I Left My Heart...

...in SAN FRANCISCO...That's where I saw this cool graffiti last year and we're heading back next week: Justin to speak about cookbooks at the BlogHer food conference, me for some much-needed vacationing, so if anyone has any cool, fun, crafty, foodie SF tips I'd love to hear some recommendations!

I've finally completed a (small) sewing project: a little drawstring bag with pink lining and silk ribbon, just in time for the end of National Sewing Month.  It isn't as awesome as the Wonder Woman costume my Mom made, but it's a start and the pattern is perfect for my next bout of car crafting and to take some supplies along for my trip west.  What to do with all that plane time?

There was a bump in the road when my worst fears were realized and my beautiful machine jammed: the very thing that had made me hesitant all this time!  Fortunately, Justin stepped in and I didn't need to carry it into the city for a check-up and she seems to be running well again, phew...

I also had time to package up all the bath fizzies: it's good to not be working until midnight these days!

I can't wait to give them to all the hard-working ladies who helped me so much during Fashion Week, thank you, all, I couldn't have done it without you!

A Tale of 3 Fizzies

Fizzy #1 (back left): from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts

Fizzy #2 (front): from Martha Stewart Living, December 2008

Fizzy #3 (back right): from The Martha Stewart Show, February 2007

"Are you making cookies?" the boyfriend asked one evening.  A fair question: he was starting to make chocolate peanut butter brownies from the new book Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.  "No..." I admitted.  Next question: "are you making soap?"  How well he knows me.  

I had made soap on Valentine's Day with glycerin from Majestic Mountain Sage and this time I was using another one of their products: citric acid.  So began Bath Fizzy #1:

Sift 1 3/4 cups baking soda, 1 cup citric acid and 2 cups cornstarch, mix with essential oil, spritz with colored water until crumbly and pack into flexible ice cube trays.  It was a little tough to get the consistency just right, so by the next morning I had these:

Cute, pretty pink, smelled like lovely lavender, but some trouble un-molding them so they weren't the perfect squares I was hoping for.  They still fizzed in water though!

So, into a package they went and off to a friend's house on a lovely Sunday to see her and her husband, French bulldog and new baby.  

Later in the week it was on to espresso brownies and Fizzy #2 with slightly different quantities (1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup citric acid, 3/4 cup cornstarch) and the addition of a 1/4 cup sugar.

Having done the 1st batch I knew a little more about what to expect, and this recipe seemed to make more sense: the sugar gave the rest of the ingredients something to grip on to and it packed nicely.

I let them dry longer this time and there were still some variations in the un-molding process, but:

there were a few nice, smooth squares!  They were lucky to be in the middle of the tray so the pressure from the surrounding squares kept them together.  Thinking of that, it was time for Fizzy #3 (and bourbon pecan brownies).  You can see Martha's video here: she grinds 1 cup of baking soda together with the essential oil, which really blends the scent into the mixture.  Then 1/2 cup citric acid, 1/4 cup epsom salt (I used sugar again instead) and NO CORNSTARCH and pack into a ball mold.

This mixture needed less water to hold together and it dried hard.  I only had this packaging from a stress ball toy, so it wasn't a real mold that held itself together. 

The two halves stayed together well when I held them with my hands, but eventually I tried using a book:

then just the bag of sugar:

but ultimately some of it squeezed out the sides and expanded, so I let it dry open and then it cracked and rounded a bit.

This was the firmest of all the fizzies, so next time I'll try a mold that stays closed so there will be just one piece, not like this:

In the end, the winner for me is Fizzy #2!

And what to do with the extra?  Bath sugar!

Oh and about all those brownies, didn't miss the gluten at all, they were delicious...

Soothing

This beautiful tub is in The English Room of The Manor House in Norfolk, Connecticut, where I stayed a few years ago.  I've been making soaps and scrubs, so have been wishing for a lovely bath, so how about some of these.

The Oriental from The Overflow Collection by KÄSCH

Morphosis from Jacuzzi

My friend, Alexandra, is blogging about renovating her home in Red Hook, Brooklyn and will soon have a beautiful view from her parlor level tub

A simple freestanding oval from Waterworks

And my sweet blog friend, Jozen from Lola's Girl, has a gorgeous master bathroom, lucky girl!

Really interesting glass bathtub from Wasauna

Tub in progress from another home renovation blog

and finally, this Amaltea Amethyst stunner of solid amethyst with
24-karat gold-plated legs from Baldi of Florence for just $190,000.00
on Luxuo.com