Up and Running

You may have noticed that our website was down for a few months (and the blog hasn't been updated in a while). Unfortunately, Matt and Nicole decided to let go of The Gentleman's Soap Company, so that they could focus on other things. Fortunately, they asked me if I would like to step in and take over so that The Gentleman's Soap Company could go on! Yay!

So if things seem a little different to you it's because they are. Don't fret- there are no plans to discontinue any of our current lines and I'm working on building our stock back up so that you'll have plenty of options!

Deep Clean Sale

Now through the end of October, all of our Extra Cleansing soaps are marked down to just $3.50.

Websites we like - Primer Magazine

In every gentleman's life there comes a point where it's time to pack up the old bedroom, or college dorm, or parent's basement, and set off into the world. Perhaps you already have the knowledge you need to land the perfect job and the perfect girl, become VP by age 30, and quickly achieve the American dream - all while looking good. Or maybe not. For the vast majority of guys who fall into the 'maybe not' category, Primer Magazine is for you.

Primer Magazine bills itself as "A guy's post-college guide to growing up. Affordable style, how-to's, and self development for the everyday 20-something man." Consider Primer as picking up where the male role models in your life left off, or got to old to model anymore. Written for young men, by young men (and occasionally women), Primer's posts span a wide range of topics without losing sight of its audience. Style tips, Q&As, visual guides, dating advice, and articles on everything from finance to food to fitness keep the magazine interesting and ensures there is something for every developing man.

Gentlemen we like - Hank Hill

Okay so he's not a real person. Still, there aren't too many real people, or other cartoon characters for that matter, that are as gentlemanly as Hank. We like him because of his pride, honesty, dedication, good manners, respect, and most of all, his way of putting his family first. He's always there to lend a helping hand to friends, even against his best judgment sometimes, and respects all those around him, almost to the point of fault. You'd never see such a dedicated worker in a real person. Hank even goes to work when he's sick or injured, and picks up the slack for his boss, even when he probably shouldn't.

Hank may be a little closed-minded and afraid of change, but he rarely does anything with an intent to harm anyone. That is, unless someone threatens the things he cares for- then he's going to kick said person's ass. He likes his country, his state, his city, and his lawn, drinking the same beer with the same friends he's had since high school, and grilling. He is a true family man and ultimately supports his wife and son even when they do things he really doesn't agree with.

Besides all that, he's hilarious.

Yep, I'd say Hank's a pretty all-around good guy, and I hope if I ever go to Texas I find some real-person equivalent to befriend and eat barbecue with.

Gentlemanly arts - Grilled Pizza

Summer is here, and that means leaving the kitchen and enjoying the weather outside on the grill. Everyone knows meat tastes better cooked on the grill. A lot of vegetables do, too. But our favorite grilled food is pizza.

Once we discovered the magic of grilled pizza, with its crispy outside, soft doughy inside, and smokey grilled taste, we haven't been able to go back to the oven. Matt will even go out and grill pizza in the dead of winter with snow on the ground. It's not completely fool-proof. In the beginning we ate a few crumbled dough chunks and crispy blackened things, but now it seems Matt's got it down pat, and here's a picture tutorial to prove it.

 

The recipe we use:

-2.5 cups flour

-1 cup warm water

-1 packet of yeast

-1 teaspoon sugar

-1 teaspoon salt

-olive oil

-other seasoning to taste

Mix the yeast and sugar in the water and let sit until foamy. Mix the flour, salt, and what ever seasonings you like, then pour in the yeast water. Mix well with hands, then coat the dough all over with olive oil. This helps get the dough off your hands and keeps it from sticking to the side of the bowl as it rises. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 15 or 20 minutes. It should about double in volume.

The key to good pizza dough is a high hydration rate, which just means the dough should be pretty sticky and moist. The above recipe will probably need at least another half cup of water depending on how tightly packed the flour is. For extra seasonings, I use a little black pepper and garlic powder, a fair amount of red pepper flakes and copious oregano, but feel free to experiment.

 

Heat the grill to medium-high heat, and coat it well with olive oil. The pizza can be cooked right on the grill rack, which is what I usually do, but I got this grill pan for my birthday and it makes things much easier and neater.

 

Make sure the dough, the pan, and your hands are thoroughly coated in olive oil, and then press it into the pan. We use an 8"x11" jelly roll pan, but you could use whatever you have around - just make sure not to spread it overly thin.

