The Heiter Soap: how to make your own

My mother-in-law is an expert when it comes to soap making. When we visited her (and my father-in-law) a few weeks ago, she showed me how to make my own soap too. I absolutely loved the process — so much that I created a “heiter soap” recipe. Interested in making yourself some heiter soap too? Then follow the instructions below.

Please note that you need biocarbonate of soda for this recipe. Biocarbonate of soda is a chemical and gets very hot once mixed with water. Make sure you wear protective gear (gloves, googles) and use non-cooking pots/cutlery throughout the recipe. I would also suggest making the soap without your children close by.

The Heiter Soap

Ingredients (for about 6 bars):

375g olive oil

100g coconut oil

25g almond oil

65g biocarbonate of soda

60g almond mild

105g water (ideally, rain water)

essential oils:

about 30 drops of rosmary oil

about 30 drops of bergamot oil

about 24 drops of lemon

Equipment:

silicone soap molds

stainless steel thermometer

stick blender

• Disolve the biocarbonate of soda in the water (use a container you don’t use for cooking!). Careful, mixing the two results in a chemical reaction, it gets very hot! Make sure you wear gloves and goggles. Leave on the side (ideally outdoors) so that it can cool down.

• Melt the coconut oil, add the olive and almond oil. Heat the mixture slowly.

• Once the biocarbonate of soda and the oil mixture have about the same temperature (somewhere between 42 and 48 C degrees), mix them slowly. Again, please be careful and make sure you use special pot/saucepans, gloves and googles.

• Mix until the soap mixture gets a “custard like” consistency.

• Add the almond milk and essential oils.

• Carefully fill the soap mix into moulds.

• Cover the moulds with a plastic sleeve and a blanket/old towel and leave in a dry room for at least 24 hours. If the soap mixture is still very soft after that, leave for another 24 hours.

• Once you can easily get the soaps out of the moulds, do so and shape the soap to your liking.

• Leave your soaps to cure (in a dry place) for four weeks before you use them.

Images: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine

Recipe inspired by Joanne, my lovely mother-in-law

Heiter Cooking: dried herbs for winter

Autumn is in full swing and the temperatures are dropping day by day. I have started to harvest the herbs from our garden. In recent years I’ve made a habit of freezing some so that I can use them throughtout the winter months and keep some of those heiter summer feelings alive. The rest is usually hung up to dry for about three to four weeks and then used for cooking and self-care. I shared a photo of my “hung up herbs” on Instagram earlier this autumn and some of you wanted to know more about it. For that reason, I’ve decided to share instructions on how to do it as well as some insights into how I use my dried herbs.

What you will need:

• secateurs or scissors

• twine or string

• jars and/or little bowls for your dried herbs

• optional: baking tray

1) Collect your herbs by cutting at the base of the stem. Using your twine or string, make little bunches. Remember to make sure that your twine/string is long enough so that you can hang your bunches afterwards. I would recommend making one bunch per herb but you can of course also mix your herbs if you prefer.

2) Find a dry spot where you can hang your bunches of herbs. We have a little covered patio so I usually hang my herbs there but you can of course choose whatever works for you.

3) Leave the bunches for about 3-4 weeks. Take them down once they’re fully dried out. To ensure your herbs dry a bit quicker, you could take them down a little earlier, pick the individual leaves and spread them out evenly on a baking tray. Leave on there for a day or two.

4) Once your herbs are dry, pick the individual leaves and put them into jars (a closed jar will make it easier to store the herbs throughout winter). If you know for sure that you will use some of the herbs sooner rather than later, you can also use a little bowl instead of a jar.

5) Your herbs are ready to use.

Additional info on the herbs from my garden

This year I dried sage, rosemary, thyme, mint and lemon balm. Would you like to know how I am going to use them? See below.

Sage: as garnish on soup, as seasoning for meats and roasted vegetables, for sage butter, mixed into stuffing, in tomato sauce, for scrambled eggs. I sometimes also boil the leaves to make tea & soothe a sore throat.

Rosemary: to make rosemary salt or rosemary infused olive oil, to season meat and roasted vegetables. I sometimes also mix it with bath salts.

Thyme: as garnish on soups, a seasoning for mashed potatoes, meats & roasted vegetables, for pasta sauces and herb butter. Thyme tea is said to help with PMS, lift the mood and lower blood pressure.

Mint: I adore classic mint tea so most of my mint is usually for that in winter. I’ve also used it to season salads, make mint pesto and as garnish for mocktails though.

Lemon balm: lemon balm tea has been one of my go to’s whenever I cannot sleep. Apparently, it reduces stress and calms a sore stomach (also period pain), migranes and colds. I’ve added it to hot baths before and I’ve used it to season mushrooms, vegetables, desserts as well as homemade dips.

Words & images: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine

Are you looking for more seasonal inspiration?

Then my e-book “#heiterautumn - Finding and Celebrating Heiterkeit in Autumn” might be just the right thing for you.