Life with Bees

The origin of this Saturday's dinner came earlier this week when TK wandered down to his local Subway for a chipotle cheese steak wrap. As he walked away satisfied, in a haze of spiciness, he realised how much he loved the smoky blends of chipotle. He vowed to incorporate it into this week's dinner menu. And since he felt like having burgers tonight, he came up with this delicious concoction.

The star of this little burger is the hot sauce, which starts with jalapeno chillies - which give the distinctive flavour. Seed them and gently cook in a little oil. Add two ground chipotles (which are just dried smoked jalapenos). Deglaze with some apple cider vinegar and add a splash of water while it cooks for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it poach and thicken slightly on its own. Throw it into the blender and blitz with a bit more water until it forms a good sauce. Cook it a bit longer in the pan and sprinkle on some salt to bring out the flavour of the chillies rather than just pure heat.

TK stirs this into a home-made mayonnaise to give a thick, spicy chipotle sauce with a beautiful pure Dutch orange colour and a smokescreen of heat.

The rest of the burger comes together easily enough. Crumb some chicken thigh fillets before pan-frying in butter - they almost make tender miniature schnitzels. Add some juicy pieces of cos lettuce, some Spanish onion rings and a slice of dark-orange vintage Cheddar. Slather with chipotle hot sauce and ensconce the lot in a fresh kaiser roll.

Endota Spa is offering all its 2-hour treatments at half price for the month of June, a discount that makes the beauty spa affordable even on my tiny salary. So two girlfriends and I booked in at our local spa immediately.

We all got the same 2.5 hour treatment, the Endota Layabout, which involves a "billabong footsoak'', a full body scrub and clay body wrap, followed by a massage and an organic facial.

When we arrived we were seated in a little reception area with bright green ottomans and a water feature. We filled out the usual questionnaires asking about allergies, health problems and skin concerns. It also asked what sort of pressure we liked in our massage and whether we wanted our therapist to chat during the treatment - a thoughtful touch.

Afterwards we were introduced to our therapists and led into separate treatment rooms. Mine was cosy, decorated in chocolate and eucalypt green colours. There was a big, immaculate vanity table along one side of the room with the therapist's kit. A large, discreet frosted glass shower was in one corner, and a big rattan chair in the other.

Billabong Footsoak: In front of the chair my therapist had laid out a fluffy towel and a large silver bowl full of warm water. I placed my feet into the warm liquid and she began to stroke my feet and legs with a mimosa and ginseng body polish. There were smooth river pebbles in the bottom of the bowl, which massaged and soothed the soles of my feet as I rubbed against them. The therapist gave me a full foot and lower leg scrub and then rinsed the polish off my legs and massaged some body balm into them.

Clay Body Wrap: After I moved to the treatment table, she draped me in a towel and worked on me section by section, using the mimosa body polish again. The scrub was fine-grained and had a lovely mild floral smell, not too sweet or overpowering. The therapist worked it methodically over my legs, back, arms and hands - it was almost like having a massage in itself. As she finished with each body part, she wiped the polish off with a warm, damp towel. Then she applied the body wrap, smoothing it onto my skin in a hot trickle of clay. When my back half was done, I turned over and she worked on my front with the polish and the clay. This time she only scrubbed and wrapped my arms, legs and decolletage, leaving my stomach and chest untouched - which was a bit odd. I could understand not covering my chest in clay but surely we could have worked around it and done my stomach?

When I was completely ensconced in clay, she pulled some warm sheets over me and gave me a soothing scalp massage while the body wrap soaked in. The scalp massage was blissful and relaxing, and was much better than being left alone to stew in the dark, covered in clay and blankets. Then it was off to the shower to wash off the pale clay wrap. In another nice touch, the therapist covered the steps leading to the shower cubicle with a fluffy towel. I spent a bit longer in the shower than I anticipated - the clay was a bit tricky to wash off completely and the warm shower was very relaxing. The wrap left my skin slightly oiled and a bit tacky to the touch, but not greasy.

Massage and Organic Facial: After my shower the therapist started on a half-hour body massage with the endota olive and macadamia oil. I had asked for firm pressure in my massage and she did not disappoint, using a fairly heavy hand to knead the tension out of my shoulders, arms and legs. Impressively, she had the knack of smoothing more oil onto my body without breaking her massage strokes.

When I was well oiled and relaxed, I turned over and she covered me in more towels before starting a one-hour facial. This began with a cleanse - she pressed two pads of eye makeup remover onto my eyelids (I wasn't wearing any makeup), and then smoothed my face liberally in a fig and sugar cleanser which felt soapy and slick. She pressed this off with a warm towel and started to rub my face with an intense menthol exfoliant from Thalgo. The scrub was brilliantly cool, leaving my face with an almost glowing warmth. In between each facial treatment she sprayed the air above my face with a wild orange spritzer which tickled down onto my face in a mist of sweet smelling citrus.

Then it was time for a face mask. With strong, smooth strokes she applied a thick Thalgo face mask and pressed a warm towel over my eyes to help me relax and soak it all in. She wrapped me up securely in some blankets and then set about with - yes - another scalp massage followed by a decolletage and shoulder rub. It was that good a treatment. Unfortunately when the time came to remove the face mask, with a compress of hot towels, my therapist's firm pressure proved my undoing - I felt nearly strangled under her hands as she pushed down on my face. She cleaned the mask neatly off my cheeks and set about applying Thalgo radiance moisturiser, again with a slightly heavy hand.

It felt: very relaxing, completely soothing and very indulgent. My skin felt very smooth afterwards and smelt of a heady mix of eucalypts, flowers and clay. We drifted out in a daze of pleasure and went home to continue relaxing.

The best bits: The comprehensive nature of the treatment. The therapist rarely left me alone in the room, spending any downtime giving me scalp massages or hand massages while we waited for the wrap or the mask to take effect. She had a very good firm pressure in her massage, and tried to take my needs into account.

The worst bits: The therapist's heavy hand was a bit disappointing in the facial - I do like a firm hand to ease the tension in my shoulders, but my face is a little less sturdy than the rest of my body. The music stopped halfway through the treatment and she didn't put it back on - not in itself a worry, but it did mean I could hear a delivery man rapping on the front counter outside for someone to come and sign a sheet. And surely there could have been some way to clay wrap my unloved stomach...?

But all in all, it was two and a half hours of blissful indulgence for $110 all up. Incredibly cheap, and a delicious treatment which showcased some of Endota's organic products.