Earth-friendly Cleanser!

Since it has been a wild day (and is now even a wilder night) on the Bayou, I pondered how to fill my day.  All of the chores were finished before noon so I had plenty of time to do whatever I wished.  With rain pouring down outside, my plans to rake the leaves was delayed a bit.  I puttered around in the kitchen thinking that I really would like to bake but there were still several trays of leftover Christmas goodies sitting on the dining room table...baking was out of the question!  Then I almost stumbled over a basket of citrus fruit from the last picking.  Hmmm...these looked a mite overripe to be used for marmalade.  It was then that an idea hit me!  I would make use of the overripe fruit all the while creating something a bit different!  I would make orange (citrus) cleanser!  Surely, this would not be too difficult!

The fruit consisted of both Satsumas and grapefruit.  I carefully peeled a whole slew of the fruit.  The fruit itself would be used to make fresh juice as it was the peels that I needed for the cleanser. The oils in the peels can be a powerful degreaser!  Three quarts of peels were placed in a gallon jug and covered with a mixture of three tablespoons of activated yeast and hot (not boiling) water!  This conglomeration was then stirred and covered with a cloth.  The cloth would allow for the mixture to "breathe".  If a tight lid was placed on the jug, the pressure built up during the fermentation could cause it to break.  The jug of goop will sit in a warm spot for the next month to allow it to ferment. The stuff will have to be stirred every day to keep it busy doing its thing. At the end of the month, it will be strained and bottled. This should act as a cleanser with the added benefit of being a great fire ant killer!  We shall see!  By all accounts, the fermentation process will release the oils from the peels.  I hope so.  This experiment could prove quite useful as I can then make my own "earth-friendly" cleanser..something that I really like!

For now, the goop is bubbling away on the back of the old woodstove.  The directions say to keep it warm so I figure that is the best place for it.  The jug is far enough away from the burner that it will not be "hot" just lukewarm.  Here the yeast can activate and the peels can ferment to their heart's content!  (Lets just hope it does not "activate" too much and bubble all over the back of the stove!)  I will keep you posted on the end results of the experiment in a month's time!  Then...Happy Cleansing! (I hope!)