Recipe: Holly Jolly Biscotti

{pretty biscotti breakfast}

I've been battling a post-holiday head cold for the last week or so, and my meds seem to have rendered me completely A.D.D. Good for my blog (three posts in about a week's time?), bad for my work.

Clearly, I've decided to run with it, though, until boss-man calls me out. So in that spirit, I'm making good on a promise I made, oh, hmm, a month or two ago, to share a recipe with you.

A friend of mine pointed me to Texas Oncology's Holly Jolly Biscotti, which promises to be a "tasty and simple holiday recipe" showcasing "the peak-season flavors of Texas citrus and pecans." Not only that, but unlike virtually everything else I consumed between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2, it's not terrible for you. "Packed with healthy ingredients, this Italian-inspired, twice-baked cookie is a delicious and nutritious way to promote a good-for-you diet throughout the holidays."

Or in this case, AFTER the holidays, when most of us are resolving to regain our waistlines.

Texas Oncology has made it easy. Here's a cute recipe card (opens in a PDF) and YouTube video demo. You can also view the press release and a fact sheet on nutrition that lowers disease risk, if you're really curious.

I helped host a bridal shower for Abby last month, and several of Abby's out-of-town friends stayed at my house overnight. My first slumber party in far too long, and I had a blast. Knowing that the girls would be waking up and leaving at various times the next morning, I decided to make a bunch of biscotti ahead of time, along with fruit, granola, coffee and orange juice, so they could help themselves whenever they pleased. Easier than making eggs to order, don'tcha think?

A few notes: I goofed and grabbed grapefruits instead of oranges, but the result was still really fantastic. I chose to use 1 cu. AP flour, 1 cu. whole wheat pastry flour, and 1 cu. bread flour (instead of 2 cu. AP/ 1 cu. whole wheat), and I was really happy with the texture. Here's my big baker's secret: I made the dough a day before I wanted to bake the cookies, then wrapped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. While the flour absorbs most liquids right away (olive oil, juice), the eggs have to undergo a slower molecular process before being absorbed. I've started doing this routine with all my cookies, and the results are fabulous. (Comment if you have questions about this! I find it fascinating, personally.) The last note is that you really should wait the full 20 minutes or more before slicing the biscotti pieces. The chocolate needs to harden a bit first. Oh, and I used a chef's knife, not a serrated knife; I found the sawing motion of the serrated knife made the cookies crumble a bit, and no one wants to see a cookie crumble.

Without further ado, the recipe and my photos:

Holly Jolly Biscotti Recipe
Ingredients	Yields: 24 to 26 biscotti
3 eggs ½ cup olive oil 2 tablespoons orange juice 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour	1/2 cup of sugar 2 tablespoons orange zest 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, olive oil, orange juice, and vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, and salt. Add dry mix slowly to wet ingredients until mixture forms a ball. Turn out dough mixture onto a well-floured surface and knead a few times. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips in alternating batches until evenly distributed.
Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a log about 9 inches long, then press flat until it is about half an inch tall and 3 inches wide. Transfer logs to baking sheets and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks for 20 minutes.
Using a serrated knife, slice each log on the diagonal into ½ inch pieces. Return to oven and bake on each side for about 10 minutes (approx. total of 20 minutes). Slices should be golden brown. Remove from oven to cool.

{ingredients; umm, yes, that's a grapefruit, not an orange. whoopsies.}

{dough with the mix-ins}

{preparing dough for overnight refrigeration}

{two logs, shaped}

{the thickness of the logs}

{baked biscotti logs}

{sliced}

{baking cookies for a second time so they'll be golden on all sides}

The girls ate every. last. piece. Even the baggie I had set aside to give to my neighbor. Given that most of the time when I host 20-something females, they hardly touch the food, I take that as a very good sign! Now maybe I should make another healthful batch to help me kick this cold...

I'm Alive, Plus a Web Site Crush

A few of you have chastised me for not blogging about my recent trips. I know, I know. Scold me all you want, you're right. I was so busy catching up from travels that I didn't sit down to just write about them... and then wow, about a month has passed since I returned. I can't make excuses. Here are the ONLY photos I have edited (from Morocco... the souks and Majorelle Gardens).



I've been working up a post in my head with some really out-of-this-world recipes for you, including my variations on Anna's comforting, homey Sweet Nest "Sweet Buns" and Texas Oncology's Holly Jolly Biscotti (cute recipe card, nutrition and video demo). I have a little list going; in addition to my kitchen exploits, I plan to write a post on handwriting. Exciting, no?

Until I get it together and write about those, I encourage you to check out my newest Web site crush, the sweeterie, a "creative confectionery." It's brought to you by the t.ruffles girls, Karey Mackin and Mary Swenson. Gah, the talent these women have.

