“I KNOW HOW TO BOIL WATER; I JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN IT'S DONE": Best Ever Biscotti

Friday, April 18, 2014

Best Ever Biscotti

BEST EVER BISCOTTI

1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. anise (optional)
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 300°.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together, butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Next add the vanilla and anise extract (if you don't use anise, use 2 tsp. vanilla).
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; and add to creamed mixture.
Stir in almonds.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Divide the dough in half, and form each half into a 3" X 11" rectangle on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes or until golden and firm to touch.
Remove from oven and lift parchment paper and logs to a cooling rack.
Cool completely.
On a cutting board, cut with a serrated knife, diagonally, 3/4 " wide.
Preheat oven to 325°
Place cut side down on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over and bake 10 minutes more.
Remove and cool completely on wire rack.
Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!

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Natural Resource

Beginnings

It was tradition in my family that soup was served almost every Sunday. There were only a handful of Sundays where soup wasn't part of the menu. On those days, we probably took a trip to Rivesville, West Virginia to visit with my Grandma, who usually had her own pot of soup on, and homemade bread to sink our teeth into. Sundays started with Mass, and after returning home, we would have breakfast. One of my favorite morning dishes was palachintas (yum). Mom would already have soup on the stovetop, and between noon and 2 o'clock it was time for the "soup feast." You could tell time at our house by the Sunday meal plan. A lot of them were based on the time of the football game, or other sporting event. Soup was always served as the noon time meal, followed by a hearty meatloaf, roast beef, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas, or the like, at suppertime (usually around 4 o’clock). It seemed like all we did on Sunday was eat and relax. You would wonder how you could be hungry for supper at 4 or 5 o’clock. Amazingly, you were. There were times I would remember that if there wasn’t enough roast beef to make you content, Mom would give you a slice of bread on your plate and cover it with gravy (Gravy Bread). What an added feast we thought we were getting. Little did we know, there probably wasn't enough meat for seconds, and who cared, because there was always plenty of gravy for that "oh so special" Gravy Bread. I really don’t remember a lot of desserts. I know we probably had them from time to time, but even if there were, I don’t know how one would find, or want to find, the room to fit it in. Well, all this talk is making me hungry. Go turn on the water and let’s get started!

Dedication

I dedicate this website to the 4 best cooks I know: My mother, who nourished me from the day of my first breath, both physically and spiritually; my mother-in-law, introducing me to her family favorites and customs; my husband’s grandmother, who had a unique, physical and verbal way of teaching me all her different techniques, to pass on traditional dishes; and last, and foremost, my heavenly mother, Mary, who is always by my side guiding me with spiritual intervention every step, and ingredient, of the way. It is with a deep love of my heritage that I also dedicate this collection of recipes to all the cooks who are just starting out and continuing the tradition of using recipes that are "family recipes." I hope that this website will serve to preserve some of my "family recipes" and to kindle an interest in traditional cooking among the younger families in a not always traditional way.

Enjoy!
With much love, Beve