One Twenty Five

I don’t like biscottis. They’re hard, and usually not worth the calories. But-but-but, my mom makes these gems every year and despite not liking biscottis (or fake cherries), I seriously cannot get enough of these tasty Christmas treats.

3/4                 Butter (softened) or margarine
2 cups             Sugar
6                     Eggs (use 5 if you easily taste eggys)
2 tsp               Vanilla extract
2 tsp               Almond extract
100g packet    Slivered (or chopped) almonds
1+ cup            Red/Green cherries (40 or 50 chopped)
4 cups             Flour
4 tsp               Baking powder
Pinch               Salt

In a bowl, beat together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy (and light coloured).  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add slivered almonds, vanilla extract and almond extract

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add cherries to the margarine and sugar.  Gradually add the flour to the mix.  Mix the flour in well.

Get a large greased baking sheet or a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Take about a quarter of the mix and shape into a log on the parchment paper (can use a knife to shape log).  Flatten the log out.  Repeat to make a second log.

Bake the logs at 180C for 25 to 30 mins.  They should be light to medium brown.

Cool for about 30 mins.  Use a sharp knife to slice the logs into ½ inch slices (so they can stand up nicely). 

Then bake the slices at 150C for about 20 minutes.  Take them out when they look how you like them (light to medium brown).  Cool on a rack.

Make and bake a second set of logs with the rest of the mixture.

Makes 4 logs – about 60 to 70 biscotti.  Store in a sealed container or freeze.

Note – very easy to make and you can use other flavours at other times of the year.
Disclaimer - they will make you fat
Warning - they tend to migrate to one’s buttock regions, but they’re so worth it (promise) and make superb gifts!

This is embarrassing and makes me look like a terrible person, but (total honest confession here) I used to be embarrassed by my family’s Christmases. Isn’t that awful? I know. Actually, it stemmed from the invention of facebook, tumblr, twitter etc —>being allowed into other people’s Christmases. Suddenly I was comparing my Christmas with hers, his and yours.

Everybody seemed to be have a million and one cousins, crazy aunts and uncles, eggnog, lots of eggnog, and were all jolly and festive getting drunk around a big, old, real Christmas tree. A huge beautiful Christmas tree that looked like it was from the pages of House and Home: Christmas Edition. And of course the tree’s base was always surrounded by a huge number of presents for the large number of people in this big, beautiful, home. Their celebration would go on for days, and there I was, sitting at my computer —> Refresh. Refresh. Movie. Doing nothing. Refresh. Food. Refresh.

My family’s Christmases were small. Are small. Just five people. Well, now six with my sister’s husband. (A consequence of moving from South Africa to Canada.) We open gifts in the morning, usually knowing what every gift is beforehand (in an attempt to save money and not buy useless things for each other). Then we’d go for our Christmas walk with the dogs, eat a [always very delicious] Christmas dinner, and then debate whether to play boggle, cranium, or watch Love Actually yet again (if by God’s good grace an argument over something stupid hadn’t erupted). Then it be over. Our small, little gathering of just the six of us would be done. And we’d all retreat to our respective corners of the house or world, and move on. Christmas would be over and I’d be back on the Internets creeping other people’s big days from the comfort of my room.

Envy. It’s a terrible, terrible thing which absolutely deserves its spot as one of the seven deadly sins. Essentially it’s counting other people’s blessings, not your own. And that’s what I did for many, many years. Sad, really, that is.

But.

But luckily over the years (through time and simply growing up) I’ve come to love my family’s little gatherings. Love them. And appreciate every moment (good or bad) with them. After all, I took a 23 hour flight home for this one, and every second of that uncomfortable flight was worth it. Every second.

I love how it’s just the six of us. I love the potatoes my mom makes only at Christmas time. I love the table cloth she made just for Christmas so many years ago. I want to be buried with my hand stitched stocking, I love it that much. And the people. My people. My little family, which I would take a bullet for without hesitation, I love them with all my heart. Then there’s the quality streets that are hidden in random places. And the chocolate ornaments that hang from the tree. The stuffing. And peas. Well, I love all the food at Christmas time (obviously). The coming together. The eating at the fancy table. The homemade desert, and the plastic wine glasses we use despite being adults. I even love our fights and arguments, and constant communal battles not to eat cheese. They are my people, and I’m not sure what I’d do without each of them.

