Kickoff

I've been thinking about starting a blog from past 4 years but never got to it. I am glad at least I started it now. Better late than never :-)

I welcome you all to my humble abode where I would be sharing my everyday things like recipes, crafts, gardening and travels. Beware I might be rambling about my feelings too (as soon as my husband reads this I guess he will stay out of my blog :-)

I am a Software Engineer by day and passionate, self taught cook by night. I live with my Husband in sunny California. I am also a newbie gardener and will share my learning experience as I go along.

Geek that I am, I titled my first post as 'Kickoff' (cannot help with so many years of working in IT industry).

Here is the post about one of my favorite baked goods Biscotti. I took the recipe from Martha Stewart website and modified a little bit. They are not too sweet and perfect for dunking in tea or coffee. Also only fat component is from egg yolks.

What you need:
(Makes around 35-40 pieces)

3/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios

3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps to Follow:

1. Mix flour, almonds, pistachios, sugar, salt in a bowl and keep it aside.
2. Whisk eggs and vanilla extract in another bowl. To this add the flour mixture and combine everything to make the dough.
3. Divide the dough into two parts and shape each one in the form of a log. Place these logs on a baking sheet. For easy clean up, I line the baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Once it's ready place the baking tray and bake for 15-20 min. The logs should be firm to touch and you can see browning on the bottom.
5. Take the logs out, cool them for about 30 min.
6. Transfer these logs to a cutting board. With a serrated knife cut them into half inch slices.
7. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F. Place these slices on the baking tray in a single layer and bake for another 15-20 min.
8. Cool them on a rack and store them in air tight container. They stay good easily for a week.

They are also perfect as gifts for family and friends.