Chocolate Chip Biscotti

I’ve been longing to bake lately - probably because of the gloomy, rainy and snowy weather we’ve had. Given that I didn’t want to do too much cooking today and the rain was raining sideways off the ocean, it seemed like the perfect day to bake some chocolate chip biscotti. Biscotti are my favorite cookie - they are crisp and pair so well with coffee and tea. I made up a batch of chocolate chip biscotti for me and then thawed out some pureed red kuri squash and made a batch of dog-friendly biscotti for Daisy (the dog friendly recipe will be in my March newsletter - sign up now to get access to a bonus recipe each month).

I realized after I’d made the chocolate chip biscotti that there was some serious nostalgia going on. Life here on the southern Oregon coast often reminds me of my two years living in Majuro in the Marshall Islands. There’s a small island feel here - we are geographically remote, surrounded by ocean and bay in most places. The air feels like ocean most days. Major differences are, of course, climate. In Majuro, the temperature was a steady 80 degrees with 90 percent humidity year round. Here, while temperatures are generally steady, it’s possible to drop into the freezing range and get a little snow. Regardless, chocolate chip biscotti so strongly remind me of my first months in Majuro. I would often frequent a little coffee shop on the island, just to feel a sense of “normal”. I was still pretty culture-shocked my first few months there. The coffee shop made a serviceable vanilla latte, though at 80 degrees, a latte wasn’t exactly a great choice. The shop also sold individually packaged chocolate chip biscotti. Sometimes, I would just sit with my vanilla latte, sweating, watching the world go by and enjoying a biscotti.

And here I am, finally, living back near the Pacific. I don’t drink vanilla lattes anymore - I’ve traded in sweet and milky drinks for the more aggressive Americano. But I still love biscotti - and as I watched the rain this afternoon and sipped my tea, I was transported back to those two years, which are now nearly fifteen years in my past.

Enough of the nostalgia - enjoy these chocolate chip biscotti wherever you are.