I had the pleasure of attending Kinfolk Magazine’s first Seattle-based community gathering this weekend. The theme for this gathering was “Freshen Up” - a guide to making natural cleaning supplies using kitchen ingredients.
When we arrived, our host, Amber Moss Ek, owner of Oakmoss, gave each of us a beautiful basket with some items she’d made ahead of time including a hand-poured candle and some “wood butter” for seasoning our wood cutting boards and spoons at home. Also included in the basket were little recipe books with all the necessary instructions for making each of the products that we would make that day.
After some nice introductions, we got down to making some cleaning supplies ourselves using wonderful smelling ingredients like fresh lavender, lemons, vinegar, water, castile soap, and essential oils. We made all kinds of good stuff from all-purpose cleaners and scrubs to air fresheners and sachets and even a luxurious sugar scrub for our hands. I've been using it all weekend on my hands and legs and they're as soft as can be, and my house smells like a spa right now as a result!
After we finished concocting all our supplies (by which time our work area was smelling heavily of heady lavender and citrus essential oils), it was time for a lovely luncheon of cheese and fruit, homemade focaccia, chicken and bread salad with a green goddess dressing, and a beautiful lemon cake made by Amber's mother on Whidbey Island and delivered by ferry to the mainland just for the event (!!!).
Watch for more Kinfolk dinners and gatherings each month in Seattle and come join us! Our first event was lovely and I am betting they’ll get better and better. Next up for June:
Charcuterie, butchery, and/or fish-cleaning, with accompanying cheese & charcuterie smorgasbord to follow!