Ginger Biscotti

Today marks the official first day back to work for public school teachers in the state of Hawaii.  I swear time just raced by.  It seemed like just the other week I was packing up my room for the summer.

Actually, it's like I went back to work last week.  I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, at work.  I managed to raise my blood pressure to stroke levels on Monday, reminding me that there are some people who really are stupid.  I spent Thursday and Friday at a different school.  Thursday and Friday made me thankful to work where I do.  I saw a shining example of exponential stupidity and was reminded of just how far a surname will get you (related directly to the exponential stupidity).

Circling back to the part about being thankful, I had a parent tell me how grateful and happy she is that I work with her child.  In spite of all the crap happening around me, this was definitely a bright spot.  This is why I do what I do.  This validated my decision to sign up for another tour of duty.  Screw all you haters and doubters. 

There was so much I wanted to accomplish this summer.  I wanted to try out all those recipes I pinned on Pinterest.  I don't think I tried even 3 things.  When I got busy, I always went back to my old stand-bys.  I also wanted to clean my room, but I never got around to that either.  I still have stacks and stacks of magazines along the wall.  I guess I will need to move the cleaning to next summer's to-do list.

A year ago, I made a list of all the things we ate during the summer.  I returned to work (officially) today, so it's only fitting that I make another list. 

• chicken satay
• pasta salad
• danish puff
• shredded mango
• boiled peanuts
• crisp won ton with dipping sauce
• kal bi
• furikake party mix
• furikake salmon
• coconut shortbread cookies
• broccoli bacon pasta salad
• amaretto bread pudding 
• white clam pizza
• beef with asparagus
• peach butter cake
• sesame chicken pasta salad
• warabi kamaboko salad
• ohelo berry cream cheese pie
• tangzhong milk bread rolls
• potato chip cookies
• mini brioche
• cinnamon cranberry bread
• oyster sauce burgers
• sponge drops 
• chicken salad with peanut dressing
• lemon bars
• trix treats
• spicy soybeans
• confetti jello
• ginger biscotti

Per D2, noticeably absent from the list above is lavosh.  She has been bugging me all summer to make lavosh.  First she wanted to take it to her summer program.  Then she wanted to take it with her to Japan/Korea.  When she returned, she wanted to pack it for morning snack at her summer orientation.  I've run out of time.  Lavosh is time-consuming.  I'm hoping she'll be okay with the biscotti I made instead.  It meets all the criteria of lavosh...hard, crispy, makes a great snack.

This is actually the 3rd biscotti recipe I'm posting.  The last biscotti recipe, cranberry orange biscotti,  was perfect for fall.  While I like cranberries and oranges, it's one of the flavor profiles I need to be in a certain mood to want to eat.  If you're going for honesty, then it's the 1st recipe that would be my choice to eat.  Unfortunately, I'm also lazy and don't always feel like watching the butter brown instead of burn then waiting for it to cool before I can proceed with the recipe.  This ginger biscotti recipe is much faster to prepare, and the taste of ginger is timeless.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Ginger Biscotti

     1/2 c butter, softened
     1 c sugar
     2 c flour
     dash salt
     1 tsp baking powder
     1/2 tsp almond extract
     1/2 tsp vanilla extract
     2 eggs
     1/2 c nuts
     2 tbsp crystallized ginger pieces
     4 t turbinado sugar or any other coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a cookie sheet or 2 biscotti pans (or line with parchment paper).  Place nuts and ginger into the workbowl of a small food processor.  Process until nuts are chopped small.  Set aside.  Sift flour, salt, and baking powder.  Set aside.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and extracts.  Stir in flour mixture.  Add nuts and ginger pieces.  Shape dough into 2 2"x12" long rectangles.  Sprinkle each rectangle with 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, cut loaves into 1/2" slices.  Place cut side down on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Flip biscotti over and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

A whole bunch of my friends and family are well aware of my affinity for Starbucks city mugs.  Melissa, Edz, Mr. Dependable, the Ds, LA, The Help and Brucie have helped me grow my collection.  This summer, the Ds got me a mug from Busan, South Korea and Brucie got me a bunch of mugs from Europe.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Brucie is whom I wanna be when I grow up.  He lives in a gorgeous oceanfront luxury mansion (I'm talking celebrity-quality), complete with German guard dog.  He has traveled in style all over the world.  He even has the bragging rights to say he lived in Austin (my dream city. . .everyone knows how much I love Texas).  The mug holding the biscotti in the picture at the top of the page is from Brucie's previous trip to London.  Thank goodness for good friends (and kids)!