It's time for holiday treat bliss. My husband is picking up ingredients for biscotti, cuccidati (or cuccidatti... I've seen both spellings), and pate de fruit. I'm collating recipes, cleaning the kitchen and putting the stove to work. I'm also making a couple of sauces that can be stored in little canning jars.
One of the recipes is from the Green and Black chocolate cookbook. I signed up for a random giveaway from G&B a gazillion years ago when I still lived in Braintree. I was a bit surprised when I got a cookbook in the mail and it took me awhile to remember why I had gotten it. Sadly, I looked through it and it went onto my cookbook bookshelf1. I wanted to make a couple of the dishes, but there was that critical confluence of time and money and desire for chocolatey goodness that never quite came together. The recipe I remember coming to my attention was a pear and chocolate sauce.
This is my alternative to knitting gifts for everyone in the family. I'm pretty bad at knitting on deadline, and I have spent a decent portion of this fall doing charity knitting, which for me is a selfish choice. I get to pick the nicest yarns I can afford and knit things I will enjoy. Even with an organization's requirements, there is plenty of space for a wool lovely knitter to pick a new yarn and test it with a hat or a scarf. It's like a chance to swatch without the distraction of wondering how the entire garment will look. It's freeing.
1Yes, and entire 4'x3' bookshelf dedicated to cookbooks. It's where I store my cake decorating supplies as well, so it isn't all cookbooks and cooking magazines, but it is pretty close.
