Almond Milk and Almond Paste

Almond Paste as Body Scrub

While the rest of the country is experiencing ice storms and unseasonably cold weather, we in southern California have been having one terrible dry spell after another. So much so that my skin started to look a lot like alligator cracks on the sidewalk. Week after week, I promised myself I would make a batch of almond paste as a scrub to strip away dead dry skin and nurture the smooth sensitive skin underneath. I didn’t take the time until I caught a bad cold about ten days ago and had to stay put for a couple of days.
Almond paste is a discovery I made when I learnt how to make almond milk as a recipe for my latest book, The Elements of Life, A Contemporary Guide to Thai Recipes and Healthier Living, due to be released by John Wiley and Sons in October. After squeezing out the almond milk from the fine paste in the cheese cloth, I noticed how my rough hands instantly turned very silky and smooth. I then used a bit of it to massage not only my hands and cuticles, but when I took a shower that night, I rubbed it all over my body and hair. Sure enough, my skin and hair felt so soft and clean. Since that first experiment, I have come up with different ways to incorporate the almond paste with other herbs such as lavender, sage and chamomile as well as essential oils. As shown in the video, I used a mortar and pestle to pound lavender and sage with almond paste. Lavender helps me relax and sage to speed up my recovery from cold.
I keep the batch I made last week in the refrigerator. Each night, I take a couple of tablespoons and put in a sauce bowl. During my shower, I put the almond paste in the wash cloth, squeeze some soap on top of it and use it as a scrub. I no longer have that horrid itch from dry skin. Instead, my skin feels wonderful and smooth despite the fact that the weather has turned from scorching hot to super cold.
In case you are curious to know what I did with the almond milk, I used part of it to make creamy tomato soup. The rest I stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Tomorrow I plan to make a pot of chicken curry. Instead of coconut cream that is rich in saturated fats, I will use the almond milk. It’s for my husband Bob and a friend, Linda, both who must watch what they eat on account of high cholesterol.