With Valentines Day upon us, I thought it would be fun to make some delicious and healthy rose chocolate. What shows you care (for yourself or someone else) more than a treat that is good for the body and soul. Dark chocolate boosts your mood, rose and vanilla soothe and calm, while cinnamon and cayenne pepper support heart health. Making chocolate is a lot of hard work if you do it right from scratch (as I discovered on a trip to Mexico, Guatemala & Belize back in 2015). But you can … [Read more...]
Scented Swirly Two-tone Soaps
These scented swirly two-tone soaps make quick and easy Christmas gifts - if you can bear to part with them. I love using essential oils and choose fragrances that make me feel happy. I have gone with using single oils but there is no reason why you can't blend them to make your own signature fragrance. Melt & Pour soap bases can be purchased from any soap-making supplier such as Pure Nature and couldn't be easier to use: you simply cut it into cubes, heat briefly in the microwave to melt, … [Read more...]
Making Sugar Scrubs
When I was making lavender and other flavoured sugars and syrups, I was reminded that too much sugar is bad for us. But this recipe is a use for sugar that really is good for you! You can make a luxurious and beneficial skin treatment that is used in top end spas - and for a fraction of the price. A sugar scrub is a body treatment designed to exfoliate the skin, removing the outermost layer of dead skin cells and leaving your skin softer and smoother. It is one of the gentlest of all the … [Read more...]
Homemade Rose & Raspberry Sorbet
I had been thinking for a while that making fruit sorbets would be a great use of fruit from my garden so when I found a Sunbeam Ice Cream Maker on super special it seemed like a sensible move to buy it and try it out. The recipe book is full of different recipes to try out: basic vanilla icecream and lots of variations, gelatos and sorbets. I also found 25 deliciously different recipes to try on Martha Stewart's website. A traditional creamy Ice Cream is made from a custard base using … [Read more...]