I was still up around 10:00pm, so the loaves were just about cool enough to slice. I covered the trays with cloths and put them outside in the 33-degree weather to cool the last bit. I did keep an eye out for the
raccoons, who showed up again Sunday night. They stood up on their hind legs and plastered themselves against the sliding glass door to look in, clearly after food. (You know how raccoons are.) They were not in the slightest afraid of people, which isn't a good thing but it's inevitable in the in-town suburbs. While everything was cooling, I did all of those domestic things you do the night before the garbage & recycling gets picked up: emptied all the trash containers, cleaned the cat boxes, swept, mopped, and so on.
When everything was cleaned up, I washed up thoroughly; then, fresh, pink, and slighly damp, I got the cold biscotti loaves and sliced them up and baked them. I now have 80 or 90 fresh biscotti on trays and plates in the kitchen. This morning, I need to put them in an airtight container and do something about the pounds of crumbs I've gotten all over everything. After that, I'm making a cheese and onion omelette for breakfast, then probably starting the second double batch of biscotti. The first had dried cranberries (aka
"Craisins"), pistachios, and a little cured citron, as well as the rather obligatory almond and vanilla extracts and the anise and fennel seed. I used all the pistachios I had on the first batch, so the second batch has lots of dried cranberries, grated orange peel, and macadamia nuts (as well as the
de rigeur flavors). Hey, and you think chocolate chip cookie dough is fun to eat out of the bowl....
The house is smelling heavenly.
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