Exciting Times!

Mama is happy again. Yes, her bath bombs must not be discussed. We all have that rule down pat...but then she had an idea. Not one of her scary ideas. One of her logical, non-explosive ideas.

Mama took the beautifully scented and colored bath bomb powder and matched it to bath salts.

B-R-illiant!

Also, Mama's new light box should be here tomorrow. So RIP ghetto light box. You served Mama well but it's time to make way for professionalism. See, up until now, Mama has been using a beer box, spray painted white, covered in PapaV's old wife beater undershirts. It worked very well with the old camera but the new camera just couldn't handle ghetto light box.

Mama also wants to share a recipe with everyone. It's made using common ingredients that can be found around Schenectady.

MamaV's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

Ingredients:
* Queen Helene 100% Cocoa Butter 1 oz stick (found in Rite Aid near the other Queen Helene items but on the bottom shelf)
* 2 TBSP Coconut Oil (WalMart - in the salad oil row near the lard OR virgin coconut oil from the health food section at Hannaford. Price Chopper does not carry it.)

Instructions:
* Fill a large heavy bottomed pot with around 2 inches of water
* Place Cocoa Butter stick (can grate first for faster melting) and Coconut Oil in a Pyrex Measuring cup.
* Set measuring cup into the pot of water - do not get any water into the measuring cup
* Simmer water until everything melts
* Pour into mold of choice (the ice cube trays that make sticks of ice work really nicely!)
* Allow to cool

This recipe is really forgiving. It's also a great starting point for dabbling in lip balm!

MamaV says "Enjoy!"

Bath Bombs, Lavender, and a Crash

Just before dinner last night, Mama stood up with a crazy gleam in her eye. "Bath bombs" she announced and flounced off to the soap shack. We just looked at each other and sighed.

Mama has been working on a bath bomb recipe since last summer. Bath bombs are basically just baking soda, citric acid, and oil. What that list fails to mention is that they're fickle creatures. Too much oil and you end up with a warty mess. Not enough, and you have powder. Some days, the citric fizzes for no reason but others, it just sits there and refuses to fizz.

Mama's recipe incorporates cocoa butter. She's a bit of an addict when it comes to cocoa butter. But she also cleans the tub around here. So a cocoa butter ring around the tub is not an option.

So Mama measured out her ingredients, set the cocoa butter to melting, and all hell broke loose. The bath bomb pixies were buzzing low and loud. First, the bombs wouldn't mold. They kept breaking in half. Then, the citric set off. Finally, Mama jammed some bath bomb powder into a half round mold that was unfortunate enough to be standing nearby.

Her planned batch of 6 bath bombs may have yielded 4 half rounds. She's guarding those rounds like a dragon guarding her clutch of eggs.

Then, with that frame of mind, MiniV dropped the new laptop. You know, the one whose warrantee expired 32 days ago? Yes that one. But we're very proud of Mama. She stayed away from all power tools and calmly handled the situation. We're posting this by carrier pigeon.