Parisian Butter

I read about this on "Baking Bites" blog while in her trip to Paris she noted that they used sea salt and kosher salt for a textured kick to spread on breads and such and decided to make my own. 1 tsp results in a very salty taste so you might want to start with a 1/2 tsp. but can be refreshing and offers a grainy good texture and if you have been outside in the hot sun all day as it helps you to retain water (if you or someone in your family is on blood pressure meds or on a low salt diet or problems with fluid retention, obviously, you don't want to put this out on the table for the family to use).

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter or margarine
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. Sea or Kosher salt

Allow butter or margarine to come to room temperature, then mix in 1/2-1tsp of sea or kosher salt.

http://bakingbites.com/2009/05/butter-with-sea-salt-crystals/

SALT SCRUB

This is my first ever attempt at trying to make something like this. It is based on a tutorial by jojobeans designs at the following site http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/salt_scrub For my scrub I used the following:

• 1 cup espom salts
• 3 TBSP sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 TBSP Spearmint leaves
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
• A few drops of green food coloring

I mixed everything together and put in an old olive jar (I painted the lid with spray paint first) then tied piece of fabric in a bow on the upper edge of the jar.

I was worried that the salts would be too coarse and rough, but I tried some on my hands but they were tempered with the olive oil and it was refreshing and it smelled nice.