With practically the entire world on some sort of social distancing and shelter in place, many of us are adjusting to a new (hopefully temporary) way of working and connecting. While I have to admit, similar to a lot of people, I am struggling. I don’t like working from home every day and I dearly miss my social life of dining out, traveling and simply just hugging a friend. I am heartbroken over the fact that I can’t just go home to my family in the UK and just wrap my arms around my sister, nieces and nephews and I can’t bear the thought of perhaps not seeing my dad again who is in a dementia care home and on full lockdown. As surreal as it is for all of us, I am choosing to #Stayathome with some ‘socially distanced’ walking around the neighborhood daily to keep connecting to fresh air. A choice I hope all of us make soon to get back to our normal lives quickly.
There is some good stuff here… I am choosing a whole new world of connection with FaceTime and Zoom and in just a little over 2 weeks it has changed my life. Whenever I received an invite at work that involved any sort of video connection, I called in with a blocked camera never wanting people to see me on video, now its second nature. With working from home my day begins and ends on zoom and I love it. I have formed even stronger bonds with my work colleagues, which I am grateful for. I regularly cook dinner while talking to a friend on FaceTime. Friends who I have not actually seen in years and only text with, I am suddenly doing zoom catch ups and wine nights with. Groups of us are getting together for happy hours and while this is no replacement for a physical connection, its been a re-awakening of friendships and connections and I feel lucky to have all of them back in my life beyond a text here and there.
Last weekend, my friend Stacey who lives in NYC and I decided to do a zoom baking afternoon. Our recipe was for Joanne Chang’s Flour Cookbook recipe for Almond & Anise Biscotti with an adaption of no anise (neither of us are fans of it) and less almonds. It was a fabulous afternoon of chatting about our lives, Netflix and baking. I shared my Biscotti with the super team that continues to work in my apartment building to keep it going. I hope every tenant takes a moment to thank them daily. The rest of these fabulous cookies, I have enjoyed with coffee every day this week.
Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
- 3 Eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole natural almonds toasted
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 - toast halved almonds for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown all the way through the middle (will be fragrant). Leave oven pre-heated at 350 for biscotti.
- Using stand or hand-mixer with whip attachment on med-high speed beat together eggs, sugar, and vanilla for 5-6 minutes or until thick and lemon colored.
- In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and toasted almonds. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir with wooden spoon for approximately 2-3 minutes until thoroughly combined (mixture will be fairly stiff).
- Turn dough onto parchment lined baking sheet, forming a log about 5 inches wide and 12 inches long. If you dampen your hands it'll be easier to pat the form into shape without it sticking to your hands.
- Bake log(s) for 50-60 minutes on center rack until a bit past golden brown and firm. (Test by pressing a fingertip it should not yield to pressure). Cool on a rack about 15 minutes, then at a diagonal slice into 1-inch wide biscotti.
- (At this point it can be frozen for up to a month prior to baking and can be baked directly from freezer)
- Return biscotti cut side down to the oven for 3-4 hours or until completely baked through. To test for doneness, poke-- it should be rock hard. Let cool. Can be stored in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
