Rose milk soap

I believe many women like roses. I do too. I like the smell of the roses and that's why I thought I would add some rosy flavor into the soap. Shower can be romantic in this case, isn't it?!

One special thing about the soap is I used the rose infused olive oil. The oil, however, does not smell really rosy. But the essence of the roses are released into the oil, and this makes the skin soothing and softening.

Like the honey oatmeal soap, I used milk in the rose soap. Milky soap makes the skin moist. I also made some design in this soap by using the red clay powder to create the marble patterns. This rose milk soap look nice, smell nice and will treat your skin nice.

Ingredients:

coconut oil, olive oil (rose infused), palm oil, avocado oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, shea butter, red clay powder, fragrance oil (rose), milk, and lye

Honey oatmeal milk soap

In this soap, instead of using water I used milk to dissolve to lye. And that's simply because milky soap has the function to protect the skin from being dry. Honey has the same function as well. Also, I added some ground oatmeal so that by using this soap, the skin would be exfoliated gently.

The smell of the lavender and lemon grass essential oil go well with soap too. I'd recommend this honey oatmeal soap to people have drier skin. It will keep your skin moist.

Ingredients: 


coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, caster oil, canola oil, rice barn oil, sunflower oil, honey, oatmeal, essential oil (lavender and lemon grass), lye, and milk

Columbus Farmer's Market

Phew.....I have not updated the website for a while and June is a busy month for me.

We were at the Columbus Farmer's Market selling cake, muffins, and hand-made soap on June 9 and we sold out all the baked food and most of our soaps. We had a great time meeting people too.

As a part-time vendor at the Columbus Farmer's Market, we will be back on June 23 and one more week in August. Please stop by our booth and see the beautiful soaps and yummy food. Send me an e-mail if you have questions. We are looking forward to seeing you! Thank you! :-D

Costumized: Breast milk soap

We all know how wonderful the breast milk is. Breast milk is nutritious and it helps improve the immune system of the baby. Mothers are encourage to breastfeed their kids if possible. However, what can you do with the extra breast milk?! Of course you can throw it, but you would feel it's a waste. Then how about using the breast milk into the soap?!

Breast milk soaps are getting lots of attentions and popularity in Asia as the soap is gentle for both parents and the babies. Even newborns, whose skins are more sensitive, can use the breast milk soaps. No essential oil or fragrant oil is added in the breast milk soap because babies will  be using the soaps. Some herbs powder  may be added and it's based on the request.

One more important thing, breast milk is personal not commercial. Using the soaps that are made from other mom's  breast milk is not wise. I do carefully handle the soaps and clearly make soaps with dates and other information. Please do not worry.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank my dear frien,who delivered a cute girl last September, for giving me her breast milk (waving HI to Yu-Ying). In her breast milk soaps, I added some Chinese herb powder, which has the function of calming the kids.

Ingredients:

coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, castor oil, canola oil, rice barn oil, sunflower oil, Chinese herb powder, breast milk, and lye

Chocolate chiffon cake: $20.0 per cake (8 inch)

One of my friends ordered a cake for his son's birthday from me. I believe kids all love chocolate so I made this chocolate chiffon cake with strawberries in between. Small chocolate pieces are made and pasted on the surface of the cake too. Happy Birthday Samuel! :-D

Ingredients:

Cake flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, milk, oil, lemon juice, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and strawberries

Japanese cheesecake:$16.0 per cake (8 inch)

Everyone knows how good cheese cake is and people hardly say no to the yummy cheesecake. But this cheesecake is slightly different from the cheesecake you can have in the U.S. I'd say this is a more Asian style of cheesecake, as you can tell from the name. It's lighter, creamier, and softer. It's more like a sponge texture cheesecake. The cheesecake melts in your mouth and it is so good that you want to eat the more.

I added lemon zests in the cake in order to have a refreshing touch.  Even though no sauce or no other ingredients is added, this simple cake is irresistible.

Ingredients:

Cake flour, rice flour, eggs, milk, cream cheese, sugar, salt, unsalted butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest

Mancha red bean cake roll: $13.0 per roll (approx 10*4*2 inch)

Mancha is the Japanese green tea and I LOVE MANCHA!!! It's the best friend with red bean! And this time, I have a cake roll with both ingredients and they were dancing in my mouth!!

The soft mancha cake sponge along with the creamy whipped cream and great amount of red bean taste so good! I feel I can eat more than one slice at a time.

