It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Last year, we received the most wonderful Christmas gift ever- Cooper. At that time, Carrie had our house completely gutted and I was relegated with Cooper to the back bedroom suite where we slept, ate, washed bottles and lived while Carrie feverishly tried to finish the house. Although I love the house now- it was very stressful and we didn't get to decorate for Christmas! We had no tree, no stockings and I missed celebrating the season terribly. This year- we had a great time picking out our tree and hanging our beautiful stockings made my "grandma Susie". Susie Soler has an etsy shop and she hand-quilted our stockings for us. Each stocking captures our personality, and includes a pocket with a hand written note from Susie to each of us. We will continue the tradition in the years to come leaving letters to each other and to Cooper from Santa.

I had a week off for the first time in my working life, and I had such a great time decorating and getting into the Christmas spirit. I was able to take a day trip to my dear friend Audrey's house and we baked all day. We made double chocolate biscotti, homemade butter toffee and almond shortbread cookies. I'll include a couple of recipes below.

I'm also posting pics of Christmas time around our home. Happy Holidays!


Double Chocolate Biscotti

Ingredients
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
Cooking spray
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine vanilla, eggs, and egg white in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; stir until well blended. Divide dough in half. Turn dough out onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. With floured hands, shape each dough half into a 12-inch-long roll; pat to 1/2-inch thickness.

3. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes. Remove rolls from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cut each roll diagonally into 18 (1/2-inch) slices. Carefully stand slices upright on baking sheet. Bake biscotti an additional 15 minutes or until almost firm (biscotti will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove biscotti from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack.