Biscotti Recipe

Since many of my friends on Facebook requested the recipe for the biscotti I made, I'll post it here for all of you. I found the picture of the biscotti on tastespotting.com which took me to the blog
visionsofsugarplum.com for the recipe. Thank you Emily for posting it.

Chunky Monkey Biscotti

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
melted chocolate for dipping, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk in sugar and chocolate chips until combined. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together banana, eggs, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined. Divide dough and shape into three (9 x 2 1/3 inch) logs on cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes; cool 5 minutes before transferring logs to wire racks to cool an additional 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut rolls diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place, cut sides down on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees; bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 15 minutes (cookies will be sllightly soft in center but will harden as they coool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks.

Dip in melted chocolate if desired.

The only change I made was I made two bigger logs which, when cut, turned out to be about a 5 inch long cookie.

Enjoy!!

Baking on a Sunday Afternoon

I haven't baked in a while which could be a good thing or a bad thing. If I don't bake, I don't eat it and if I do bake.....well, you know what happens! Today was quiet and a bit rainy so I decided to make something from the website tastespotting.com. I must have found it through someone's blog while browsing. Tastespotting is a mouth watering photo collection of recipes(I found that description on Google!). Wait until you browse through it! Awesome photography too. These are the ingredients that turn into this. Chunky Monkey Biscotti. I knew I had to make them when I saw the picture. I dipped the bottom into melted chocolate instead of just one end. I wanted that chocolate experience to last for the whole biscotti, not just for the first few bites.

The Answer Is.......

Hold on, I'll tell you in a second. I had so many guesses that it took a while to read through them all. NOT!! Actually, I only had one person make a guess. Thank you Mary. I couldn't keep her in suspense any longer. The answer as to what this strange looking green thing is is that it is called a Banana Bunker!! I'll be using it to protect my banana that I will carry to work in my lunchbag. No more bruises or smushes. This was found at a new store in town called PLAY where you can find many unusual and fun items. It was fun shopping there for Christmas gifts.

A Vintage Gift From My Mom

Kate and I made a quick one day trip back home to visit Mom and some of the other family. I love making that trip because it just completes my Christmas. There is always an abundance of family, laughter and food! Mom had mentioned these cookie cutters to me over the phone asking if I would like them. OH, YES, I WOULD!! is what I probably said. As a child, many Christmas cut out cookies were made with these....even the ones that aren't the originals. I'm very happy to have them. I still have to make my Sour Cream Cut Outs for Fred(as a little birthday gift)this weekend. I think I'll only use these.

A Remembered Recipe

When I mentioned that I had made Strawberry Bread while Christmas baking, Colleen told me she had forgotten about it and would like the recipe. I'm taking the easy way out by posting a picture of the recipe instead of typing it out. If any of you out there in "Blogland" would like to try it and aren't able to see the recipe clearly, please comment and I will type it in. I didn't take a picture of it cut or by itself, so I'm showing it with some of the other goodies I made. It bakes up very red so it is a perfect bread for Christmas or even Valentine's Day. I imagine you could serve it with strawberry jam too. Enjoy!!

Christmas Eve Dinner

I know many of you have fancy dinners on Christmas Eve. I'm lucky if I can pull off all that I have to do and if that includes a meal then I have succeeded. This year I planned ahead and made time to make dinner. We don't do fancy. We save that for Christmas day. I chose a simple dish that is called "Baked Stew". It is out of one of our church cookbooks submitted by my friend Sandy. Here's the recipe:

1 can of tomato soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
(I use cream of chicken)
1 # of ground beef
5 medium potatoes
6 carrots
1/4 c. diced onions
1/4 c. diced celery
salt and pepper

Brown onion, celery and meat in skillet. Mix soups together over low heat in a saucepan. Prepare vegetables(I didn't peel the potatoes and I used baby carrots)by cutting into small chunks. Mix all ingredients together, put into a greased 13 x 9 pan. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Serves 4-6

Midnight...Christmas Morning

This is my Silent Night photo. I took it just past midnight Christmas morning. Kate and Fred/Dad were in bed(of course), the house was quiet and I was just sitting, looking at the tree, and realizing that this is the 40th Christmas Fred/Dad and I are spending together!! We were dating at Christmas in 1969 and now have been married for 39 1/2 years. Christmas of 1971 was celebrated with our daughter, Colleen, just 1 1/2 months old. In 1975, Leslie was with us and as the years flew by we had Beth and Kate to enjoy the holiday with. Wow!! Time really does fly! I can't wrap my head around that number 40. Before I know it, 40 will turn to 41. I only wish I could slow time down.