Recipes from my Grandmother's kitchen

Note: Please do not make this soap. It is posted as a bit of history, and some modern-day soap makers have informed me that you might maim yourself if you follow this recipe. And don't make tapioca in your soap pans. Apparently lye-flavored pudding is not the taste treat you might expect.

My Grandma Bug left this earth in May of 2007. She left behind a large number of recipes (not to mention a hundred thousand great memories), some of which I have taken into custody. I was flipping through some of them the other day, and came across one for soap. It made me smile. I don't know if Grandma ever used this particular recipe: I only recall her doing other frugal things like melting the soap scraps together to make new layered bars. But it is just so indicative of the old-fashioned country spirit around here that I have to share.


LEWIS LYE SOAP
1 box Lewis Lye in 1 qt rain water
2 qt used lard
2 c tallow
1/2 ammonia
1/2 c borax

In a stainless steel saucepan, dissolve 1 box of Lewis lye in 1 qt of rain water (stir with stainless steel spoon). Let cool. Than [sic] add 2 quarts used lard and be sure to have about 2 cups of tallow in this above amount of fat. Put lard in a small plastic bucket and stir in the cooled Lewis lye. Stir until thick. Then add 1/2 cup of ammonia and 1/2 cup of borax or Borateen. Stir until dissolved and pour into 1-quart milk containers. Slice in 6 or 7 pieces. Let it air dry. Do not let it get too hard before cutting or it will not cut well.
******************
Helen C___ and I watched Hilda L___ make this one day. After she was done with the soap she washed the stainless pan and spoon and made tapioca. Hilda was a neat lady!
Pat R___

I hope there re more gems like this. But then again, I might be the only person who gets a kick out of these things. In that case, Come back tomorrow for terribly exciting yarn recycling news!