My Christmas this year was perfect. I still saw big, beautiful, gorgeous, Christmas photos all around (tumblr/facebook/twitter), but not even a tiny part of me wanted to be anywhere but here. Anywhere but home. All the wondering whether I made the right decision coming home early was put to rest. I belonged here this Christmas. And Christmas 2011 will always hold a special place in my heart.

you know those days where you wake up with no alarm clock, the sun streaming onto your bed? you then glance at the time, and although you’re not tired you still stay in your cocoon of warmth for an undisclosed amount of time. eventually you reach for your laptop and watch three episodes of your favourite tv show. you’re a season behind - excellent. the main character finally gets together with the boy you’ve wanted her to, and your heart swoons because you have become so invested in a made-up character on tv.

eventually you head to your hot shower smiling for no reason, and just stand there enjoying the warmth till you figure someone will surely come looking for you. you let your hair air dry, because why not? and then put on a pretty dress, your favourite coat, hat and mitts and head out the door to your favourite starbucks. you brought your laptop with you to work on your resume, and casually start looking for jobs when you (obviously) get sidetracked into your usual cycle of facebook, twitter, tumblr, and yes, okCupid. a nice message awaits you there, from a cute boy too, “by the way, you’re way to good looking to be on here lookin’ for love. Get out their and meet the man of your dreams.”  too bad he can’t spell, but still, so nice of him to write that. once again, you find yourself smiling today.

you then open your gmail and there lies an email from that boy in Seattle who made your heart skip a beat. finally (with great persuasion) he’s emailed you his first short story.  you are the second person to ever read it. you’re nervous, because what if it’s bad? but it’s not, at all actually, if anything it makes you wish he was in that starbucks with you. you’d then express how his words and thoughts touched you. (email praise never sound as genuine).

so there you are, sitting in your usual starbucks, procrastinating as you always do. the last time you were sitting in that seat your adventures had been far and few between, but now you have enough adventure, spontaneity, and travel stories to fill a book. you look to your right, and there it sits, your visa card waiting to be used. where to next? that’s the question of the hour, isn’t it? eight tabs. you have eight tabs open all suggesting ideas, but you settle with where your heart has always desired and wanted to go. australia. melbourne to be exact. london can wait for now… 

—-

today is a good day. today was a me day. no, i didn’t eat perfectly or go for a run, but i found myself so content with the little life i lead. content with my place in the world. despite actually being homeless, jobless, boyfriend-less (meh), and somewhat at a loss as to what to do with my life. but. i am happy. in the next few weeks huge decisions will be made that are going to shape the rest of my life. it’s scary, exciting, and exactly what i needed. a year ago I was stuck in a job and a world i felt i didn’t belong to. and although i currently find myself in limbo land, i have no doubt that despite being lost i am paving my way, one decision at a time, to the place in this world i belong.  

and? it’s really exciting.

I made gingerbread cookies today, and as I was making them, I realized what a wonderful, easy, and cheap gift this could be, double time.

“Double Time” because you could either bake the cookies and give them to someone special as a gift in a pretty Christmas tin, or you could give someone the ingredients layered in a jar with a cute hand written note with the recipe and directions on it.

They’re super easy to make (trust me, I never bake/cook past a primary school recipe level. I’m lazy AND cool like that) as all the ingredients are easily found.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 tsp of baking soda and 1 1/2 tsp of ginger and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 cup soft brown sugar (<— all those ingredients you layer in the jar) and 1/4 cup margarine and 3 tbsp honey and 2 large eggs, beaten (<— most people already own these). 

I was also lucky enough to come across an assortment of fun cookie cutters the other day, but if you don’t have any, they’re usually pretty easy to find - last year I found tons in China Town for 0.50 cents each.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl (or instruct the lucky receiver of your gift to simply pour the jar’s ingredients into a bowl).  Add all the other ingredients (eggs, honey and margarine) in another bowl. Then slowly mix the two bowls together to create the gingerbread batter.

You then roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out your little gingerbreadmen (or women. I’ve actually heard woman are tastier) and/or shapes. Place the shapes on parchment paper, on a cookie tray. Add smarties (I used m&ms, but fail on this one, as they don’t handle the heat as well as smarties). Bake for 12 - 13 minutes.  

I then cooled the delicious cookies waiting to be devoured, found some pretty Christmas tins, and Voila! you have got yourself a delicious Christmas gift.  

Christmas tins can usually be found at your local dollar store. These bad boys cost me $1.50 each. SCORE!!

Best Served with Starbizzle.

Disclaimer: These will make you fat.