Keep the beard beautiful

Until recently, my OH had a beard – and beautiful it was too. Then he decided that, for him, the beard trend had ceased and he's clean shaven again.

When he was bearded, he was browsing beard oil to buy, and I said: 'You don't need to buy it; I'll make you some...'

So I got out my essential oils, and we had a suggest and sniff session. He went for a mix of lemon and rosemary, with a drop of peppermint. Here's what we did (I've just written more on how to make your own beard oil, for Saga)...

Spoon a little coconut oil into a small pot. Melt the oil by putting the pot in a  bowl of hot water (or if it's a hot day, it may liquefy naturally). Add a couple of drops of your chosen essential oils, which have antibacterial properties (can be useful if the beard-spotter is a messy eater), and help to condition the hair. To apply, dip in a finger or two, and stroke thoughtfully over the beard.

After I made the first little pot, he took over the job and made his own, and we made and gave some more as presents.

Want to save money and make your own beauty products? How about making your own body scrub? That way, you know what's in it, and you don't have to read the label to make sure it's free of microbeads: tiny pieces of plastic that find their way into the oceans and harm wildlife.

How to make spiced gin

Gin is in – sales last year topped £1 bn for the first time. I love a G&T too (I like to make mine with Hendricks gin, Fever-Tree Naturally Light tonic, a few drops of lavender bitters and a slice of lime).

And around this time of year I usually hit the hedgerows for a spot of foraging and make sloe gin – here's how – which is a lovely winter warmer. I've also made cherry gin: recipe here.

But new to me is spiced gin. Back in July I went to Marks & Spencer's Christmas press show. Among all the delicious treats to sample (chilli chocolate tortilla chips and metallic macarons, mmm) was a make-your-own-spiced-gin stand. There was an expert on hand to advise on which of the array of botanicals (flavouring ingredients) would work well together.

Things got a bit messy, using the little spoons to shovel a few seeds of this and a blade of that into the narrow neck of the bottle And there were certainly spillages at the gin dispenser (not guilty). I went for juniper berries, cassia, coriander, lemon peel and cardamom. 'Try it in around three weeks,' said the gin expert. 'Ha-ha: fat chance,' I replied, thinking I'd be unable to resist a nip sooner than that. But then the bottle of gin got tucked away behind some other bottles, after a kitchen reshuffle...

Freshly bottled, all of those botanicals were floating on the surface. Opened this week, four months on, they've slumped to the bottom of the bottle, sozzled. The gin is a warm, amber colour and its scent is cinnamon-like (from the cassia, I think, as they're related). Its taste is warm and fragrant, with a dry base note that I like. And I'll definitely be making more, possibly for a few pressies...

Spiced gin recipe
Pour 500ml reasonable-quality gin into a clean bottle with a lid. I'll be adding five strips of lemon zest, half a teaspoon of coriander seed, and a quarter of a cinnamon stick to mine, but you can also use cloves, juniper berries (of course), cardamom...

Seal the bottle, label, and leave in a dark place for around four weeks - perfect timing for Christmas.

Poppy day: making and memories

It's almost November 11 and poppies are everywhere, tucked into buttonholes, on the front of cars, tied into trees and fixed on the front of cars.

Mark Remembrance Sunday with a knitted or crocheted poppy with this poppy pattern from Woman's Weekly, which also has instructions for making a wreath of them.

If you need a bit of help, watch this YouTube poppy-making video.












Sir Cliff Richard has been knitting poppies this week, being taught to knit by a fan – more on knitting celebrities here, and those who crochet here.

Earlier this year, at the Chelsea Flower Show, I was moved by the carpet of 300,000 crocheted poppies, called 5,000 Poppies. The project was started by Australians Lynn Berry and Margaret Knight, who initially set out to crochet 120 poppies to honour their fathers who both fought in World War II, and the Chelsea garden was created by Phillip Johnson.

More recently, driving towards Calais after a holiday, we passed Etaples military cemetery. We've seen quite a few, but the impact of all those uniform headstones (over 11,000 here) never diminishes. This cemetery was on the site of a hospital, so there are soldiers from many countries and both world wars buried there, as well as some of the nurses who cared for them.

My own great-grandfather's remains are in another cemetery in northern France, and one day I'll go and visit.

One of my favourite screensaver pix: a shot of poppies from my garden.

How to make kale crisps

Three years ago I tried ready-made kale crisps for the first time. I realised that they would be easy to make, so soon after that I made some. Ones you buy ready-made are often overloaded with flavouring, so thickly coated that it's hard to see the green leafy veg that lies within. They're no longer a super-trendy snack, but I still make them. I like them and it's a great way to use up the massive bags of kale that regularly come in my weekly veg box.

• bunch of kale
• oil to coat - either poured from a bottle or sprayed on
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• dried chilli flakes (optional)
• smoked paprika (optional)
• garlic powder (optional)  

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Wash the kale leaves and dry very well with kitchen paper, pressing into the crinkles. Cut or tear the kale leaves into pieces, drizzle or spray with a little oil and toss with your hands to coat all the pieces.

Spread on a baking tray so that the leaves aren’t touching. Bake for 10 mins and take a look. The edges of the leaves need to be brown and frizzled without being burnt. Exactly how long this takes depends on the moisture content of the kale, so keep checking, on what seems a ridiculously frequent basis. Some pieces will cook faster than others, all to do with their relative surface area according to how 'curly' your curly kale is. When the majority of the leaves are browned, take the tray out of the oven. Season and sprinkle with the flavouring of your choice (any or all of the above) and serve immediately.

More of my recipes
Super-speedy spinach and coconut soup
Make pickled beetroot