Things to make and do!

Welcome, you gorgeous lovely!


Watch this space for new and old recipes for your hair and body from the store cupboard*

Raph's Lentil Stew with Wild Rice

*This is not meant to be slathered over your skin, but eaten!

What you'll need.

•  3 or 4 (Raphy won't say) chillies. I think our pack included a scotch bonnet. 
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed. 
• hot curry powder
• an assortment of vegetables: Raph used red peppers and courgettes
• perhaps 3 (tea) cups of lentils or 100 grams (I'm not great with precision)
• Chicken joints (optional, we used wings). 
• 1 lump of ginger, grated. 
• vegetable stock (that is, a good stock powder dissolved in water, for both the rice and the lentil stew).
• allow 1 cup of rice for each diner
• Creamed coconut dissolved in hot water, or coconut milk (bought in liquid form)

Start the rice first. Brown, that is unpolished rice with all the roughage left on it, is better for you and tastes great, but takes a while to cook, at least 40 minutes I'd say. Bring to the boil in plenty of vegetable stock, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer in the background as you cook the stew. Be careful not to let the rice stick to the bottom of the pan at any point. If this happens you may have it on too high a heat.

Lentils can be cooked in a myriad of ways, but Raphy's preferred technique is to gently fry the onions and garlic together with the curry powder and chillies. Take time over this bit, if done well, the intensity of the chillies will stay with the dish through additions of all the other ingredients.

After a while, when the onion and spice mix has softened and smells good, add the vegetables, about a cup of vegetable stock, and the lentils. You won't need too much stock here as next you'll add the coconut mixture and allow your developing stew to simmer away in all that spicy coconutty goodness.

The trick is to allow the lentils to soften and simmer, without drenching them in liquid that quells the fire of the chilli. When the stew is near complete, add the ginger to reinvigorate things.

Once again, don't be deceived by the hard exterior of the rice, believe me it will soften, give it time and focus on the stew. Serve hot. Tastes better still the next day for lunch. 

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Brown Sugar Scrub

Whilst pondering the dry skin Berlin's deep, dark, arid winter has gifted me, a feel-good recipe, buried somewhere at the back of mind came to the surface...

What you will need:

Olive oil - a generous spoonful
Clear honey - a generous spoonful
Dark soft sugar (perhaps muscovado) - another generous spoonful

• Mix the olive oil, honey and sugar together in a ramequin. 
• Slather all over your body in circular motions, allowing the moisturising properties of honey and oil to do you good!
• Let it sink in a while...
• Rinse off thoroughly to reveal renewed, happy skin. 

Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse

Beautifully simple this one, gleaned from my granny. 

Just add about 3 lidfuls of cider vinegar that you might otherwise use for your salad dressing, to a pint of lukewarm water.

• Pour over your head after shampooing (and or conditioning) to seal your follicles and keep your scalp healthy.
• A weak cider vinegar solution is also good for cleansing your insides.