Ingredients:

Cake flour, rice flour, eggs, milk, oil, sugar,salt, lemon juice, mancha powder, red beans, and whipped cream

Taro pudding cake: $24.0 for one cake (8 inch)

Taro pudding cake is one kind of cake that I love a lot. The creamy taro paste, the soft pudding and the perfect sweetness of whipped cream just make this cake wonderful. The cake is even tastier after one night in the refrigerator as the cake absorts the moisture from the pudding, taro paste mixture and the whipped cream.

Ingridients:

Cake flour, eggs, milk, whipped cream, sugar, salt, oil, lemon juice, taro, unsalted butter, brown sugar, vanilla syrup,  peach and strawberry

Banana bread: $6.0 for eight bread

Oh yes, again, my favorite bananas! :-D

This banana bread is completely different from the banana "loaf" bread that you can find in the U.S. These are individual banana bread, the size of which is more similar to the size of dinner rolls. The other difference is: there is no butter added in the dough of these banana bread. Yup, No butter. The only butter you  can find is as garnish on top of the bread and they are melted when the bread is baked in the oven. Some powder sugars were used as garnish too.

Even though no butter is used in the bread, the banana has added enough fat and moist to make the bread soft and good. These are the "tropical" bread!

Ingredients:



Bread flour, whole wheat flour, cake flour, condensed milk, milk, yeast, salt, unsalted butter, powder sugar, flaxseed, wheat germ, and bananas

Blueberry muffins: $11.0 for six muffins

I like blueberry muffins as they are not that sweet. However, I was little worried when I made the batch because the amount is larger (I usually make only 6 muffins) but they turned out pretty well. I especailly love the lemon flavor in this muffins. It is refreshing!

Look at the amount of blueberries in the muffin! Don't you get excited?! :P

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour, eggs, baking powder,baking soda, unsalted butter, salt, sugar, plain yogurt, lemon zest, and blueberries

Earl grey tea chiffon cake: $16.0 - $20.0 per cake (8 inch)

I always love the smell and the taste of Earl grey tea and would love to put it in any kind of dessert that goes well with the flavor. Cake is a perfect place to use the Earl grey tea.

Instead of making simple chiffon cake today, I added some strawberries between the cake layers and cover the cake with whipped cream. It turned out pretty well. I love the day that ends with a good dessert! :)

The cake with no fruit on top is 16 dollars and the cake with fruit or other decoration on top is 20 dollars.

Ingredients:

Cake flour, oil, eggs, sugar, salt, milk, Earl grey tea, heavy whipped cream, lemon juice, and strawberries

Taro bread: $12.0 for eight bread

I think I just cannot describe how much I love taro. Light purple is its original color and once you add butter, sugar, and some milk with it, you will have the creamy creamy taro paste! It was just awesome! And this also tells you how much I love this soft soft taro bread!

The only disadvantage is: I cannot get taro in the city I live. I have to drive an hour to go to the oriental market  and get the taro. Otherwise, I am pretty sure I will make this taro bread or use taro in my dessert more often.

Ingredients:

Bread flour, whole wheat flour, cake flour, egg, sugar, milk, salt, taro, unsalted butter, whipped cream, flax seed, and yeast



Almond shingle cookies: $12.0 for sixteen cookies

Almond shingle cookie is also a pretty common snack in Taiwan and I like the crispiness of this cookie. Compared to other kind  of cookies, I also feel this almond cookie is healthier because 1) there are less sugar and butter and 2) there are many sliced almond, which is one of the most nutritious of all nuts according to the info on the Internet (e.g. almond are low in saturated fat and contain many other nutrients - calcium and magnesium).

These golden crispy cookies taste so good so I just had 2 when they were out from the oven. :P

Ingredients:

Cake flour, sliced almond, salt, sugar, egg whites, and unsalted butter



Cranberry banana chiffon cake: $10.0 per cake (8 inch)

I love bananas, especially the really ripe ones. Ripe bananas add the rich sweetness to the cake. Dried cranberries also add the sweetness to the cake and a different texture. I have to say that this is one of the cake I really like. Chiffon cake is so soft and light and I just could not stop eating it. I had close to 1/4 of the cake this afternoon. I didn't feel that guilty as I would to other kind of cake with whipped cream in/on. I really like this cake! I really do!

Ingredients:

Cake flour, rice flour, eggs, sugar, salt, unsalted butter, milk, oil, lemon juice, banana, dried and cranberries

Loaf bread with raisins and walnuts: $7.0 for one loaf (appox 8*4.5*4.5 inch)

Raisins and walnut are great combination in the bread. Raisins add the natural sweetness whereas chopped walnuts add the crunchiness into the bread and both of them are considered as healthy good food. On top of this, I added balck sesame powder and flax seed to the bread.

