The Lye Water

Now, most people freak out at the very mention of that three-letter word, 'lye'. I suppose it's deeply embedded ancestral memories of moms and grandmas bearing the multiple scars of lye burns from their annual soap-making endeavors over an open wood fire involving lots of rendered pig fat and wood ash and rain water.

I'm serious. That's how they used to have to make soap. And they only made it once or twice a year, and it was called "lye soap," and it was a nasty, brutish type of body cleanser compared to what we can create today with all our fancy electric stoves and digital cooking thermometers. Plus, thank goodness, I don't have to render any pig or cow fat to fill the fatty-acid side of the chemical equation. I have the luxury of readily available olive, soy and coconut oils.

But believe me -- I've had my share of lye burns on my hands and forearms. I'm one of those stubborn ones who refuses to wear goggles, gloves and all other manner of protective gear while crafting soap. The good news is -- lye burn scars fade within a year. But DARN they hurt when they happen!