Cherry, White Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

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biscotti, breakfast, brunch, brunch recipes, Christmas, Christmas Brunch, Christmas tradition, food, Holiday, holiday tradition, Italian, recipes

It’s time for the annual teacher’s holiday breakfast today. Last year I made almond biscotti with chocolate chips, some were even chocolate dipped. This year I made that again, but I also made a cherry, white chocolate & almond biscotti. Mmm… I used the same recipe as last year just switching around a few ingredients. I didn’t have very good lighting here, and there’s no natural lighting right now, so I apologize in the lack of quality photography.

Cherry, White Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:
6 Tbs. fresh whipped heavy cream, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 2 tsp. almond extract, 2 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp, salt, 1/2 c. white chocolate chips, 1/2 c. dried tart cherries, 1 beaten egg white

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together whipped heavy cream, sugar, egg, egg yolk and almond extract together. In a small mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and almond bits. Roll dough on a floured surface and separate into two balls. Roll each ball out into logs and place on parchment paper lined baking tray. Pat logs to flatten and then brush beaten egg on tops and sides. Bake for 30 minutes at 325°F, let cool for 15 minutes and slice diagonally. Bake for 10 minutes more.  Decorate and serve.

I hope there are a few pieces left over so I can eat them tomorrow morning with my tea before I dive into my last minute Christmas preparations…

What Christmas traditions do you have at work?

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Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

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Christmas, Christmas cheer, Christmas decor, Christmas Ornament, Christmas party, Christmas tradition, classic Christmas, craft, happy holidays, holiday craft, holiday ornament, holiday tradition, mistletoe, Ornament, Xmas craft, Xmas ornaments, XMas party

Mistletoe Craft or Ornament
I love to hang mistletoe in my home… any excuse to kiss Hubster is good. 😉 Okay, so I don’t need an excuse, but I think it’s a cute festive decoration.

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

 

I started with three fuzzy green pipe cleaners and bent them in half to create the “stems”. Then, tied a long piece of burgundy ribbon around the middle of the pipe cleaners to create the hanging piece. I took a smaller piece of burgundy ribbon and tied it lower of the stems, to create a “bunch”. I cut heart-shaped leaves out of green fleece, cutting down the middle of the heart, but not through the base of the heart. Next, I staggered and glued two hearts upside-down on each pipe cleaner. Then I glued 5 white pearls at the bottoms of each stem to create “berries”. I carefully arranged each stem into place, spreading out each branch.

Mistletoe Bunch

 

Then it was time to hang it over my head and see it Hubster got the hint… which was a pretty big deal since it was during yesterday’s football game. Then I hung it in the doorway leading into the living room.

What classic Christmas tradition do you love?

Eleventh Day of Christmas – Gingerbread Man Ornament

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11th day of Christmas, 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas cheer, Christmas craft, Christmas Ornament, Christmas present, Christmas tree, craft, easy craft, eleventh day of Christmas, embroidery, funny ornament, gingerbread man, handmade, handmade gift, handmade ornament, happy holidays, holiday craft, holiday ornament, holiday season, holiday spirit, holiday tradition, homemade, homemade gift, homemade ornament, kid craft, party favor, present, simple craft, twelve days of Christmas, whimsical ornament, Xmas present

On the eleventh day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me her Gingerbread Man Ornaments, Fleece Blankets, Bottle Cap Magnets, Fleece Sphere Ornament, Button Wreath Ornament, Christmas Mouse Cat Toy, Melted Frosty Ornament, Crocheted Fan Bookmarks, Crocheted Snowflake Ornaments, Wine Glass Charms and Glass Globe Ornaments…

This morning’s post is a little late… 12 hours too late. I thought this would be a cute whimsical ornament to add to our Christmas tree, a half eaten gingerbread man. Pumpkin designed one and started to put it together then gave up, I designed and assembled the other before helping him finish his. Most of the materials we have left over from other crafts. I didn’t have red button, so we painted them. I only spent 50¢ additional for the two squares of felt.

Gingerbread Man Ornaments

 

How To:
Using a large gingerbread cookie cutter, trace the shape twice on tan or brown felt. Decide where you want him “bitten” and draw teeth marks. Cut out gingerbread men. Cut out eyes from felt or fleece and arrange on face, place red button where you want the mouth. If you’re happy with the layout, glue eyes and mouth on face. Using black embroidery thread, stitch eyebrows above the eyes. Use white shimmery embroidery thread to stitch buttons to chest, making “peppermints”. Glue ribbon to inside of back piece. Place two sides together and stitch around the gingerbread man to create “frosting”, skipping where there are bite marks. Stuff the gingerbread man with fiber fill. Use hot glue gun to close gingerbread man at the bite marks. Sit back and admire your gingerbread man… and try not to eat.

Whimsical Gingerbread Ornament

 

Approx. Cost:
Felt square = 25¢ , spool of ribbon = $1, fiber fill = $, bag of glue sticks = $2, package of buttons = $1, small package of embroidery thread = 25¢    Each ornament costs about 40¢

Gingerbread Man Ornament

 

Can you guess who made which gingerbread man?

