The Other Bunneh's Adventures in Baking

[wordinista]

I got such a laugh out of dqbunny's candy-making adventure that I thought it was only fair to give a little back.

Well, I've decided to make a bunch of baked goodies and share them with a few of my friends.  So I went looking through my cookbooks and family recipes and have found a collection of cookies and goodies that either (a) I've always wanted to make or (b) I've made in the past and they've gone over very well or (c) something from my childhood that my grandmother used to make and my mother doesn't make anymore.

So far I've got:

Cinnamon-almond biscotti
Pistachio crescents
Candycane crunch cookies
Almond/Anise sesame cookies (not almond and anise together, of course, but they can be flavored with either almond OR anise)
Scottish shortbread cookies
Snickerdoodles

I figure the biscotti would be the most time consuming, so I started that this morning.  I've got a recipe from my great-aunt, which I begged for after she sent us a batch a few years ago.  Something about the recipe intimidated me then, but I can't tell what it was.  So this is my first try making them.  Everything went very smoothly until I got to the part where it said to handle the dough with buttered hands, and mold dough into three strips per cookie sheet.  The recipe then said:  "Warning: Dough will be sticky."

No shit.

I felt like Brer Rabbit upon meeting the Tar Baby.  Probably looked a bit like him, too.

So the first batch of biscotti is in the oven and the house is starting to smell distinctly cinnamon-y.  Should start on the second batch now, I think.  It's kind of nice, because I've got holiday music going, and the house is decorated, and... I'm starting to get into the spirit of things, I think.  It doesn't hurt that we've got a cold front going through and I've got the windows open.

I really do anticipate getting all of this baking done today.  Especially if I, you know, don't spend a whole lot of time on LJ.

EDIT: 1:00 PM -- Well. Homemade biscotti? Is really ugly. But tastes reallygood

EDIT: 2:07 PM -- Okay, so I've made it through the biscotti, the shortbread dough is chilling in the fridge, and the sesame cookies are in the oven, and I think I'm just about ready to quit for the day. The kitchen is a disaster area, and I'm totally wussing out and getting tired. And I have to stop snacking on the biscotti.

Comments

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

I once made pignolatti. Talk about sticky...

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

I guess it's spelled pignolata (which is closer to how my mom says it in Sicilian). Here's a pic.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Ooh -- never had that, but it looks delicious. It reminds me a bit of something my mom does at Christmas. She makes a basic egg dough, rolls it thin and cuts it into strips, then ties the strips into knots and fries them until they're crispy. Then she dredges them in hot honey and sprinkles nonpareils on them. I know there's a proper name for them, but I've no idea how to spell it.

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

Heeee!

The thing I learned is that you need to set aside a portion of the goodies for yourself, then snack on them. What happens is that you eventually become sick of said item and no longer eat them. That's what happened with me and the cookies. At first, I couldn't keep my hands off them. By the end, I was throughly sick of them. For future bakings, I won't be so tempted.

Have you have a kitty land in the middle of your cooking space yet? ^_^

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Not yet, though Bronte did try to trip me once and Kisa jumped on the dining room table while I was trying to clean it (I'm presently wrangling the house back into order).

Actually, Bronte makes a habit out of tripping me. It doesn't matter what I'm doing or where I'm going; she'll dart out of nowhere and run in front of/under my feet. My options are either to step on her, or ... break my neck. :)

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

And if you step on her, you're going to break your neck anyhow.

My cats love to be on the bed when I'm trying to make it. Therefore, the made bed will usually have a cat lump underneath the covers. (Much like during the storm for you.)

[everstar3.livejournal.com]

I have this excellent mental image of you running after Tora-kun with biscotti-y hands going "RAHR!"

I don't know WHY.

[w0rdinista.livejournal.com]

Because it's something I'd totally do?

He's a huge fan of the biscotti -- even though it came out pleasantly soft, rather than crunchy (which I don't understand unless my oven wasn't hot enough). But, for some reason, the sesame cookies totally flopped. Like going-to-have-to-throw-them-away flopped. I'm going to ask mom to come over and tell me what I'm doing wrong, or I'm just going to abandon the sesame cookies altogether. I've got plenty of other options available to me and the biscotti recipe made enough to feed a small country.