Warming up the Home

With the cooler weather I've got the bug to bake lately. Not only does the place smell great when something is cooking in the oven, but it warms the entire condo up nicely as well. I saw this recipe for Cherry, Almond, and White Chocolate Biscotti over at gimme some oven and knew I had to make it. The texture is great, as promised - crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside.

Here's the ingredients:

Combine 2-2/3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix 4 large eggs, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon almond extract and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer.


Add in dry ingredients and mix together until combined. Then add in 6 ounces dried cherries, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup slivered almonds. Either mix by hand with a wooden spoon, or very briefly with the electric mixer.


Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface. Knead lightly a few times to be sure that berries, chocolate and almonds are well-distributed. This dough is very sticky, so I had to add a good amount of flour. Divide dough in half.


Shape each half into long logs, and flatten to 1″ thickness. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.


Remove rolls from baking sheet and cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Then cut each roll diagonally into 1/2″ slices.


Place the slices cut-sides down on a baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove, and turn each slice over, and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove and cool on wire racks.


Remove and cool on wire racks.


Drizzle with melted white chocolate.


Enjoy with your morning coffee, or cup of tea.

A Long Weekend

It was very nice to have a long weekend, though we didn't do much. Valentines Day we went to Costco (romantic!) and Chris attempted a lemon meringue pie since I cannot for the life of me make a good one any more. His failed, and I am secretly gratified and validated that its not me that is the problem. I don't know if its the recipe either, since I've tried a couple. I need to do some research and find a good contender. In the meantime, I've picked up a box of Jello Lemon Pie filling (no gelatin!) to try out. Or we can just admit defeat and resign ourselves to picking up our pies at Nob Hill Foods or Marie Callendar's.

Sunday was Christopher's 31st birthday (Happy Birthday!). He spent the day gaming with his friends while I made him the requested bechamel lasagna and garlic bread, and bought him a pie from the store since he said it would be a great present if I didn't attempt to make one. Monday Chris took me to lunch at Pleasanton House Thai Cuisine. It was spicy and good, and Chris really liked the hot Thai tea so I need to find a source to have some at home. We went to the pet store to get toys and treats for the dogs, because they are spoiled. We took the dogs to the park since they hadn't been outside in a quite a while due to all the rain. And then we relaxed at home. A Good Day.

Its been raining a lot lately, so to perk up our spirits a bit I made Mai Tais and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. Tropical!


I used a recipe over at Baking Bites, and omitted the lime (I'd add it in next time, just for a new taste). These are really, really good. I toasted the macadamia nuts a little long, so there's an unexplainable faint taste of popcorn, but they're still good. Definitely do not over bake these, so they stay chewy.

Its been a good, if busy, week so far:

- I finished A Lion Among Men, loved it and am looking forward to the next book (I can't imagine Maguire doesn't have another in the works). I'll be sending this on to you, Mom. Luckily, Liz sent me Philippa Gregory's The Other Queen so I have another book in the wings. I'm also looking in to the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. I think I might have bought the first one for Chris already, I'll have to check.

- I started (and re-started) a new knitting project, the Soap Bubble Wrap from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. I knit on this last night while watching Evan Almighty, which I recommend, it was quite funny.

- I played with the USS Hornet Band at the Union City senior center today and we had a big crowd, probably 30 or 40 people. One of the regulars asked me about my parents attending the other week, and said they are beautiful people. :)

I leave you with a picture of Gretel, where she looks enormous. She's a big cat (and a little overweight, though she'll tell you she's starving). In this picture she's completely flattened herself so she looks even bigger. I have a kitty blanket.

Stay warm!