2009′s Christmas Countdown – On the twelfth day of Christmas Young Wifey shared with me, her chocolate Christmas fudge, chocolate bonbons, coconut clusters, cranberry almond bark, chocolate amaretto cherries, pecan turtles, raspberry chocolate truffles, gingerbread fudge, peppermint bark, dark chocolate peanut butter balls, cracked glass candy, and her peanut butter fudge recipe…

 

Ham and Three Bean Soup

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bean, dinner, ham, ham & bean, ham and bean, Holiday, holiday tradition, lunch recipe, soup, Soup recipe, St. Patrick's Day, tradition

I like holidays, no matter how large or small, to last a week. I love the excuse for any festivity. This week is insanely busy with rehearsal going after school until almost 11p.m. My sister already beat me to the Irish Potatoes, so I made a quick St. Patrick’s Day soup recipe. I have exactly 1 hour to make my soup, eat, clean up, post this and get to rehearsal… I love a challenge.

Ham & Three Bean Soup

Ingredients:
chunk of  ham (I used turkey ham), 1 can black beans, 1 can great northern beans, 1 can green beans, minced onions, parsley, pepper, water

Directions:
Cut ham into smaller chunks and boil in water with minced onions, parsley and pepper. Add beans and boil for three minutes. Serve hot with warm soda bread (I prefer one that’s not sweet and without the raisins).

I prefer to use dried beans and soak them overnight, however I do what I can when time is limited.

New Year’s Eve Pizza

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Baking, gourmet pizza, holiday tradition, homemade pizza, Kids, New Year tradition, New Year's tradition, pizza, pizza crust

Every New Year’s Eve, Hubster and I make a gourmet pizza from scratch and fill up before we go somewhere to celebrate. This year, with the house full of boys, we were going to skip this tradition. After finding this post, I decided not to omit but to alter our tradition. Each child made their personal dough from scratch, measuring their own ingredients and kneading. Only one child’s dough didn’t rise, so I quickly swapped bowls with one that I had Hubster make. It was surprising how mindful the kids were, taking in the smell of the yeasty dough and the tacky feeling as they kneaded it with their floured fingertips.

Making Pizza

We used this recipe for our pizza dough, the boys had to mentally cut the measurements in half (look at me sneaking in mental math) and come to a consensus before measuring. After patting (or pounding) out the  dough, we rubbed olive oil on the top and sprinkled it with basil, oregano, garlic, thyme and marjoram. Hubster and I split a pizza and each boy had their own. On my half, I swapped the tomato sauce for greek dressing. I topped my half with feta cheese and artichoke hearts (the other blog reminded me of the artichoke hearts I had on hand). At least one pizza was gourmet. Hubster had an Italian blend of cheeses and turkey pepperoni. The boys all chose turkey pepperoni and (get this!) mushrooms.

New Year's Eve Toast

The boys were so excited to be part of the process and extremely proud of their end product. We were so excited and hungry, that I forgot to take a picture before they were devoured! The boys toasted the New Year with sparkling cider and Hubster and I toasted with sparkling wine. I topped the glasses off with frozen raspberries (which I had picked this summer).

New Year’s Resolution

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Holiday, holiday tradition, new year's resolution

Just a quick note before chilling the champagne (or sparkling wine in my case)…

New Year's Toast 2010

Before Christmas, Hubster was watching me (and football) dust the shelves in the living room and told me there was no point to clean the shelves… or the couch… or trim… or the ceiling… or the walls. Hubster and I have two really different views on cleaning. His idea is putting (and/or shoving) things away so you cannot see them and running the vacuüm. My idea is to use cleaning products and tools in every nook and cranny. Yes, I vacuüm more often than I dust and sometimes there are dishes in the sink.

I do not have a craft room, I sew, craft, and create many things. Useful things, gifts, toys, etc… Why do I not have a craft room? Instead I have small baskets throughout the house hiding various crafts projects and tools. Then there’s the bedroom. I used to have storage under the bed, however, with the new bed, I’ve lost that craft storage. So now I have a desk and a bench overflowing with craft projects. I don’t even like having a desk in the bedroom. I have to organize all my crafts, find one collective spot for my tools and projects (complete all my projects) and reclaim my bedroom. The is my New Year’s Resolution. Hopefully Hubster’s will be to finish the basement and make me a craft room…

It’s always good to start a New Year’s Resolution before the New Year, you’ll feel positive and ready to tackle anything. You’ll have a real reason to pop open the champagne.

What’s your New Year’s Resolution?

Almond Biscotti

Tags

almond biscotti, biscotti, breakfast, brunch, brunch recipes, Christmas, Christmas Brunch, Christmas tradition, Holiday, holiday tradition, Italian, recipes

The last day of school before break, we have our annual Christmas Breakfast. Everyone brings something and the men cook the eggs, pancakes and meat. Thank goodness for the family consumer science room. All teachers, retired, current and new mingled across several classrooms as we enjoy our early bird time before the students arrive. Last year I made two quiches, but didn’t have time to heat them in the morning and each person had to heat up their individual slices. This year I decided to make biscotti.

I looked through several biscotti recipes and improvised with the ingredients that I had on hand.

Ingredients:
6 Tbs. fresh whipped heavy cream, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 2 tsp. almond extract, 2 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp, salt, 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips, 1/2 c. almond pieces, 1 beaten egg

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together whipped heavy cream, sugar, egg, egg yolk and almond extract together. In a small mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and almond bits. Roll dough on a floured surface and separate into two balls. Roll each ball out into logs and place on parchment paper lined baking tray. Pat logs to flatten and then brush beaten egg on tops and sides. Bake for 30 minutes at 325°F, let cool for 15 minutes and slice diagonally. Bake for 10 minutes more.  Decorate and serve.

Almond Biscotti

*Drizzle melted dark chocolate on top or dip into chocolate (I dipped the tops of half my biscotti).

Check out Riotflower’s biscotti.