I grew up in the Valley outside of Los Angeles, in Southern California, during the late 50's, 60's and early 70's. Back then you could walk to the dime store without anyone bothering you. There were acres of orange groves as far as the eye could see where you could play hide and seek. We would go to Malibu beach and you could see the whole ocean from the mountain pass coming down from Topanga Canyon. There were no houses blocking the view or "Keep Out-Private Property" signs posted on the entrance to the beach. It was a wonderful time for a kid to grow up in.
The one thing my grandmother did, which other mothers and grandmothers in our neighborhood didn't do was make homemade lye soap. Of course she also tended a vegetable garden, canned and made quilts.
My grandparents moved from Searcy, Arkansas to California in 1942 or there about. My grandfather was a general contractor and built many of the hospitals, malls and tracks of houses in the San Fernando Valley, he also belonged to the San Fernando Elks Lodge. My grandmother was a quiet lady and an introvert, while my grandfather was the total opposite. The Lodge was his life. He loved the activities and any reason to dress in one of his Tuxedos was a good reason. I must say he was very handsome in his tux. Through the years with the Elks, he occupied all the chairs including Exalted Ruler. I called him the Grand Pubah. He was also a Free Mason and Shriner.
Even though grandma was shy and uncomfortable around large groups of people, she always looked forward to the trips to Arizona, which happened twice a year. My grandparent's house was a drop off for donated items such as clothes, books, shoes, and anything else that people no longer wanted, which would be taken to the Hopi and Navajo Indians on the reservations outside of Flagstaff.
Grandma's contribution was handmade soap, lots of soap. I mean 30 gallon trash bags full of soap. All her friends in the Lodge, Church, Quilting Bee and the neighbors on our street would save their grease drippings from cooking, pouring them into empty coffee cans until they were full and then gave them to grandma to make soap. Grandpa built her a cupboard to keep the cans of grease until she was ready to make soap.
You see, soap is made using three ingredients; oil, a liquid and lye (Sodium Hydroxide). So several times a year when grandma had enough cans of grease accumulated, she would announce that it was time to make soap.
Most of grandma's friends gave her pre-strained grease that was very clean and ready to use, but there were a few who just poured whatever was in the frying pan into the can. So for these, she would get out her clean pieces of cheese cloth and after heating the grease would strain it until it was a clear golden color. Used grease is never completely clear again, but takes on a golden tint after being used.
After the grease was clean and clear enough to satisfy her, she was ready to get started. This entailed pulling out a medium enamel wash tub for the lye and water to be mixed in, a large stock pot to heat the oils, a huge metal spoon, a meat thermometer, hand mixer and about 25 small margarine containers to use as soap molds.
Using her enamel tub, she would pour the measured Red Devil lye into the water and stir until the lye was dissolved and then set this aside to cool. Boy, the lye water would make you go into a coughing fit if you were anywhere around, which I always was. As the lye water was cooling down, she would start warming the grease she had measured out. In making soap the oils and lye water need to be around the same temperature before mixing together, about 100 degrees or so, thus the meat thermometer.
When both were cool enough, I'd watch grandma carefully pour the oils into the lye water stirring the spoon in big circles around the enamel tub. Around and around then in a figure 8, then around and around again. After she was satisfied that the two were combined, she would take out her old hand mixer and on low she would start mixing. After a few minutes she would turn off the mixer and let the soap rest for a few minutes while she did something else. She would return and start mixing again. When I was older grandma allowed me to take over mixing the soap. It was then that I realized why she let the soap sit for a few minutes in between mixing, her arm got tired.
It would take about 15 or 20 minutes of mixing before the soap would get to the trace stage. Trace is when the soap begins to get thick. It's like when your stirring melted chocolate and you take the spoon out and let the chocolate dribble back into the bowl, the little designs the dribble creates on the chocolate is tracing. As you continue to mix, the soap becomes the consistency of pudding, which is a hard trace. At this stage it is ready to pour or scoop into molds.
As I said earlier, grandma used small margarine containers for her soap molds. When the soap was ready I would ladle big spoonfuls into the containers. Even though filling all those containers took quite a bit of time, I had to work quickly before the soap became too thick always being careful so as not to spill the precious soap and make a big mess.
When all the containers were filled, grandma and I would put them on a table in the enclosed patio to set. This meant that the soap was not to be bothered for at least 24 hours so that it could harden. Grandma never insulated the containers and they always turned out fine. After the soap hardened, I'd pop out the ivory colored bars into 30 gallon trash bags to be set aside to cure until the next trip to Arizona.
Another thing grandma very seldom did, was add fragrance to her soap. She said the Indian families would use the soap to bathe with and to wash their clothes and dishes. It was hard to believe that the Hopi and Navajo Indians didn't have Palmolive for their dishes, Tide for their clothes or even Herbal Essence shampoo for their hair like we did, only grandma's handmade lye soap.
As I got older, grandma allowed me to take on more of the soap making responsibilities until I could make soap by myself, but we always enjoyed making it together.
The biggest surprise of my young life was when my grandpa told me that it was my turn to go to Arizona with them. My older sisters had made trips before, but I was too young or was in school when the trips were planned. This time it would be summer and I would be out of school. I was so excited.
Days before we were to leave, I helped my grandma gather and separate the donated items into big bags. She knew so many families and what these families needed. The size of clothes the children and parents wore, shoe sizes, toys for the right ages, etc. Once the items were gathered, we would label the bags with their names. There were also many bags without labels and these would be taken to Shine Smith's Church to be given to many other families in need.
Not only was this my first trip to Arizona to visit the Hopi and Navajo families I had heard so much about through the years, but we would be bringing something extra special, the handmade soap that I helped to make.
I will always remember that trip as one of the most exciting experiences in my life.
After we girls grew up, married and had families of our own, grandma and grandpa retired and moved back to Searcy, Arkansas. Grandpa passed away several years ago and grandma who is now 97 lives in an apartment across the hall from her sister who is 99.
As an adult, I began to be concerned with the large amount of man made ingredients used in commercial soaps, so I decided to make my own soap, again.
I have modified some of the steps grandma used to make her soap such as only using vegetable oils instead of grease, tallow or lard. I use stand mixers instead of a hand mixer and best of all I use all kinds of fragrance and essence oils to scent my soap.
Now when my grandchildren come to visit we too are in the kitchen making soap for them to take home with them.
Every now and then, while the mixers are humming softly while stirring their batch of soap, I am taken back to those precious times with my grandparents and helping my grandma make lye soap in her kitchen.
| Price : $139.80