Since I've been talking about baking/cooking, I should warn you, you can't actually purchase bon bons from this sweeterie. You'll find a virtual display case of tantalizing photos and delectable wordplay. As a writer, I am floored by Karey's wordsmithery. Very jealous, actually, but in a "good for her" kind of way. And she lived in the Middle East before returning recently to the States. How cool is that?

{it's blurrier when I import it to Blogger, for some reason...}

Anyway, stop by for some visual and emotional indulgence. It may not make your taste buds sing the way a hand-rolled, 72-percent dark chocolate truffle will. But I, for one, could probably spare myself the calories and go for a bite of "candy for the soul," as the T.Ruffles girls call it.

Baking and New Beginnings

what would life be like if we had no courage to attempt anything?

vincent van gogh

Inspirational quote + a tie to my beloved discipline of art? Double whammy.

Alison, queen of giving good advice, throwing surprise parties, making Excel spreadsheets, choosing greeting cards, and other valuable skills, imparted these words via a killer Hallmark as I was packing up and leaving my first "grown-up" job two weeks ago. I didn't expect to cry, but...

A truly wonderful opportunity with a medical device company came my way, and I had to take it, leaving behind my good friends at the PR agency. (Or, as Alison says, not really leaving... just turning work friends into friend-friends.)

I showed my appreciation for all that I had learned during my years at the agency through one of my love languages, giving. Baking, to be exact, three days out of my last five in the office. Only thing is, it was one of my crazier weeks, what with school, leaving a job, preparing to travel out of town to start a new job the next Monday, going away happy hours and the like. So I committed a cardinal baking sin (for baking snobs like me, who, like Ina Garten, insist on using only good ingredients... "good olive oil," "good cocoa powder," "good vanilla" -- you get the picture): I used mixes. For every. single. baked good.

And they were really just as good as the from-scratch stuff that takes three times as long. (gasp)

* Sorry the format of the recipes isn't pretty. Blogger's formatting capes are, let's say, limited.

** All food photos are from my phone. The photos above are from Brad's "new job" present to me, a nice, new digital SLR. :)

*** Final caveat, I promise. I've been computerless and Photoshop-less for 2.5 weeks, but soon I promise you whimsical photo montages. Soon, friends.

Day 1: Mini Banana Muffin Cakes

Here's the thing about these muffin cakes (muffiny cupcakes). I sort of winged it. I adapted a recipe I picked up a long time ago that I break out whenever I have overripe bananas, and the freezer already has a loaf of banana bread. So here is generally what I did.

Muffin cakes:

1 pkg yellow cake mix

3 overripe bananas

1 cu. sour cream (reduced fat is fine)

1-1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 to 1 t. cinnamon, depending on your preference

1/4 t. nutmeg

Cream cheese frosting:

2 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (I use 1/3-less fat)

1 stick (1/2 cu.) butter

2 cu. confectioners' sugar

1 - 2 t. vanilla extract (depending on your preference... I tend toward more vanilla)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cake mix according to package directions (sub out the oil for applesauce if you want). Stir in mashed bananas, sour cream, baking soda, and spices. Spoon 1 T. of mixture into greased mini-muffin tins. (It makes a ton of mini muffins, but you could make regular muffins or even a cake if you wanted. You just have to adjust the baking times.)Bake for eight minutes or until they are puffed and just barely golden on top. Wait for them to cool completely before frosting.

To prepare frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter. Mix in the confectioners' sugar by hand (unless you want it all over your kitchen), and once it is mostly incorporated, turn the beater back on until it's a light texture, maybe 3-5 minutes. Right when you think it's ready, add the vanilla extract.

I used a Wilton cake decorator to make pretty blobs of frosting on top of the cooled cakes. I followed this template for the cupcake flags, found via How About Orange.

Day 2: Buttery Garlic Cheese Biscuits

You may recognize this recipe from a chain seafood restaurant.

Biscuits:
4 cu. Bisquick
6 oz. Cheddar cheese, shredded (I like sharp Cheddar)
1-1/3 cu. water

1 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. onion powder

1/4 t. dried parsley

1/8 t. Old Bay Seasoning (check the spice section or the seafood section of your grocery store)
... Plus a little flour.

Butter mixture:
1/2 cu. melted butter
2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. onion powder
1/4 t. dried parsley

1/4 t. Old Bay Seasoning

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the baking mix, cheese, water and spices. Mix until dough is firm but sticky.

On a lightly floured surface (I use a cutting board), spread dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness. Flour the top of the dough a little bit too.

Use a biscuit cutter (I use the end of a champagne flute) to cut out rounds of dough. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.
Combine the melted butter and spices/herbs. Brush over baked biscuits immediately upon removing from oven.

I served them with brown sugar baked ham, horseradish mayo (prepared horseradish + mayo) and Dijon mustard for mini sandwiches (I was into "mini" that week, it appears).

