie businesses.  Not only having full-time jobs, they also owned a fish store and their own woodwork business on the side. Why?  Sometimes the rug may be pulled out from underneath you and you need to have a back-up plan.  He believed that it is important to carve out a little something for yourself, that's yours, to have options.  And for him, his greatest motivation for an entrepreneurial mind was to support his family which brings us to point number 5.

5) Sacrifice:  To follow you dreams you have to sacrifice and work hard.  What you define as success is not going to happen over night.  Over night successes really take years and decades to come to fruition.  My dad's goal was to make sure his family (including his students) thrived and leaves a legacy for others to follow. He worked multiple jobs to support the family. He coached basketball, skiing, and swim team (I know I'm forgetting something!) to motivate students to be their best.  Now he is a grandfather of 5, and he is family to many of his players that have gone on to play in the NBA and National Baseball League.  And I see the pride in his eyes when we are all together.

These are just a few lessons that my Dad has taught me!  I am grateful for him and wish him a fabulous Father's Day!

Love You DAD!!!

Persevering through Writer's Block

   

Today I have writer's block.  I have no idea what to blog about.  I'm day seven into the blog challenge, and I'm at a loss for words.  I have a list of topics that I can write from, but nothing is speaking to me.  All I really want to write about is how I don't know what to write.
     When I was a classroom teacher, I always had my students spend the first 15 minutes of class writing in their journals.  I has a laundry list of ideas for them to write about on the wall including: 1) what they did over the weekend, 2) the most unusual food they ate, 3) the biggest surprise they ever got etc.  And just like I'm experiencing now, my students would tell me, "Ms. Swi, I don't know what to write about!"  And my response would be, "Then write about that.  Write about how you don't know what to write, why you don't know what to write, and what would inspire you to write."  Usually their entries would look something like this....

"I don't know what to write.  I don't know what to write.   I don't know why I don't know what to write, I just don't know what to write.  Nothing would inspire me.  Why are you making me do this???"

And right now, that is how I'm feeling!  So, I'll give myself my response that I would give to them:
     "I know how you feel.  I've been there.  But by writing the five sentences you just wrote you got to practice.  You reinforced your writing skills of spelling and sentence structure.  You voiced your feelings.  You explored what the point of this 15 minute exercise is all about.  You got through a rough patch.  You persevered.  I'm proud of you!"

Yes, I got through this!  I persevered and I'm proud of myself!

What the F*&$? Cleaning up one of the Biggest Oil Spills in Handbrewed Soap History

Have you ever had your worst fear come to life?  I always think of that scene in the movie, "Witches of Eastwick," where the character played by Cher wakes up to find herself in a bed of snakes. Though it wasn't snakes, I woke to every soap maker's nightmare: An oil spill the size of the Exxon-Valdez (ratio equivalent of course!)

This picture doesn't give the spill justice.

The oil covered 90% of my 12 X 16 foot studio.  It went under the shelves, soaked into boxes that were on the floor, and soaked into the wood of most of my cabinets.   It was all my fault.  I used new oil heaters that were a little different than my previous ones.  My old ones were in Fahrenheit.  These new ones were in Celsius.  Slight detail.  I'm not going to harp on how pissed at myself I was. As they say, "There's no need to cry over spilt oil!" I had to concentrate on the clean up.  Surprisingly enough, an oil clean up in a soap studio is very similar to an oil spill say.... in the ocean!

Step 1:  Contain the oil with towels so that it doesn't spread any further.

Step 2: Leave the oil alone until it hardens. 

Step 3: Scrape up the oil from the floor using a trowel and put into a bucket to dispose of it properly.

Step 4: Use HOT soapy water to wash the floor.

Step 5: Once the floor is dry, use your favorite grease remover cleaner to wash the floors again.

Step 6: Repeat step 4.

Four hours later, my floors were pretty good at this point.  As for everything else, I either had to dispose of or wash in hot soapy water.

Lesson learned. Make sure you know what temperature you are working with!  I hope this story helps if this nightmare ever happens to you!!!

