Biscotti and Bread

Well, it has finally cooled off in my neck of the woods. This morning it's a cool 46 degrees. After a summer of scorching temperatures, I'm loving the change.

The cooler weather means that I've finally been able to turn my oven on again and do some baking, and I've got two recipes to share.

The first is for biscotti. I got this recipe from my grandma, who got it from an Italian lady she met somewhere. I think it is pretty authentic. It's flavored with almond and anise, which I love. If you don't like anise flavor I'm sure you can leave it out and just use the almond.

Be warned that the recipe makes a lot. I usually only make half.

Biscotti
6 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup melted butter
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp anise extract
1/4 cup anise seed
1 cup chopped almonds

Beat the eggs. Add the melted butter, almond extract, anise extract, and sugar. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, anise seed and almonds. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until a dough forms. Divide the dough into six equal parts. Roll each part into a rope about 15 inches long. Place the ropes on cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before slicing. Return the cookies to the pan and bake for 8-10 minutes more, turning once.

 

 

My second recipe is for Savory Wild Rice Bread. I've been making this bread for at least ten years. It's one of my favorites. Very savory and hearty. It goes really well with soup on a cold day, but I usually just toast mine and eat it with butter and honey. 

Savory Wild Rice Bread 1/2 cup wild rice 2 cups water 5 1/2-6 cups flour 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley 2 tablespoons snipped fresh sage or thyme or 2 teaspoons dried sage or thyme, crushed 1 package yeast  1 cup sour cream                                                 1 cup water 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon butter  1 teaspoon salt  1 slightly beaten egg                                                1 tablespoon water                                                 4 sprigs sage Rinse wild rice in a fine-mesh sieve under cold water for 1 minute. In a medium saucepan combine wild rice and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, until tender and most of water is absorbed. Drain well; cool. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, parsley, sage or thyme, and yeast; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir sour cream, 1 cup water, the sugar, butter and salt until mixture is warm (120-130 degrees) and butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture. beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the wild rice and as much of the remaining flour as you can. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (45 minutes). Punch dough down. Turn out into a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two 8x4x2 inch loaf pans. Shape each half of dough into a loaf. Place shaped dough in prepared loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30-40 minutes). With a sharp knife, cut a grain like design by making a slice lengthwise down the center of the loaf with 3 small branches on each side. Or, brush loaves with a mixture of egg and 1 tablespoon water. If desired, place sage sprigs on top of loaves. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, or till bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans immediately; cool on racks.       Now, here is my cheat for making this recipe. Instead of messing with the wild rice and herbs, I buy a box of Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice mix, cook it, and use a cup of it in place of the wild rice and herbs. It's practically the same thing, and much cheaper. The long grain rice kind of disappears into the bread, leaving the wild rice behind, and the flavor is delicious.

I Hear the Ringing Of Jingle Bells

It's no secret that I love Christmas music and start listening to it long before most people. Last week, I bought my first new Christmas album for the season: Pink Martini's Joy to the World.

This album came out a couple years ago, but somehow I never ended up buying it. It's fantastic. Very eclectic and diverse. Like other Pink Martini albums, there are many musical styles and multiple languages represented here. White Christmas is sung in Japanese, there's a jaunty song about a happy new year in Chinese, an Italian song, Silent Night sung in German, Arabic, and English, and a couple others in languages that I'm still trying to figure out.

I heartily recommend this album,with the exception of The Little Drummer Boy. (Leslie, I tried to like it but just couldn't). Anyway, I'm completely enchanted by a song sung in Hebrew, called Elohai, N'tzor. It's kind of a strange song for a Christmas album, but it works. Have a listen, and then go buy this album and enjoy it from now until Christmas. :)

My God, guard my speech from evil and my lips from deception
Before those who slander me
I will hold my tongue; I will practice humility
Open my heart to Your Torah, that I may pursue Your Mitzvot
As for all who think evil of me,
Cancel their designs and frustrate their schemes
Act for Your own sake, for the sake of Your power
For the sake of Your Holiness, for the sake of Your Torah
So that Your loved ones may be rescued
Save with your Power, and answer me

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable to You, Adonai, my Rock and Redeemer

~From the closing of the Amidah prayer

Birthday Scones!

My sister's birthday was this past Thursday. In her honor, even though I knew she would never eat them, I baked her birthday scones.

I can't remember how the tradition of birthday scones started, but I like to make them for people who are near and dear to me on their birthdays.

Here's the recipe. I believe it originally came from Sunset magazine where they were called Coconut Scones. I changed the name.

