Cooking, Soap & iCopics

Cooking & I have this love/hate relationship most of the time, and of course, this time around, its the same thing. Personally I enjoy walking to the community kitchen every morning at 6 am getting ready to prep the basic meals of the day; breakfast, lunch & dinner. But (yeah I'm sure, you sensed there was a but in there somewhere) Buut...the kitchen & absolutely don't get along. At least not this week. I've been lucky and not set anything on fire (last time I cooked, I did start fires - literally) but for some reason, the food's (slightly) on the salty side. Honestly, I just put a little bit in there (like I've always done before) and it tastes like...I literally poured it in the food. At least, everyone keeps asking me if I poured it into the food. Personally, I think it tastes just right. Okay, so yeah, it is a little salty, even for my taste...which IS saying quite a lot. Oh well, I'll try harder for the rest of the week to NOT goof. Think I'll manage? Yeah, I didn't think so. lol

So anyways, for those wondering what a cook week is. Here's a quick (and rather short) explanation. I'm Hutterite & our lifestyle is based on Acts 2:44-47

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily, with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

as well as Acts 4:32-35

And the multitude of them that were believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of land or houses sold them, and brought the piece of the things that were sold, And laid them at the apostles feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had needed.

So based on this Biblical explanation, we have our communities where we live together as one; eating together, working together, sharing everything, etc. So this means, we need cooks to cook for everyone in the community, right? Yep, you got it! Every colony has their head cook, who is in charge of the weekly cooks, as well as an extra hand in preparing the food. Basically, what she says, goes. Her way; no highway option. LOL But our cook is great. She's very open to what we want to have as meals and allows us free range (with common sense) in what we want. We prepare our menu ahead of time, and then run it by the cook on Monday when our week starts, or Sunday, the day before our week starts.
For example, this is what our week looks like:

Monday Breakfast: cereal (corn pops to be exact) Lunch: baked chicken & stuffing with added veggies of course. Dinner: Beef stew & mashed potatoes (and other side veggies)
Tuesday Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal Lunch: meatloaf & homemade noodles & tomato soup (with left over other veggies from yesterday) as well as a yogurt dessert Dinner: taco wraps filled with shredded ham, onions, peppers, mushrooms & cheese, then grilled, as well a bowl of hamburger soup -- and this is just an example.

If we are between the ages of 17 - 45, we have to cook. No excuses - once we hit seventeen, we're cooking. No questions asked. lol. We also all have our partner, mine being my mom, and together we cook for the colony. Our colony consists of 95+ people.
I really enjoy it (even the fire hazards n stuff), but I don't think I would want my turn to come around any sooner than every 11 weeks.
For more information, check out Hutterites.org and read up on our way of life. I love living this way, and am willing to answer any questions that anyone may have.

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& of course, this week has been an extra special week....making soap. Yep, we make our own soap. From lard/fat etc...and it uses lots and lots of lye (caustic soda. Sometimes of course, some people get some pretty serious burns from cleaning up and being in contact of the caustic soda without proper protection, but we are pretty careful and try not allow anything to happen. Personally, I don't really need to worry about it, because I never need to clean up. All I need to do is cut up our soap and allow it to dry before we can grind it into powder. Once its dry, its not dangerous anymore. I've decided to include a few pictures I took today of our ration of soap.


This is a picture of the soap bricks. We get quite a few of these bricks for our family of seven. This is for us to use as dish washing soap, as well as laundry soup for the next year (it takes most of this year to dry)


& this is mom and dad cutting up the soap. My job was to take pictures and make sure they're doing things right. No I'm kidding. Seriously, my job was to pile the small pieces of soap onto the shelves as soon as my parents had it cut. Smaller the pieces are, the better they dry, that's why we cut them into tiny pieces.

Of course, this is a busy day - even more so for mom & I because we're cooking, and we had to cut it up as soon as possible. We do have an hr break in the morning and we used that hour to cut it up, scrub the floor around us, and get back to the kitchen. Made it just in time too! I don't really mind though. At least this way, I don't need to be the one scrubbing everything they used in the killing plant. All I had to do is help with the cutting and get back to the kitchen. & since it almost always happens that making soap is in our cook week, I rarely ever have to clean up. LOL I LOVE IT!! I hope it never changes (angelic smile).

& finally, the part you've all been waiting for...iCopics.

My dream...is to get some iCopics and Sally is giving some away on her blog.

Oooh I know you want them!!! Trust me, so do I!!! Someday I'm gona get some...someday. Or I'll get lucky (like...really really lucky) and win from Sally again this week. LOL What the chances of that happening? 50/50 I guess. Either I will, or I won't. Doesn't matter if I don't cuz guess what? I WON LAST WEEK!!! You know, I was about to go and buy the exact same stamps that Sally had posted as a gift on her blog...I really was ready to place that order, then I decided I'll it off, and wait till after I didn't win. Surprise Surprise, I DID WIN!!! Omigosh I was so impressed and happy. So hey, you know, if I can win from Sally, so can you!!!
Get over to her blog today and check out the products that keep getting posted. You know you'll love it!! I do. :)

Anyways...wish me luck for the rest of the week will ya? Thanks ;)

♥♥Jachelle