Myth or Fact: Soap Cures Late Night Leg Cramps

Four nights ago, I was reminded why I love being pregnant.  I woke up with a subtle pain in my foot and noticed, as if it had a mind of it's own, my foot began to flex.  Gradually a pain formed in my calf.  I thought, "If I massage it, it'll go away."  Wrong... it only got worse.  For 5 minutes, I sat in bed with this horrible pain that would contract and release, as if my leg was giving birth.  That was when I got Eric, my husband, involved.  He was awoken by me punching him, yelling,"Wake up!  I think I'm going to die, it hurts so bad!!!"  Well he jumped out of bed thinking this was it...  we were going the have a baby.  His panic turned to irritation as he learned it was just a leg cramp.  Being the awesome guy he is though, he played along, massaging my leg, making suggestions to stretch it, and eventually (25 minutes later) everything went back to normal and I could fall asleep! He's such a team player!

Ahhhh, being pregnant, I just love it!

So apparently, leg cramps affect many pregnant women.  There are many reasons to why this happens: lack of hydration or magnesium,  carrying extra weight, etc.  And there are many cures: stretching, drinking water, adding salt to foods.  Then two people (my mom and a friend) suggested sleeping with a bar of soap at the the bottom of your bed....What? Sleep with a bar of soap at the bottom of your bed?  I'm in!!!

This myth has been around for decades.  There is no scientific reason this would work, and many scientist say that if you do it and the leg cramps go away, it's due to the placebo effect.  But, one advocate, Joe Graedon, in his article, Why Does Soap Soothe Night Leg Cramps?, says that:

"The quantity of perfume transmitted to the skin may be small, but it appears to be enough to dilate blood vessels and prevent cramps. We know, of course, that the small, mobile molecules in the fragrances of soap diffuse through its gel to the surface and evaporate. We know because we can smell them. And when you score an old bar of soap, you can smell it all over again, just as strongly as when you first took it from its paper wrapper."

So who do I listen to then?  A scientist or my mom?  Well my mom of course.  So for the past three nights, one of my bars of soap has had the pleasure of sleeping with me.  First I scored the soap so that the fragrance was stronger, and then I put it under the bottom sheet.  And let me tell you people, the leg cramps have gone away......  that's what I'm talking about!  But then again, I have been drinking way more water, stretching, and have joined a gym... Either way, I'll do whatever it takes for my legs not to "give birth" again!!!

What have you found that works for nighttime leg cramps?

Cooking with Hops: A Hops Shoot Frittata

(Note:  I am not a chef.  I love reading recipes and coming up with my own. I cook what I know my family will eat!  I also eyeball everything…  exact measurements aren’t my forte.  And I use what I have.  Oftentimes I look in my fridge and throw something together or substitute ingredients because I don’t have what a recipe calls for.  As a result, my meals always come out a little different each time I make them! Please let me know what you think…  if I need to add or take away!  I’m learning too!!)
Fun Fact:  Did you know that hops are one of the most expensive vegetables in the world?  And I got 10 different varieties growing in my backyard!!!! (Yea, for me!) 
Recently I came across an article that explained that you can eat hop shoots.  So I thought, why not?  The stems themselves are described in the same way as asparagus and have even being mentioned by Pliny that they were eaten during the height of Roman reign.  So I've decided to saute them in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and add them to a frittata. If you are interested in actually using the hop flower (what is used in beer) experts say to use them as a seasoning, where you would traditionally use rosemary, thyme, oregano and marjoram.  
Saute instructions:
1) Trim leaves off of stems.  (Apparently you can cook with them too, but I'm leaving them out of this one!)
2) Saute you stems in Olive Oil, Garlic, Salt and Pepper
3) Add them to your frittata or egg dish.

And the verdict is:

  

Father's Day Beer Tasting Challenge

So that important man in your life is a beer geek.  He claims to know everything about beer including the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio.  So, this Father's Day, put him to the test!  Create your own Beer Tasting Challenge!  Here's what to do:
1) Buy a selection of beer for your participants.  Choose some favorites and maybe some obscure ones.  Note:  Trader Joe's let's you mix and match your six pack!
2) Cover your labels, but don't take them off because you'll need proof.  You can get as fancy as you want.  I'm just using materials that I have around the house.  We tend to brown bag it around here, so that's what I'm doing. I'll tie it with raffia to make it look special.  Here are various levels of craftiness below!

Pic from Celebrate Mag!

Pic from Draft Mag!

3) Pour the beer into glasses and have him/participants taste.  With each one, have him write down the style, the brewery, and alcohol ratio.
4) When he's done, give him the big reveal!

Even if he doesn't get them right, he'll be a happy camper after tasting six beers.  And a few laughs will be had by all!

Interested to see how Handbrewed Soaps stands up to the test?  Find out on Monday!  I can't wait to see how Eric does!

Happy Father's Day