Honey Oat Fingers

'Honey Oat Fingers' are one of my childhood favourite recipes, i have always loved making and eating them and at times i have had terrible cravings for them. They are really quick and easy to make (within 30 minutes, if you have all your ingredients ready)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup raisins
125g sugar
1 tbsp honey
125g butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Method: 

mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl 

melt butter and add to the dry ingredients

thoroughly mix the ingredients together and press firmly into a lined tray 

bake in a moderate oven (gas mark 4, 180C) for 15 minutes

remove from oven and cut into slices whilst hot

allow to cool
....and enjoy with a nice cup of tea :)

'Ambrosia Soap' ....made with foods of the greek gods..!!

Over the weekend I decided to make a batch of soap specifically for friends and family with skin conditions such as 'psorosis' and 'eczema'.  I thought it would be a nice idea to give them these soaps as gifts instead of soaps which they are not comfortable using, and they will definitely know that i made them specially for them ;P

After doing research on ingredients such as oils and essential oils beneficial for these conditions i decided to make a batch with fresh goats milk. Goats milk is really high in vitamins and proteins, highly moisturising for skin and reduces dryness and itching. 

I had never used fresh milk in any of my soaps before only powdered milks, this is because powdered milk is easier to use and there would be no problems with the milk curdling. Recently I was tempted to use the real thing and there are probably more advantages for your skin than using powdered milk...i could be wrong!! but anyway this was my first batch with REAL FRESH goats milk. 

For this batch i used 50% water and 50% goats milk as my liquids, the water i added to the lye and the goats milk i added at trace. I was really worried that my soap would curdle....but hey presto it was perfect, no curdling only a lovely tan coloured mixture.

At trace i added honey, which deepened the tan  colour of my soap mixture and i also added oats as an exfoliant.  Both honey and oats are recommended for these skin conditions and are known for their benefits to skin.

I added vanilla essential oil with a tiny bit of benzoin essential oil to give a really sweet homely scent.

Overall i was really pleased with this soap, i had no problems with curdling, i love the sweet warm scent resembling cake and cookies and the deep tan colour.

I have named it 'Ambrosia Soap' since ambrosia which is milk and honey are the foods of the Greek gods, and these ingredients truly are nourishing, moisturising and sheer heaven for skin!!

Ambrosia soap in the process of curing

closer view of Ambrosia soap

i like to cut sideways when i have decorations on top in order to get  cleaner and smoother  sides