All content copyright Katrina Hall 2008 through 2025

Thursday, December 15, 2011

the mad dash: russian tea cookies and biscotti paradiso







Forgive the long silence, I hope - two friends are having medical challenges and I've been trying to help out as best I can. Tonight I am re-connecting with my pastry chef happy place: making Russian Tea cookies ( or, as a child, I simply called them snowballs), and the divine scent and taste of my Christmas biscotti, also known as biscotti paradiso. Tedious to make, but so delicious , I can't complain. I have been so busy I don't even have a tree up, but I'm loving the scent of orange peel and toasted almonds and milk chocolate for the biscotti, and the sweet snowfall of confectioner's sugar atop the roasted walnut crunch of those little tea cookies.



You can find the recipe for the Russian Tea cookies here, and the biscotti, here.



Today I sent off the first Christmas box to my son in California, but that was before I made these lovely treats, so a second one will be packed up tomorrow. It's a very odd feeling to have him so far away, but that is part of life, isn't it? I'm happy to have my daughter and granddaughter still close by, and hoping we get some time to celebrate, along with all the other grands.



I hope you are in the kitchen, loving this happy part of Christmas - making special treats for those folks so special to you. Blessed Christmas cheer to you all!

2 comments:

Marianne said...

Lovely post, Katrina! I so enjoy reading your blog. It is always warm & inviting. Blessings of the season to you.

And by the way, I have a son living far away, too, in New York. I sent him a Christmas box, but it didn't include any baked goods. :( Luckily my daughter and granddaughter are close!

Katrina Hall said...

Thank you, as ever, Marianne! I'm still determined to send a second box of home baked goodies, cross fingers:)