Day 6: Blunders, Baseball Stats, and Biscotti

I had to take a nap after I finished making this recipe..not because it was that difficult, but because I screwed it so many times and ways. They tell a carpenter to measure twice - cut once; Donna should read the recipe twice and have bowls labelled - flour, sugar, chocolate, etc.

I get all of my ingredients out on the counter and this when I learned the ABC's of Biscotti - Always, Be, Careful.........sifted the dry ingredients into a bowl - sit it aside. 2 eggs cracked and lightly beaten in another bowl. Put the sugar in a separate bowl and thought the recipe said to must the cocoa in with the sugar......it did not....CRAP.....I only had enough cocoa to make one batch and I did want to go one day without having to go to the grocery so it stayed in with the sugar. Next needed to softened the butter - no worries - into the microwave. Pull it out and promptly dump into the sifted flour mixture which included salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Just to confirm, you never cream butter with flour.....you cream butter with sugar. CRAP, nothing to do, but to start again. This time I have Gray in the kitchen helping me keep an eye on myself.

Dump this concoction down the drain, wash the bowl.....start singing here, "And start all over again..." Measured flour into the bowl, baking powder, baking soda - going great - only need to add the salt. So I tell Gray, measure out a tablespoon of salt.......but she is smart....she reads the recipe and says, "Mom, it's a teaspoon of sugar." Good lord, good thing I messed up the first batch because I had added a full tablespoon of salt in it and I am sure it would have been inedible. And had it been edible, I am confident that anyone who dared sample it would have blown up like a Macy Thanksgiving Day Float from all the salt. Whew, dodge another bullet.

Butter into the sugar/cocoa combo - cream well, add dry mixture along with almonds incorporating a little at a time. Parchment paper on the cookie sheet. Divide mixture in half; shaping into two logs. Why do I have still have semi-sweet morsels on the counter?!?!?!? Because the were suppose to be added when I added the almonds.......[insert a string of cuss words here followed up with a slightly strained "Are you kidding me?!?!?!?" I was talking and yelling at myself - all at the same time. Gray gets smart and leaves the kitchen at this point....she wants no part of this jacked-up dessert that I INSIST on finishing. So I improvise.....pour the semi-sweet morsels on top of the chocolate logs; lightly flour my hands and gently massage them into the chocolate logs. Into the oven at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. I tell Gray that this will be a miracle if this even makes it through the first round of baking.

25 minutes tick away, pull it out of the oven.....holy crap.....I think it might work. Have to have it cool for 20 minutes. Okay....20 minutes comes and goes. Cut into slices and turn on their sides and bake for another 15 minutes, but at seven minutes, you pull them out and flip them to the other side so that they "dry" out evenly. Note to readers here....baking 101, don't pull out the baking sheet with a damp dish towel......it is as it you pulled it out with your bare hands. I faltered a minute but got it to the stove top without a crumb falling to the floor. Cool at room temperature.

For those you have been following along....yesterday this is where it went south very quickly and a video was made on just how far south it went. But oh no, [Insert finger wagging here] not today my friends......believe it or not it actually turned out. Can you believe it?!?!?! It actually turned out!!!!! Chris has already had 3 pieces of it, Gray thought it was too chocolaty for her; I have had two pieces and Mason who took one for the team yesterday and tried to gnaw through yesterday's dessert for a picture....put his blessing on it. YEAH......if I was a baseball player, I would be batting over 800.....better than the Texas Rangers......sorry, but it was open so I took it.

Just remember, the ABC's of baking.....Always Be Creative!!!!