This is my last post here on WoodandChocolate. It's been a crazy, fun adventure and I've learnt so much by blogging but I'm moving into the realm of grownup-slash-business and so have put together this {well I think so} beautiful website...

Please check it out and from now on, everything will be over there.....in grownup-slash-business...

I hope you enjoy, like it, leave a comment and do a little dance!

So here it is: http://jettevirdi.com

Crystallise me

I'm a little nervous. It's the first week of November and having just moved into my new house {yes, very exciting!} it would be lovely to spend some time here. But, and it's a big one, I just don't have that option. From here until the end of November I am off working all over the place and then I am off on a little holiday for a month. Which means I won't get to live in my new house for the whole of December... Back to Mexico I go and I'm happy that I will be coming back with my tan!

In this week that I have in my lovely new home I have one more fantastic shoot with the gorgeously talented Yolene {@cremedacitron}. She is a seriously talented and lovely person and I feel that I've made a real friend.

In preparation for this exciting shoot {pictures to follow} I had to get my crystallisation on. Spending a couple of hours with the sun flooding through my new kitchen window was a joy. A fiddly, messy and sometimes quite frustrating joy that was fun, maybe I could start a flower crystallisation factory...hmmm

I went with some gorgeously pink tinged hydrangeas and some roses....are you excited to see how I'm going to use them???

It's such a simple process and once done they can last for quite a while if stored correctly. An air tight container with some kitchen paper in between  layers so the moisture doesn't circulate. So, what do you need....an egg white and caster sugar. Yeah. It really is that easy!

Gently pull off individual petals, be really careful with this as they will bruise and this can show! If your flowers are really iccle then I would crystallise the whole thing {I did this for the individual hydrangea flowers}. In order for them to keep for months you must crystallise both sides. So paint with egg white, gently, and then sprinkle with caster sugar. If you dip I find that the sugar sticks in blobs rather than a beautiful shimmer of sugar.

So once you've painted and sprinkled lay, not touching, on newspaper and preferably in a warm place/in the sun so that they dry asap.

Once dry, store as mentioned above. Happy crystallising.

Kale Chips

Now, I know that these green pieces of crispiness are around everywhere and it was a massive trend about 6 months ago but it's about time to make your own. Store bought is dry and full of bad stuff {surprise surprise}

Kale chips are the easy-peasy-no-hassle to make with only one thing you should worry about. Timing. There have been many a time where I've checked them and thought 'oh, just 1 more minute. I've got time to do this' and poof! Hello big pan of burnt kale chips. Very sad indeed.

Kale is fully packed vitamin and anti-oxident brassica that you want to start eating. If you already eat it, eat more! It's a great source of Iron, Vit K and is fab for cardio vascular support.  There are plenty of types from curly to cavelo negro. Any of the varieties are good for you but the best one for crisps is the curly.

These crisps are a healthy, tangy snack. You get to chose your spice {my preference is cayenne} and it takes all of 6 minutes. Make sure your kale is clean and dry. If the pieces are still wet from washing they won't crisp up and it'll be a waste of time.

I just break off pieces of the leaves and pop onto a baking tray. You kind of want bite size pieces, easy to pop into your mouth! Simply drizzle with oil {I use coconut} and not too much then sprinkle over some chunky salt and your desired spice. Give it all a good mix and make sure the leaves are coated then pop into a pre-heated overn at 190C. Stand by your oven! Do not move, check after 5 minutes and see how crispy they are. If at all they go brown, take them out immediately. It really is a case of 'take your eye of the ball and you lose'.