contributed by Louie Tacker

HELLO again, dear readers. Been a while, but I’m glad to be back here, giving my humble contribution to this blog.

With the onset of the holidays, my mind always gets busy remembering my childhood memories of Christmas. When I was a child, my mom would do all her rituals for Christmas. Now that she is gone and I have a family of my own, I struggle to keep up with many of her traditions. After all, isn’t it that Christmas, being the celebration of the birth of Christ, is also a celebration of traditions?

Just around this time, mom would start to bake her home made BISCOTTI (an Italian word meaning “baked twice”). There are many versions of this biscotti, but like any good son, I would always say, MY MOM’S WAS THE BEST. Oh, her official name for this particular biscotti was ANISSETTE COOKIES, as they really are more of a hard biscuit, with the flavor of anise, a sweet liquorice tasting extract. Oh, that smell is filling my mind right now… mmmmm…

First, let’s have the ingredients.

1) 3 1/2 cups flour

2) 4 teaspoons baking powder

3) 1 1/2 cups sugar

4) 6 eggs, beaten

5) 1/4 lb. butter (melted)

6) 14 oz. or small bottle of anise EXTRACT

Now, let’s start.. don’t worry, it’s very simple.

First, melt the butter over a very low flame. Then, in a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, sugar. Add a dash of salt. Mix and sift well.

Next, leave the eggs in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then beat them in a separate bowl. Then slowly, add to dry ingredients, then pour in butter slowly and work well (it will be very sticky). Now, pour in the anise and keep working the batter, if too sticky, add flour slowly. At this point, spread some flour on the table or cutting board. Roll out the dough and knead, work down and occasionally adding flour as it will be very sticky. Work very well - this is very important, to make sure the dough is smooth and just slightly tacky.

Now shape into a long loaf life shape and cut into 4 equal parts. Rework (knead) again into a loaf shape about 3/4 inch high and 4-5 inches wide and pat out any air in the dough. Do this to all four.

Next, on two floured baking trays, place two of the rolled out loafs on each tray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees then place the loaves in oven for about 20 minutes. But watch as they rise to about 1-1 1/2 inches high. Remove, as the tops get slightly brown. Use a toothpick to put in the center and when you pull it out, it should come out clean. Then very carefully, cut each loaf into 1-inch slices cross wise, forming biscuits or biscotti. Now, for the twice baked part - lay the biscottis flat on each side on the same trays and rebake for 20 more minutes at the same temperature, or until slightly browned on the top. Remove and let cool and ENJOY… Oh, and let them get hard first before eating as they are better eaten slightly hardened and they go along nicely with coffee or tea.

I hope you enjoy making as well as eating them. It’s realy quite a simple recipe, and they keep long shelf life in sealed containers or bags.

Enjoy your holidays and I hope this will become a Christmas tradition with you and your families also.