Birthday Scones

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup rolled oats
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cut in chunks
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

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jam, any flavor

In a large bowl, mix flour, coconut, oats, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, beat eggs and milk to blend. Stir all but about 1 tablespoon egg mixture into flour mixture just until evenly moistened. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured board and pat into an 8-inch round. Slide round onto a buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheet and cut into 8 wedges, leaving wedges in place. Brush top of round with reserved egg mixture and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Make a 1-inch-diameter depression on top of the wide end of each wedge and fill each with about 1/2 tablespoon jam. Bake at 375° until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Recut scones to separate and serve warm, or transfer to a rack to cool completely.

I used a homemade jam that I made a couple weeks ago in the scones. It's really yummy, but didn't set up as much as it should have. As a result, it kind of spread as the scones baked. 

If you want an easy and tasty jam recipe, try this one. It's sweet, and tart, and kind of reminds me of the strawberry-rhubarb jam my grandma always made. Isn't it pretty?

Cranberry Jam

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 orange, peeled and divided into sections

16 oz package frozen strawberries, thawed

3 cups sugar

3 oz liquid fruit pectin

5 half-pint canning jars & lids, sterilized

Coarsely grind cranberries and orange sections in a food processor; spoon into a heavy stockpot. Add strawberries and sugar. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly for one minute. Remove form heat and stir in pectin. Skim off any foam and immediately pour into hot, sterilized jars; secure lids. Process jars in a boiling water bath.

Notes on the jam: I put the zest of the orange into the jam also, for more flavor and also chopped up the strawberries into small pieces. I'm not sure why mine didn't thicken like it should have, but after I made it, I read the directions in the pectin package, and they were slightly different than those in the recipe. When I make it again, I will follow the package directions instead and see if there is a difference. Oh, and I also got more than five jars out of the recipe. I can't remember how many exactly, but I suggest having three or four more ready just in case.

Read, read, read...

Once again I've gotten behind on my reading updates. So, here are some of the highlights of my recent reading.

The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. Five books make up this series: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, The Grey King, and Silver on the Tree. I chose to read it because the The Grey King is a Newbery Award winner and The Dark Is Rising is a Newbery Honor book. They fall into the fantasy genre with each book containing a quest of sorts and a battle of good vs. evil, or in this case light vs. dark. There are also elements of time travel, strange people and critters, and hints of Arthurian legend throughout. They were ok to read, but not my favorite. I was really glad when I finally finished the last one.

Illusion by Frank Peretti. I've been a fan of Frank Peretti for a long time, however, I read his newest book, Illusion, about a month ago, and I still haven't decided if I like it or not. It is a strange story involving magicians, an accident, government conspiracies, time travel and lots of other things that are hard to explain. It is definitely a compelling read, but also one that will leave you scratching your head and saying "what?"


The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest by Mayrose Wood. This is the third in the Incorrigible series, and if you haven't read any of them yet, you are really missing out on some fun reading. In this one, the wolf children head back into the woods to track down a runaway ostrich. Along the way we meet mama wolf and of course, more mystery involving the children's origins is brought up. Hopefully there will be a fourth book. I really want to know more.


 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. You can't really see it on the cover, but this book is subtitled Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. This book teaches how to pray bold, specific prayers and to  literally and figuratively draw circles around our needs and dreams and not move from that circle until an answer is given. I know that sounds a little like circle-drawing voodoo, but it's not. Read the book to find out more. It's some powerful stuff.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. There are four books in this series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras. This is a dystopian series, set some three hundred years in the future. When people turn 16, they are given plastic surgery to change them from an ugly to a pretty, and the sole purpose of a pretty's existence is to have fun and party. What people don't know is that in addition to making them pretty, the operation also messes with the brain, taking away the ability for deep and independent thinking. Of course, someone has to buck the system and as a result, chaos ensues. It takes four books to get things resolved, which is about two too many. If I were handing out stars and feeling generous, this series might get 2.5 out of 5. It's really kind of dumb. I can think of lots of ways it could be improved.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. If you don't know, Daniel Handler also writes under the name Lemony Snicket. I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events, so I thought I would give his newest young adult book a try. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. It is the story of a high school couple who fall in love. He is a jock and she is from the artsy crowd, which apparently dooms their relationship from the start. Therefore, it is the story of why they break up. The story is whiny and too full of angst, drama, and bad decisions for my taste. Skip it.


The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This is a Newbery Honor book from 1945. It is the story of a poor polish girl who claims to have 100 dresses at home, even though she always wears the same faded and worn dress every day to school. The other girls tease her mercilessly, until it is too late. (Don't worry, there is a happy ending). It's a sweet book with charming illustrations. Check it out.


Ok, of those 14 books, I only heartily recommend 3. I need to find something better to read. What have you read lately that's good?