Baa hum bug …. and a present for you
I have to say I am really disappointed about how the holidays, especially Christmas have become all about $$$ – it is so over commercialized, so much in fact, I am sure people have really lost site of the truly meaning. Even us to a point. I spent the morning cramming in all of our holiday shopping. I use to spread the joy out for an entire month before the holidays with shopping for the perfect gift, decorating, baking gifts to send out, and endless entertaining, etc…. The past couple of years I have just lost that holiday mojo. I have cut back a lot! I still make sure that the gifts we do buy fit the receiver perfectly, I cannot buy for the purpose of buying or producing a gift. I don’t bake as much as I use too and we don’t entertain as much as we use too. Maybe this year was different because Lenny is leaving in two days or maybe because the country is in a different economic state or maybe it is because I just feel like we have really lost the true meaning of Christmas! We have not decorated. We have not baked nearly as much as we do. And then half way through shopping today, it just hit me, that I was kind of going through the holiday motions and it bummed me out. Maybe it hit me because I had just read Jen’s blog posting about all the great holiday things she was making and sharing with everyone? Or maybe it was because we were not going to be together this year – we are each going to be on different coasts this year. Regardless, I was determined to get some of that holiday joy back into our lives before Lenny leaves and before the year ends …..
So, I came home and I baked! Every year we make it point to bake or make something that we give out to a few select people, it is always something different every year and it goes to someone different every year. How do we decide; it just comes to us! Last year we gave out homemade cardamon ice cream and burnt salted caramel sauce. This year it was biscotti. I love Dorie Greenpan’s Lenox Biscotti recipe … it is unusually soft compared to your traditional biscotti but still has crazy texture thanks to the cornmeal addition. I made two flavors: Apricots with Portuguese Brandy and Blood Orange zest with Vietnamese Cinnamon and fresh ground pepper. As well I found a Chocolate biscott in Dorie’s book, so I gave it a whirl and made Chocolate with dried cherries, almonds and Mexican Vanilla. Some lucky friends and family members will be spicing up their coffee breaks later this week!
How to the fun part …..
I have to say after baking and wrapping gifts, a bit of that holiday mojo started coming back. I look forward to enjoying what is left of the holidays and want to do so by gifting the gift of joy and love to one lucky person. We love Gourmet magazine and it has been the come too and go back too tool for new and innovating cooking ideas, for us this past year. We want to give one lucky reader a one year subscription and a batch of biscotti, to say Thank You for visiting Chez Us and to wish you a happy holiday season and may your Holiday Mojo never disappear!
Please leave a comment below and we will pick the lucky winner Christmas morning – biscotti will be shipped before the New Year! (sorry this can only be shipped to someone living in the USA & family members are excluded).
Recipe.
Lenox Almond Biscotti
adapted from Baking From my Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure almond extract
3/4 cup of sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal together. (If you are adding ground spices, add them to this mixture before combining.)
3. Beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed, for another 2 minutes, or until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. You’ll have a soft, stick-to-your-fingers dough that will ball up around the paddle or beaters. Scrape down the paddle and bowl, toss in the almonds and mix just to blend.
4. Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers and a rubber spatula or scraper, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The log will be more rectangular than domed, and bumpy, rough and uneven. Form a second log with the remaining dough on the other side of the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
6. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and, with a long serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, setting them again on the same sides as before and slide the sheet back into the oven.
7. Bake the biscotti at 350F for another 25 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to racks and cool to room temperature.
Lovely packaging — I think biscotti are a perfect gift over the holidays!
what an inspiring post! i’ve been feeling kinda down on holiday cheer this year myself. you are very sweet to hold this giveaway!!!!
i love Gourmet, and my subscription (and budget) just ran out, haha! *crosses fingers*
regardless of who wins, you have inspired me to get back in my kitchen and share some cheer with others. thanks!
~chanelle
What great prizes/gifts for Christmas. A soft biscotti? Sounds yummy, especially the chocolate with cherries.
A friend gave us a copy of Gourmet magazine once and we loved it. It was a little dry and needed some salt but it was still good. Then my friend told us we were supposed to read it so we did and we were then even happier. The things we learned to cook were much tastier than the magazine itself.
Hi Denise & Lenny- I hope all is well and I love the biscotti idea, I have been wondering what to give the neighbors and this is perfect. I hope you and Lenny have a enjoyable next couple of days together and I hope you both have a Merry Christmas!!!!
—Gretchen
Could not agree more. I decided last week that I MUST get my Christmas Cheer on in the most wholesome way possible. Got the tree, started to bake and invited some long-lost friends over. I’m feeling less Scrooge-y, more nutcracker-y already:-)
Great blog, btw.
-Sarah
oh, my!!! that looks AMAZING!! thanks for the recipe & the link. hope I win!!!
You’ve inspired me to find my Italian Nona’s recipe for biscotti. We called them “Papa cookies” and the tin on top of her fridge was always full. Happy Holidays!
Ahh biscotti. I am being held hostage by a condo redo across town that has me sitting for hours waiting for installation guys in a kitchen with no appliances, just thinking about what I COULD be doing at home in my own warm kitchen. *Sigh*
But. That said, it can’t take forever, and once my time is my own again I will by golly make some biscotti and toast you and Lenny for sharing your holiday cheer!
A thoughtful giveaway from a thoughtful and generous blogger. Have a lovely day!
biscotti is a great idea. i was just missing cookie decorating parties i used to have. receiving a baked good is the best present. extremely personal and it changes someone’s day. i’m off to buy the rose bakery cookbook and will be making their gingerbread cookies. when you visit, we will definitely hit it up!!
I loved this biscotti and keep meaning to make some before Christmas. Great job pulling back and getting in the kitchen to make a gift.
[...] Chez Us is giving away: [...]
Mm…I really like biscotti. Thanks for the great opportunity to win something like this!
What a great prize!
As far as Biscotti go- they are my favorite-
I love to make them and I love to eat them!
I agree- Christmas is more than just $$$$-
I wish everyone would remember that!
I seem to have lost my baking mojo this year too. I blame the pregnancy!!!
give_me_a_latte at yahoo
Can’t wait to try the recipe! Great giveaway too, thanks for the chance.
“. I made two flavors: Apricots with Portuguese Brandy and Blood Orange zest with Vietnamese Cinnamon and fresh ground pepper. ”
Wow, I mean wow that sounds good!!!
Oh, Hello, I can win your cookies and a magazine? Well, Hellooooo Betty! (old joke from college, it’s a compliment). XO
Mmmm…..I love dorie’s lenox almond biscotti’s! They are one of my favorites! I agree with you that christmas has become too much about $$$!
Ah, yes. I remember when I used to just take my time and shop leisurely for friends and family. Today, well, no time, so am also making some goodies. Thanks for the reminder. These were good biscotti. Not as crunchy as usual. Nice job on yours.
Yumm! This biscotti sounds delicious, especially dipped in some hotchocolate on a cold day like today.
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Although this is a post from last Christmas, it hits the same nerve this year.
I used to love Christmas and the fun of preparing for it, but now it’s feeling empty and, well, stupid. I love to give handmade or baked things, but am with a man whose family really doesn’t appreciate such things. After struggling for some years with the whole thing, I’m back, this year, to handmade and baked.
Thank you for the little nudge (combined with the swift kick in the pants) I needed.
[...] for sharing and we want to share with you a few of our favorite things from 2009. Last year we gave a subscription to our favorite cooking magazine, Gourmet; cannot possibly do that again! This [...]