well, the holidays are upon us, and i’m finally caught up. i still need to take our holiday family photo, and get our new year’s cards out, but for the most part i’m now ready to celebrate! wow, the month of december just flew by, not sure how that happened. well, maybe it was all my time was taken up by posting and commenting on instagram! oops! as some of you know, i’m addicted to instagram. if you aren’t familiar with this app, you might want to check it out. although, i must warn you, it can take many hours of your time. i have met a ton of great people on instagram and i’m inspired every day with recipes, home décor, crafts, and some shopping. one of the latest projects that is circulating around instagram, is to write 20 facts about yourself. i did participate and you should hop on over to my happy happy nester account, and you can find out more about me. i will add 5 more holiday facts about myself here…
1 ~ i’m not one to make the holiday turkey or roast for the big day. we sometimes have a seafood dish. this year is going to be the popular san francisco, cioppino, which pairs a delicious white wine with a rich tomato base. add, a bunch a seafood, crab legs, clams, halifbut, and scallops and you have a yummy dish with some rustic french bread.
2 ~ this year after thanksgiving, i planted some narcissus bulbs in a tarnished silver bowl. miraculously, despite my brown thumb, they bloomed in time for christmas! The cool thing i did, was i placed little vintage bulbs on top of the rocks. this added a nice sparkly touch to the whole ensemble!
3
S ~ some of my favorite holiday movies to watch are, serendipity, love actually, elf. oh yes, i love the white paper décor that elf makes for the house and the store. i think, next year i will continue my love for paper and hang even more paper crafts. oh my goodness, a bazillion snowflakes might be perfect! he!he!he!
4 ~ at our last home in seattle, i put up way too many exterior lights in our yard. how i know this, i would always trip the electrical breaker. :o)
5 ~ and finally, i have white poinsettias in our home. it is really difficult for me to place any red in the house. not sure why this is, i really must go see a therapist for this, and my many other, idiosyncrasies!
Cranberry Almond Biscotti
Makes about 3 dozen
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for topping
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached flour, or as needed
1 cup slivered , blanched almonds or shelled pistachios
¼ cup unsweetened coconut (optional)
melted chocolate to drizzle
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cranberries in a
bowl with hot water to cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and set
aside.
bowl with hot water to cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and set
aside.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, orange
zest, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt.
Whisk to blend. add the flour, almonds or pistachios, and cranberries (can add coconut) and stir until dough forms. turn out onto a heavily floured surface and
knead until smooth (about twenty turns), adding more flour if too sticky to
work. divide the dough in half. too much flour and the sugar won’t
stick. Since the mixture is sticky, you have to move fast.
zest, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt.
Whisk to blend. add the flour, almonds or pistachios, and cranberries (can add coconut) and stir until dough forms. turn out onto a heavily floured surface and
knead until smooth (about twenty turns), adding more flour if too sticky to
work. divide the dough in half. too much flour and the sugar won’t
stick. Since the mixture is sticky, you have to move fast.
continuing to work on the floured surface, form each half into a
log 2 inches in diameter. carefully transfer the logs to an ungreased
baking sheet, spacing them well apart. sprinkle the tops with sugar.
log 2 inches in diameter. carefully transfer the logs to an ungreased
baking sheet, spacing them well apart. sprinkle the tops with sugar.
bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. turn oven down to 275 degrees F.
using a spatula, carefully transfer the logs to a work surface. using a serrated knife, cut on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. return the slices cut-side down to the baking sheet. bake until
brown, about 20 minutes.
brown, about 20 minutes.
transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. at this point you can drizzle the optional melted chocolate on the cooled cookies. Store in an
airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
happy holiday!
cheers,
Daidri Smythe says
December 26, 2014 at 4:43 pmThis looks delish!!! Can you believe I've never tried Biscotti before? I think I need to make this next week for sure! We also watched Love Actually and Elf during our holiday movie marathon and for some reason Elf made me laugh harder than ever before. I also took notice of all his fancy paper decorations. Based off your beautiful leaf garland you made this year you should definitely add more next year. 🙂
Janine Waite says
January 16, 2015 at 4:29 amHi Daidri,
It was so wonderful meeting you today! I had the best afternoon ever! It felt like we were talking like a mile a minute! I have a feeling we are in for a great year with our blogs. :o)
I'm glad that you might bake some Biscotti! It is so easy and the recipe makes a lot of cookies! I think they are nice to have any time of the year! I also, froze some this year and they held up well.
We watched the same movies and I must agree, that this year, I found Elf a ton funnier! What a awesome holiday movie! Unfortunately most the time I was looking at the white paper decor!
Thanks so much for all your inspiration, my new friend!
Lisa @ Texas Decor says
December 27, 2014 at 6:19 pmThat biscotti looks delish! I love anything with almond in it, so this is something I'd love!
Janine Waite says
January 16, 2015 at 4:31 amHi Lisa,
You'll have to make these yummy cookies! This recipe makes a lot. Also, you can add whatever ingredients you like, chocolate chips, orange zest etc.
Sorry for the later reply! I'm so behind on everything!
Colette Joseph says
January 20, 2015 at 8:37 pmHOW did I miss this post?
I want to bite my monitor.