The February Edition
The LOVE Issue!
It’s February! Hallelujah! A sweet, short month of love getting winter out of the way before spring heralds its magic and we all start to wake up from hibernation. I love this month because it’s full of hope (and my birthday!) - longer evenings, bulbs appearing, the hint of bird song; and despite the Valentines clichés, a reminder to spread love even in the smallest of ways to everyone around you.
In this edition, I share my February Willow Loves - layering up with jackets, coats, hats and some summer dreaming too; a love-themed edit to lift spirits; a supermarket tulip bouquet for whoever you want to shower with love this month; my tips for creating sublime bath oils at home (also the loveliest present for a friend); and a petite pudding for two recipe.
Happy, happy February!
Love, Willow
*This is my Monthly Free Edition, but every week, I send out emails to my paid subscribers with flowery, fashion, food and wellness content - ideas to inspire, create and nurture. I hope you will join our growing community, we have so much planned this year!
PS. this is a long read so might be best to read in web browser (just in case it cuts off in your email).
Willow Loves
What I’m loving for the month of love - stylish winter warmers with a side of seaside dreaming…
Top row, left to right
I feel a year of culinary success on the cards with this clever pan
Would be the ultimate forever Valentines bag for me, just saying…
Willow Loves… (6 more!)
(scroll to the end for our paid subscribers)
Flowery trick - Supermarket Tulips
Whether you’re wanting to inject some colour and life into this relentless winter or spreading the love this Valentines (to your friends too!), you can’t beat supermarket tulips at this time of year to brighten up the days. Here I show you how to care, arrange and wrap up your bouquet (with a bow of course)….
Spread Love
Valentine’s or not, we could all do with a bit of extra love in this wintery month of February. So share the love far and wide (and don’t forget to spoil yourself)…
Top row, left to right
Create - Essential Oil Baths
I love having a bath. My studio is outside, which means at this time of year I often feel like I’m frozen to the core. A hot bath is the only way I can defrost. To me, enjoying a soak is a bit like the ritual of a comforting cup of tea in the way it makes everything seem okay again. When I was younger, the idea of being given a bath oil as a present was the epitome of dull; I thought it such an uninventive, boring present. How times have changed! The idea of being given a gorgeous bottle of bath oil now makes me want to whoop with gratitude and joy. Anything to nurture and help me relax is top of my most-wanted list.
Making your own bath oils is super-simple. As well as nourishing and softening your skin - and smelling delicious - essential oils are believed to help treat lots of everyday ailments you may be suffering from. There is also evidence to suggest they help the body to release toxins. Did you know that, due to the heat of the water, more aroma molecules are released from the oils when you have a bath than they are during a massage?
To make a bath oil, you need to combine 4 tablespoons of a base carrier oil with whichever essential oils you choose. Base carrier oils are light oils like castor oil, sunflower oil, almond oil and jojoba oil. Make sure the oils you use are always 100 per cent pure and of therapeutic grade.
Pour the base carrier oil into a sterilised, dark glass bottle - I use one that holds about 300ml - and add around 20 drops of your chosen essential oil (see list below). Then leave the bottle in a dark cupboard, letting it blend for two weeks before you use it. You can also add baby shampoo into the mix, about 4 tablespoons, which helps the oil disperse more evenly in the water. Shake the bottle before you use it.
Chamomile is gently calming. It can also soothe dry, itchy skin.
Geranium is ideal for uplifting and energising.
Jasmine is wonderful for uplifting when feeling stressed or lethargic. It blends beautifully with ylang ylang.
Lavender is known for its soothing and relaxing qualities. Great for a bath at bedtime, it can calm your nerves, soothe tension and help you fall asleep.
Neroli, extracted from orange blossom flowers, calms the mind and uplifts the spirit.
Rose is known to be calming, yet gently uplifting.
Tree bark oils such as sandalwood, rosewood and cedar wood - are believed to be grounding and soothing. They help you keep focused.
Bergamot is a sweet-smelling and wonderfully uplifting and encouraging. Great for moments of self-doubt.
Note: Some essential oils are best avoided during pregnancy. If you are pregnant, make sure you check before using the bath oil.
An excerpt from The Wild Journal - A Year Of Nurturing Yourself Through Nature by Willow Crossley.
Recipe - White Chocolate and Pistachio Tortini by Skye McAlpine
These will keep in the freezer in their little ramekins for three months. Make sure to include a note with baking instructions, if you’re dropping them off as a gift.
A wonderfully fudgy dessert somehow in the same family as sticky toffee pudding. The tortino or ‘little cake’ is made from white chocolate, which gives it that intensely dense texture, then baked at its centre is a dollop of melting sweet pistachio cream. This you can buy in jars – most Italian delicatessens or specialist online suppliers stock it – or make for yourself following my recipe (see page 215). I love white chocolate and pistachio together, but you could equally substitute a dollop of chocolate-hazelnut spread for the pistachio cream. Once prepared, these need to rest in the freezer for a few hours, so you do need to think ahead; but on the flip side you can make them in advance and have them ready to pop in the oven when needed.
Hands On Time: 20 minutes
Hands Off Time: 3 hours in the freezer; 25 minutes in the oven
SERVES 2
100g salted butter, plus more for the ramekins
100g white chocolate, finely chopped
60g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 level tbsp plain flour
2 heaped tsp Pistachio Butter (see page 215), shop-bought pistachio cream, or chocolate- hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
icing sugar, to dust (optional)
finely chopped pistachios, to serve (optional)
Butter two 10cm ramekins, making sure to liberally coat the bases.
Combine the white chocolate, butter and sugar in a small saucepan and set over a low heat to melt. Stir regularly to stop the chocolate from catching and take the pan off the heat as soon as it is melted.
In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the eggs to the melted chocolate and stir vigorously until well combined. Now add the flour to the chocolate and stir vigorously until you have a smooth, chocolatey cream.
Pour one-quarter of the mixture into each of the prepared ramekins. Spoon a dollop of Pistachio Butter, pistachio cream or chocolate spread into the middle of each, then pour over the remaining white chocolate mix, dividing it equally between each ramekin so the pistachio or chocolate is completely covered. Cover and set in the freezer for a couple of hours (longer if you like).
When you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 200 ̊C/180 ̊C fan/Gas 6.
Bake the tortini straight from the freezer, in the middle of the oven, for 25 minutes, until lightly golden on top and slightly risen in the middle. They should feel firm to the touch. Dust with icing sugar and/or a scattering of pistachios, if you like, before serving while still warm.
A Table Full of Love by Skye McAlpine is published by Bloomsbury, £26. Photography by Skye McAlpine. Follow Skye on Substack: Skye McAlpine
February Arts & Culture
What to see, visit & plan this month…
Do try to visit (my mother), Kate Corbett-Winder exhibition which opens 5 February (until 27 February) at Browse and Darby, London
Visit The Wallace Collection in London to see Caravaggio’s Cupids (until 12 April)
Don’t miss the Lee Miller exhibition at the Tate until 15 February
Book to see Ovo - The Cirque de Soleil performance at The Royal Albert Hall until 1 March
Find a beautiful garden to visit this month with The National Garden Scheme
Take the family to the Banksy Limitless exhibition in London over half term
Visit the Marie Antoinette exhibition at the V&A until 22 March
Watch the Take That documentary on Netflix
Get your Chelsea Flower Show tickets
Mark your diaries - a major David Hockney exhibition launches at the Serpentine Gallery on 12 March
PS. Willow Loves (6 more!)