Day 3: Toffee Nut Brownie Bites AND Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Toffee Nut Brownie Bites

These really could not be easier (Thanks, Virginia and Destiny, for the recipe!). I won't even bother typing it out in recipe format, because it's just this simple.

Take a box of plain brownie mix. No fancy stuff. I used Duncan Hines original mix. Prepare according to package directions. Pour half of the batter into pan lined inside with aluminum foil (size and preparation whatever is prescribed by the box). Layer toffee and almond Symphony bars over the top of that layer. Pour the rest of the batter over the top, covering the bars. Bake according to package directions. When COMPLETELY cooled (you really have to wait or the Symphony layer gets messy), pop the aluminum foil out of the pan, brownies and all. On a flat surface, cut into squares or tiny rounds (again, I used a champagne flute and froze the leftover scraps for a future ice cream recipe).

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Technically I didn't use a mix, but I did use a prepared item, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. So deliciously bad for you. I think these would be delicious with a layer of fruit... fresh strawberries or blueberry preserves. Mmm.

2 8 oz. cans Crescent Rolls
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 cu. white sugar

1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 cu. butter, melted
1/4 cu. sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 in. pan.
Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread over the crescent layer.

Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer.

Pour the melted butter over the entire pan. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is crisp and golden.

Cool on a counter, then chill overnight.

Cut into triangles (first cut into squares, then cut those diagonally).

Look for more bloggy updates from me soon. I'm resolving in my new routine to build in healthy habits, like exercising, reading regularly and BLOGGING. I have lots of ideas for posts, so stick with me. :)

Shoulda Been German

I know I’m Italian. My mom’s family is from Sicily, land of gypsies and mobsters. :-) My dad’s family is from England (my maiden name is Thorne), with a little Scottish and Irish thrown into the mix.

I always wished I was French, but I don’t think I have a drop of French blood in me. Knowing my love for La Belle France, Brad told me while we were dating that the name “Gaultney” is thought to have originated from French tribes (Gaul, like early France). But he has since confessed that it’s probably Welsh. Boo.

About once a year though, I think I’m embodied by the spirit of a German woman. I grew up in South Central Texas, which has lots of German influence, so Oktoberfests, Wurstfest and German towns like Kerrville, Fredericksburg and New Braunfels bring back sweet memories for me.

Addison hosted its annual Oktoberfest celebration this weekend, and Brad and I had a great time. He did his research and figured out that if you reserve a room at the Hampton Inn for $49.00, you get:

• Two free tickets to the festival
• $10 in food coupons
• A “deluxe” beer stein

That's not to mention the hot breakfast the next morning and HBO! ;-) Ha.

Since the hotel was within walking distance from the festivities, we went for it! It was a really nice Hampton Inn that felt a lot more like the chain’s older brother, the Hilton. So together Brad and I celebrated our first “stay-cation.” Ha!

We ate good German food – brats, schnitzel, streudel, kraut, etc. – and drank good German beer. We rode a Ferris wheel, I got a temporary tattoo of a dove (lame, I know), we listened to German folk music and people-watched.

When we walked back to the hotel there were a bunch of Addison Police Department cars in front of the hotel… Apparently some guests had enjoyed Oktoberfest a little too much and were being rowdy when they returned to the hotel. Anyway, one of the police officers who responded to the scene was a friend of Brad’s from college and we stopped and talked to him for a couple of minutes. Funny coincidence.

Here are some pics from our time at the festival. Loved it! Really sweet, light-hearted fun with my best friend.



I spent the morning of the festival baking bread at home to get into the German spirit. I went with a braided yeast loaf with sea salt on top. Yummo!

Domestic Goddess

Perhaps the title of this post is misleading. As I’ve confessed in previous posts, I’m not the perfect housekeeper. Nancy Thorne, my darling mother, is – but I, her wayward daughter, don’t replace the shower curtain liner nearly as often as I should, nor the A.C. filters, nor even the smoke alarm battery… le sigh. How I wish I had her knack for maintaining a nest that honors her husband, reflects her passions (food, color, comfort, cleanliness, etc.), and welcomes others.

About once a month, however, something crazy happens. Be it hormones, out-of-town guests, or something else (in this case, roaches), I kick it into full “domestic goddess” mode, and I clean the entire house from top to bottom.

Two of my least favorite chores are cleaning the floors (I don’t mind vacuuming, but mopping and sweeping I detest) and putting new sheets on the bed. I don’t mind WASHING the sheets – I just hate that awful ordeal of figuring out which way the fitted sheet is supposed to go, tucking in the flat sheet, putting the pillow covers on and then remembering which pillow was Brad’s and which one was mine – ugh. What chores do you dread?

Anyway, I found two roaches in my bathroom within about six hours of each other. I killed one that had gotten into the bathtub and couldn’t climb out… I keep a can of Raid in my powder room at all times… and then I returned later in the day to discover the dead roach’s twin mourning his loss over the other roach’s carcass. The Raid was not taking effect on him as quickly as I wanted, so he quickly met his fate at the blunt edge of the Raid can.

