Sowing Optimism

Good morning, my friends. Yes, I said "sowing," not "sewing." Even though it's Sewturday, I'm going to say something about sowing. We had a busy day yesterday. It started out slow enough when I started with the March block for A Year in the Garden. As usual, I was simply using up the partially used bits of floss from the last time I worked on this project.

While I was working on that, I figured I'd get a start on the biscotti I was wanting to bake. Slow-stitching is a good way to kill time while waiting for something in the oven. This ended up taking way longer than expected. It shouldn't have surprised me since there are several steps involved in the process of making biscotti. Maybe I'll remember next time. In any case, when it was all finished, I had myself some yummy biscotti.

I was working from a recipe I hadn't tried before. Fortunately, I'd downloaded it to the Paprika app because the link from Better Homes & Gardens was broken. Reading over the recipe, I realized I was going to end up with a lot of bite-sized biscotti, and that wasn't what I wanted. I like it in the longer biscotti "swords" for dipping in coffee. So I played with the recipe some and came up with this. They're good! I'll tell you how I did it below, but I'll add that we didn't think it needed any more chocolate, and so I left off the chocolate at the end.

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscotti

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients:

2 3/4 Cups All-purpose Flour

1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar

3 Large Eggs, lightly beaten

6 Tablespoons Butter, melted

3/4 Cup 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips

1/2 Cup Chopped Pistachios

Decoration: Dark Candy Bar, broken into pieces and melted (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an extra-large baking sheet; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Place eggs in the well and stir into the flour mixture. Add butter; stir until combined. Stir in 3/4 cup baking chips and the pistachios. (Dough will be crumbly.) Use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using cold, wet hands, divide dough into two equal portions. Shape each portion into a log about 3 inches wide and about an inch tall. Place logs about 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm and light brown. Remove from oven and cover with a tea towel; cool for 15 minutes.

Transfer logs to a cutting board. Use a very sharp knife to cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes more or until crisp and golden brown, turning them over after 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; cool.

Optional: Place dark candy bar pieces in a shallow microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium power (50%) for 60 seconds. Remove and stir. If not melted, return to the microwave and repeat heating step, stirring every 30 seconds to avoid scorching. Stir until smooth. Dip edge of each biscotti into melted chocolate; let excess drip back into bowl. Place biscotti on wax paper; let cool.

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So it was nearly noon when I finished with the biscotti. I still wanted to take a walk on the treadmill, and then we both had some lunch. And all of that to say it was nearly 2:00 by the time we made our trip into town. The traffic was positively awful! This is why I don't like grocery shopping on Fridays, but we've learned to get out early in the morning. Now, we've both made a mental note that anything that needs to be done in town on Friday must be done in the morning. Sheesh. 

We can't imagine where everyone was going, but the main road through our town leads to the beach. Why anyone would go to the beach in February is beyond me, but I suppose they might be planning to walk into the surf, and then just keep walking. The thought has certainly crossed my mind.

When we were back home, I wanted to fill the bird feeders. We're expecting an atmospheric river of rain this weekend, and so I wanted to finish that job before it started. On my way back to the house, I noticed these daffodils coming up. Here's where the optimistic "sowing" comes in.

And if you remember, we planted a whole pile of different colors of daffodils in the fall of 2023, and then completely missed their spring bloom in 2024 while we traveled across the country all the way to Kentucky. Bummer. This year, we'll get to see them. And look! There are some more over there!

They were coming up in little clumps all around. So exciting.

Back inside, I looked out the window to see these two. Something had their attention.

While I watched, Smitty leaned over to whisper a sweet nothing to Sadie. I suppose they could have been discussing hunting strategy, but it was probably more along the lines of "I will keel you."

Okay, and so it was late before I could do anything on the "Circus" piece. I managed to complete the quilt top, but it still needs to have some batting added to the back before I can start the thread painting. I like to do it through the batting before adding the quilt back. And then I'll do a little more quilting after the back is added. Here's your peek:

This will be my highest priority today. It's possible I could have it to binding stage by the end of the day. It is "Sewturday," after all, which means nothing but sewing for me today. There is a little cooking. I'm going to make a salad ahead of time for our dinner tonight, but that's it. The rest...all sewing, all the time. It's going to be a good day. I hope you have a good day too.