Two days ago I offered a challenge for all our readers to name the strange, usually discarded item I brought back from China. I’ll review these great guesses and give you the answer. Connie said “I think you brought home soap and tea.” While I did bring home tea, lots […]
Travels with The Sage
The trip to China was incredible. Incredible! The food was amazing and plentiful. We had Peking duck and fell in love. We could not believe the price of such a thing! The whole bird was about $ 8 at a restaurant near our hotel. We had a great time ordering […]
Wow! We’re back!
Recently at a late dim sum luncheon in Guangzhou, one of the dishes was a dumpling with a rice wrapper and vegetables inside. After taking a bite, I found that the dumpling had some herbs in it that tasted soapy to me. In the discussion that followed, we couldn’t decide […]
Flavors, Scents and Memories
>I am loving China. We have had some things get stuck between what we ask for and what we get. You could call it getting stuck in the translation. Only two individuals in our group can speak Chinese. Jerry, for whom Chinese is his first language, and me, but my […]
Getting stuck in the translation
Do you have family phrases that take on special meanings that are not related to the actual meaning? I think most people do. Families are a mesh of many experiences which make up who they are. We soap makers have our own phrases and our families have started to adopt […]
Hysterical Confusion
Roses play a big part in a Chinese wedding. There is a large spray of red roses placed on the hood of the lead car which carries the bride and groom. Each subsequent car holds the important family members, in order of importance, and the caravan parade begins. Flashers are […]
Roses on Parade
Beijing China has a lot of different views, odors and sounds. As we travel about the city there are many things I recognize and also things I don’t. The Chinese people value natural soaps and lotions. We gave wedding favors to all the guests of soaps and lip balms. The […]
Odors
The wedding is over and I’m sitting in my room just collecting my thoughts about today. I’m grateful to a team in the US called The Majestic Family. The crew at MMS made it possible to come to China to see my daughter’s wedding ceremony for her new Chinese family. […]
The wedding was beautiful
Here are two family members hanging over the railing while waiting for our bus. Beijing is hustling at nearly all hours of the day. Mariah and Nick have decided the shopping and food are great reasons to visit China. They have both scored in the shopping areas. Do soapmakers ever […]
A new photo to share
3 I am on vacation at the moment and I am in China! I have been here for four days and I still can’t believe it. The good news is that I was able to leave a clean kitchen behind, the bad news is I don’t have a photo. I hope […]
I am in China!
26 Andee thinks she is leaving for a major excursion across China in mere days but this is the current state of the blog kitchen! Oh no! Please give Andee and Taylor some hints on how to clean this room and clean it fast. All comments on this blog will be […]
Oh no! The countdown continues!
5 With me leaving for China in 9 days, I want to make sure I have my essentials for making all kinds of body treats while I am there. I have received some great ideas of what I need. This is what has made it to my list so far. Pipettes, […]