(NB: I think I'm getting back into the swing of this blogging thing. I realized this as I was watching the first roach die, and I thought "I should take a video of this for my blog!" Clearer thoughts prevailed and I realized how disgusting that would be.)

This got me thinking. Granted, I live in an old house in a historic neighborhood – and this IS Texas, so there are bound to be roaches – but perhaps it’s time for an all-out scrub-down.

I keep my kitchen clean because I’m a bit paranoid about germs and I bake a lot (again, see here). So I figured I would ease myself into the cleaning madness and start with my cleanest room, the kitchen, and just make it that much cleaner. Check out my awesomely organized fridge:

And freezer (is this beginning to feel like an MTV Cribs episode?):

And my personal fav, the pantry:

I hope you noticed the vase full of limes and lemons on the top shelf of the fridge. I thought that was a nice, Stepford-esque touch. I’m very into room temperature water, no ice, with limes these days. I feel like it does wondrous things for my insides. Maybe it doesn't.

I also arranged a really lovely bowl of fruit. The vessel is a copper paella pan my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday. Really gorgeous! And the mix of bananas, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples, studded with black plums and cherries, makes for a pretty spread. I feel like the darker fruits look like little jewels of amethyst and onyx against the citron backdrop:

And with some mood lighting (I'm not as good a photog as Abby!):

Now onto other rooms of the house. Today I’ll focus on the den, formal living room, and my bathroom. The office I tend to stay out of because that’s Brad’s mad scientist lab and there’s no point in picking it up. The guest room is storing some extra furniture, so it’s not worth trying to make that room look pretty until we unload the excess at my little bro’s apartment. The master I tend to keep pretty picked-up. A girl’s gotta have a decent place to dress herself, right?

Look for more photos of the clean house later. :-)

Let Them Eat Cake – and Pies, and Tarts…

I’m a big believer in the joy of cooking. I have to be! Goodness knows I’m not the tidiest housekeeper ever. Both of my parents are meticulously organized keep their house spotless to the point that the tops of their ceiling fans could pass a white-glove test any day of the week.

In fact, I have a bit of a complex about how I inexplicably missed the cleanliness gene. The moderate germaphobe gene, however, I got. It doesn't compute. Elevator buttons, shopping cart handles, laminated menus and the like give me the heeby-jeebies because of all the pernicious microbes undoubtedly harbored by these surfaces. Then I found out from my colleague Alison yesterday that even my own wet laundry could be a disease carrier.

But I digress.

My point is, since my house never seems to be as spic-and-span as I’d like it to be, I have to play up my strengths. Baking happens to be one of them, and cakes are a particular forte. Brad and I celebrated his mother’s birthday yesterday at Mattito’s in Uptown, and the birthday-cake-baking honor fell to me. I’m not a huge chocoholic unless it’s DARK chocolate. The darker the better. So knowing Teresa’s love for the dark master, the cocoa bean, I created my most chocolatey confection to date. It was a dark chocolate layer cake with real fudge icing, chocolate ganache filling, and chocolate-covered cocoa beans on top. (The word "ganache" always makes me think of Stephanie's wedding, since Taylor's groom's cake was covered in chocolate ganache, which Stephanie described as "magic chocolate icing." So true.) I hope you don’t mind allowing me to indulge in a little show-and-tell:

(Love the Crate and Barrel cake dome and foot too. A wedding gift, naturally.)

The night before my birthday last year, I determined to make my own birthday cake. Pathetic? Perhaps. But it gets worse. I had decided on a pineapple cheesecake (combining two of God’s greatest inventions) and set about my mise en place. I had gotten no further than melting the butter when, through an uncanny series of events, I ended up with second-degree burns across my abdomen. I won’t go into details except to say that scalding butter + laundry night = pas bon.


This year I had more luck. Here’s my birthday cake from last month, before I dressed it with gobs and gobs of cream cheese frosting. The photo was taken from my phone. This was my own recipe, three layers of yellow cake with a pastry cream filling and chopped fresh strawberries mixed in:

Now the birthday cake I made my mom. It was a coconut cake with white lemon buttercream frosting and strawberries for garnish:

Last winter I got a case of cabin fever and decided to make a super summery cake. I love coming up with my own recipes, as I did with my birthday cake this year. The next photo shows one of my more successful dabblings. To fight some cold weather blues, I created this lemon cake with raspberry filling and orange zest buttercream icing. Summer heaven:

And a final Katie-penned recipe. This pear and almond tart had the richest, most gloriously spicy glaze and a chewy cream cheese dough crust. The perfect fall comfort food:

I owe much of my lovin’ of the oven to the Thorne women. Three generations of bakers: