Growing up, my family celebrated every Christmas Eve with friends at the home of our neighbors, Pat and Paul Swanson. Though my family is Jewish, we loved being part of this tradition -- the house decorated with white lights and nutcrackers, the crackling fire, the smell of mulled wine and, best of all, the annual appearance of Santa Claus, who rolled in with a boisterous "Ho Ho Ho, Merrrrry Christmas boys and girls," handed out candy canes to the all the kids, and scared all the little ones right onto their mothers' laps! (Santa, come to find out, was our other neighbor, Jerry Gyles, dressed in costume.) Always on the menu were Pat's Swedish Meatballs -- mini meatballs made from beef and pork in a light cream sauce. I always loved them, and have made my own version many times over the years -- both speared with toothpicks for parties and served over egg noodles for family dinners. They always make me think of the holidays...
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Inspired by the almond biscotti served at the celebrated Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, these Italian-style cookies are are made by forming a fragrant, almond-studded dough into loaves, partially baking it, slicing it and then baking it again. They are everything you want a good biscotti to be: buttery, lightly sweet, crunchy but not tooth-shattering -- and as good with your morning coffee as they are with dessert wine, afternoon tea, ice cream, parfaits, pudding or fruit salad.
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