Use a fork to poke little holes all over the dough. This helps keep those giant air bubbles you get in pizza sometimes from forming. If you are some kind of weird giant air bubble fan, feel free to ignore this step

If you didn't coat your pan in oil before spreading the dough, you will end up with your first problem right here. When you do it right, the dough flips neatly onto the grill. You want the grill hot enough to quickly cook the dough so it won't sag through the grates, but not so hot that you burn everything. Do not close the lid.

Just lift a corner and take a peek to see if it looks cooked and crispy underneath. If not, give it more time. If it's burnt, your grill is too hot or you waited too long. This probably just means the bottom is extra crispy, but the inside is still delicious. The pizza will not be the best you have ever had, but still pretty good. Whether it's burnt or just right, the top has probably started to dry out a little.

Again, do not forget to oil things up here, or you will be sorry when you try to take the pizza off the grill. Lots of oil is the most important part of grilling pizza.

If the bottom is nicely cooked, and you use your grill tools in a nicely coordinated effort, this should go pretty smoothly. Sometimes a part of the dough may have cooked onto the grill, especially if you're grilling right on the rack, so use a spatula to gently peel it loose first. You should be able to lift the whole crust off the grill before you start flipping. As you can see, I use the tongs as a sort of pivot point. If you have a really big spatula, that would be a better solution.

After flipping the pizza, turn the heat down to low, or the crust is going to burn.

We make our own sauce from a recipe in Vegan Comfort Food by Alicia Simpson, which is delicious for vegans and non-vegans (like us) alike.

This time I went with plain cheese pizza, our daughter's favorite. While the pizza is cooking with the lid closed you can run inside and wash up the few dirty dishes you made or get a drink ready.

If your cheese isn't melted the first time you peek at the pizza, first check that the bottom of the crust isn't burning, then close up the grill and wait a few minutes longer. It's also good to give the pizza a little push/lift to make sure it hasn't started to stick or sink into the grate. If the cheese is melted, you're done.

Here's where the grill pan really comes in handy. If your cooking right on the grill rack, use the spatula to remove any crust adhesions and carefully lift and slide onto an awaiting pan or baking sheet.

See how it's nice and doughy in the middle?

 

And crispy-grilled on the bottom.



Here's some grilled pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and sauteed onions. Another favorite of ours is sauteed onions and asparagus, with smoked Gouda instead of mozzarella cheese. Of course, any pizza topping will work, but I do highly recommend trying smoked Gouda.



Enjoy!

Gentlemanly arts - Style, part 1

In looking around the Internet at various gentlemanly things, I've recently stumbled across a few articles addressing the topic of gentleman's style. There seems to be a new focus being put on manliness, gentlemanliness, and all that goes along with these, including dress and grooming. As proof, I give you the popularity of such online magazines as The Art of Manliness, Primer Magazine, The Urban Gentleman, Valet, and many others, including of course more classic magazines like GQ. What struck me about the two articles I recently read was their focus not on what to wear, but on why style matters to men.

In "Fashion Consulting and being a Gentleman" the author sits down for an interview with a men's wardrobe and fashion consultant to discuss why style matters. The article also includes a nice photo collection of the magazine's "20 Most Stylish Brothers", which is certainly worth a look. "Why Give a Damn About Appearance", gives a breakdown of 9 "why" bullet points, complete with pictures of their version of "real style".

What it basically narrows down to is respect. People respect others who are dressed nicely. Of course you want to be respected. Why wouldn't you?

An Etsy treasuries collection

Items from The Gentleman's Soap Company have been featured on a number of Etsy treasuries lately- I suspect treasury curators are trying to advertise Father's Day type products. There are a lot of good mens items on Etsy to check out, and browsing these links is a quick and easy way see many of them.
If you're our friend on facebook you might have already seen these links. If you're not our friend, why not?

Dude
Please Pass the Grey Poupon
This is how I roll, son
Men and Man's Best Friend
The Gentlemen in your life
For the urban cowboy
Friday finds
For Him .. Masculine
The Fox and the Hound
What Whiskey Cannot Cure, There is no Cure For
Favorites
Unfound Finds

All of the items in our Etsy shop, including the shave soaps in hand-folded gift boxes, are on sale through Father's Day.

On another press-related note, I was excited to see we were mentioned on the blog Soap is Beautiful. While I tend to think of soap as more of a functional product than something to look at, there are some very artistic soaps out there. How nice to be considered among them.