best gift I got this year

…was the home-made biscotti.  I’d been lobbying hard for my own batch.  My mom makes a lot of baked goodies, but the biscotti is really my favorite.  Both of my sisters (that live on other continents) are the regular recipients, but when I asked for some I was told in pointed terms that I could make my own if I wanted some so bad.  (To which I retorted, geez, do I have to leave the country… what’s a girl got to do?)

Anyway, the biscotti is delicious.  Nice and crunchy with big Willamette Valley hazelnuts and a thick slick of chocolate across the bottom… given the amount of tea getting drunk around here, it is nice to always have a stash on hand.  I opened my stocking on Christmas and discovered the little plastic bag (albeit only half a batch, but it gives me something to hope for next year…) tied up with green yarn.  I’ve been hoarding it, and then Cora and I finished off the rest of it the other day.  The recipe is below, if anyone’s interested.  Maybe I’ll get around to making my own batch one of these days.