The bread smelled so good and was really soft. I love home-made bread. :)

Ingredients:

Bread flour, whole wheat flour, egg, sugar, milk, yeast, salt, unsalted butter, black sasame powder, flax seed, raisin, and walnuts

List of all items and prices

Below are all the items that can be purchased from my blog (list is in alphabetical order).


Bread:

Banana Bread     $6.0 for eight bread

Basic white loaf bread     $4.0 for one loaf (approx 8*4.5*4.5 inch)

Dinner rolls with oatmeal and sunflower seeds     $5.5 for eight rolls

Garlic cheesy bread

Loaf bread with bacon and cheese     $8.0 for one loaf (approx 8*4.5*4.5 inch)

Loaf bread with raisins and walnuts     $7.0 for one loaf (approx 8*4.5*4.5 inch)

Sweet corn bread

Taro bread     $12.0 for eight bread


Cake:

Chocolate cake roll     $12.0 per roll (approx 10 inch long)

Chocolate chiffon cake     $20.0 per cake (8 inch)

Cranberry banana chiffon cake     $10.0 per cake (8 inch)

Earl grey tea chiffon cake     $16.0 -$20.0 per cake (8 inch)

Japanese cheesecake     $16.0 per cake (8 inch)

Strawberry cake roll     $14.0 per roll (approx 10 inch long)

Taro paste cake roll

Taro  pudding cake     $24.0 per cake (8 inch)

                                            
Cookie:

Almond shingle cookie     $12.0 for sixteen cookie


Muffin:

Blueberry muffin     $11.0 for six muffins

Chocolate chip banana muffin     $10.0 for six muffins

White chocolate cranberry muffin     $14.0 for eight muffins



Soap:

123 herbal soap     $3.5 each (approx 3.7 oz)

Honey oatmeal milk soap

House chore soap - coconut oil     $3.0 each (approx 3.7 oz)

Rose milk soap

Chocolate cake roll: $12 per roll (apporx 10*4*2 inch)

March 30th, 2012 is our first year anniversary and we had a great dinner up in Indy. We were both so satisfied!

I made this chocolate cake yesterday and was planning to continue the celebration of our 1st anniversary. The cake roll has a rich chocolate flavor and the simple whipped cream goes well with the chocolate cake itself. It's a simple cake roll but classic.

Ingredients:

Cake flour, cocoa  powder, 2% organic milk, oil, eggs, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and whipped cream

123 herbal soap: $3.5 each (appox 3.7 oz)

The reason that this soap is called 123 is because the ratio of amount of coconut oil, palm oil, and olive oil is 1:2:3. In addition, I added some bee wax to increase the hardness of the soap. The Chinese herb powder and pearl powder that I added have the function of lightening the skin tone. Rosemary essential oil was added as well.

p.s. The jar of oil in the picture is the rose infused oil. I made this in mid March and will need to wait till mid May to use it. Can't wait that long!!

Ingredients:

olive oil, palm oil, coconut oil, bee wax, Chinese herb powder, pearl powder, essential oil (rosemary), water, and lye

White chocolate cranberry muffin: $14 for eight muffins

Since 1) making muffins is so easy and quick, 2) we have white chocolate that we have been trying to finish and 3) I was going to have an afternoon tea with a friend, I decided to make these white chocolate muffins.

Like the chocolate banana muffins I made few days ago, I used less sugar in these muffins. Also, in order to add the crunchy texture, I added hazelnuts (but I think I still prefer walnuts. I used hazelnuts just because we did not have walnuts at home.) I think the muffins should be slightly sweeter, but my Chinese friend thought the sweetness is good enough. My husband even said he liked this cranberry muffins more than the chocolate banana ones. Oh well, sweetness is so subjective.

Overall, white chocolate cranberry muffins are pretty good.

Ingredients:

All- purpose flour, egg, egg york, sugar, honey, salt, unsalted butter, 2% organic milk, white chocolate,dried cranberry, and hazelnuts

Basic white loaf bread: $4.0 for one loaf (appox 8*4.5*4.5 inch)

The white loaf bread is basic as well as classic.

I decided to make this basic bread yesterday because I suddenly wanted to have the thick toasted bread. In Taiwan, the loaf bread can be sliced thin or thick. The thick one is perfect with peanut butter or garlic butter. Just need to smear the peanut butter or garlic butter, toast it in the oven, and ding done! Of course you can do the same thing to the thin sliced bread but I just feel more satisfied with the thick sliced bread. And  that is my husband's breakfast today too. :)

Ingregients:

Bread flour, whole wheat flour, egg, sugar, 2% organic milk, salt, unsalted butter, and yeast