Soap good enough to eat

Soap-making has became one of my favorite crafts. It's just so simple and so versatile! All it takes, in most cases, is a chunk of glycerin and some miscellaneous ingredients and you're good to go.

In this soap-making edition, I decided to use some ingredients that I (and many other Americans) have lying around in my kitchen. Martha calls these soaps, "Pantry Soaps," and for good reason - they are one step below edible.

Martha had a variety of different "recipes" for kitchen-based soaps, but I went for the one that seemed to have a really interesting texture. I was immediately drawn to the soaps she made that had oatmeal in them, for this very reason. Plus, it brings me back to taking an oatmeal bath as a child with the chicken pox, and although this is not necessarily a happy memory, it still reminds me of childhood.

I melted down some glycerin, as per usual. Then, I added in a tablespoon of honey (which I am not longer allowed to eat, but I can still use on my body... I hope). Instead of ginger, I used a tablespoon or so of cinnamon because I absolutely love the way it smells. Finally, I added in the main ingredient: plenty of oatmeal.

For molds, this time, I decided to use cupcake foils, because I thought they would make a really interesting texture on the soaps. I poured the soap into the foils while they were in the cupcake pan, so that the pan would make them keep their shape.

An hour or so later, I had these awesome soaps that smell amazing and will make great gifts. The one issue will them is that, as I had predicted, the oatmeal sunk down towards the bottom of the mold and is all clustered towards the top of the soap now. Damn you, gravity! Thwarting my best plans again.

Craft is by Martha Stewart at marthastewart.com. For more about this craft, visit http://www.marthastewart.com/article/pantry-soaps.