Have No Fear, Biscotti Is Here

I've had biscotti on the brain all day.  At the Inn today I was busy making four, count that, four! different kinds of biscotti. There was peanut butter chocolate chip, cranberry lemon zest, vanilla chai, and chocolate chocolate chip. All equally delicious in their own biscottilicious way.  SO... when I got home, I decided to whip up a batch of my own signature biscotti.


They turned out to be quite delectable, John was was dipping them into his cafe bustello and I grabbed a hot cup of my dandyblend.  YUM-O!  

Whole Wheat Pistachio Macadamia Nut Spice Biscotti

1/2 cup (1 stick) room temp. butter
1 cup of sugar (white, rapadura, sucanat, whatever you like)
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts


Preheat oven to 350 degree.


In your mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.


In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, salt, baking powder, and spices.


With your mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Once combined, stir in the chopped nuts.


Shape into two separate 'loaves' on a cookie sheet. About 5 inches wide, 1 inch thick and about 10 inches long.


Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool 10-15 minutes.
Place loaves on a cutting board and slice into 1 inch thick pieces. Place them cut side up back onto the baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Simple Sunday

When I put in an eight hour day at the Bed & Breakfast, on my feet, baking scones, cooking breakfast for 20 guests, and turning over eight rooms, I don't have much energy by the time I walk home at 4pm.  At least it was a warm and sunny February day, even if I had to spend the whole day inside.  Working at the bed & breakfast on the weekends is always fun, a lot of work, but it's worth it when you meet so many wonderful people from all over the world. 

So when I got home all I had the energy to do was start some mung bean sprouts for the week.  I usually pour about an inch of beans into a quart sized large mouth mason jar.  I went to my local hardware store and bought a few feet of mesh screen that I cut into circles slightly larger than the lid ring. That way you can easily screw the lid back onto the jar and rinse the beans right through the screen.  I rinse them 2-3 times a day until the have sprouted to about an inch in length.  Then, transfer them to the fridge.  

Use these yummy sprouts on salads, soups, stir-fry, eggs, anything you like!  I love making these over the winter when there is a limited supply of fresh vegetables around.  They are an easy way to get something really green and crunchy into your diet.