Three weeks ago, Vivian Marie joined the Whipped household. Two weeks past her due date and after about 40 hours in the hospital, our little procrastinator came into the world on April 6. She dodged her daddy’s dark, Greek looks and surprised us with red hair like her mama. Starting at 9 pounds 6 ounces, she has continued to gain weight and clearly likes to eat. yippeeee! We don’t accept picky eaters around here.

I am still hot on the open-faced sandwich kick. Partly, I am trying to reduce the carbs and hopefully in turn reduce a few pounds. Also, I have found a little cheese on top and a short stint in the broiler makes such a yummy sandwich.

For some reason, when I make reuben sandwiches at home, I always substitute coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. I love a traditional rueben and enjoy sauerkraut but it is just one of those things that doesn’t make it into my kitchen. A little corned beef, thousand island dressing and rye bread and you have yourself quite a lunch.

Pseudo-Rueben Sandwich
rye bread
corned beef
coleslaw
swiss cheese
thousand island dressing
(or make your own with equal parts mayonnaise and ketchup with some diced pickles added)

Spread the bread with the thousand island dressing. Top with corned beef, coleslaw and then top with cheese. Broil or toast sandwich to melt cheese on top.

A perfect sip of coffee tastes delicious. Perfect coffee soaked in an almond biscotti? Even better. I feel taken advantage of when I buy a biscotti at a coffee shop and it isn’t crunchy enough to be dunked for a good soak. The cakey biscotti get too soggy and sometimes even break off and slowly sink to their disintegrated death at the bottom of your cup. Tantrum ensues.

In Italian, the word “biscotto” means “biscuit” or “cookie.” More specifically, biscotti are named according to their original method of baking. The root words “bis” and “cotto” literally mean “twice” and “baked.” (I am just full of information today!) It is this important twice baking step that will provide you with the crunchy, dunking biscotti that I love so well!

Biscotti will keep in an airtight container for about a week. So, if you live alone, don’t be afraid to make yourself an entire batch. You’ll work your way through them. Also, these cookies are a great baked good to ship as gifts since they last so long.

Italian Almond Biscotti
1 cup almonds with skins
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3 teaspoons milk (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds on baking sheet and tast them until fragrant - 5-6 minutes. Let them cool and then coarsely chop them. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl. Add 2 of the whole eggs, the egg yolks and vanilla and mix together with an electric mixer until just combined. Dough will be dry but should be able to be formed into a cohesive log. If not, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until just combined. Add almonds and mix in.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and work and divide in half. Shape into a flat log about 3 inches wide, 10-12 inches long and less than one inch high. Place logs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Beat the remaining egg and brush the logs with the egg. Bake for about 30 minutes or until logs are firm to the touch.

Remove logs and let them cool on a rack. Slice the logs into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay them on their sides on the baking sheet. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crisp. Cool again completely.

Variations: Instead of almonds, you can add dried cranberries and orange zest. Or, dip the biscotti in your favorite chocolate.

I am thrilled to welcome my first guest blogger, Monica. My dear friends, Josh and Monica, who I miss like crazy, are living in Thailand for two years. Monica was kind enough to share photos and thoughts on the changes in her daily eating while living abroad.

If I had to summarize Thai food in one word it would be fresh. Whether it is meat on a stick, a plate of som tom, or a simple stir-fry, everything still tastes like it should. For minimal cost and effort one can eat healthy, flavorful food all of the time. Thais eat several, small meals a day, stopping at food stalls whenever hunger calls. For about 25 baht per serving, roughly 75 cents, one can stop frequently to satisfy any craving.

Thais typically start the day off with a bowl of noodle soup. To order, one simply identifies their noodle and meat of choice. Noodles are either thin (sen lek) or wide (sen yai) rice noodles or wheat noodles (bamee). Meat is typically chicken (gai) or pork (moo) and if you’re lucky a few intestines may be thrown in for a little extra flavor. Four condiments are usually added to the soup by the individual to taste: sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, and chili (and sometimes peanuts).

After breakfast, it’s anyone’s call. The staple is rice: either white rice (khao suey, literally “pretty” rice) or “sticky” rice (rice prepared by steaming it in a bamboo basket for over eight hours). The flavors can be as simple as a stir-fry of veggies flavored with ginger and soy sauce or as complex as those found in a beef salad (nom tok) prepared with lime juice, red onion, sea salt, cilantro, and fish sauce. Our favorites include perfectly fried chicken, amazingly grilled fish, som tom (papaya salad with a “dressing” made from tamarind juice, chili, lime juice, cane sugar, and fish sauce), and noodle soup with “red” pork (moo deng).

Desserts in Thailand are usually variations on one theme: gelatinous rice, coconut, and lotus or taro held together in a banana leaf. Baked goods are few and far between. Not having quite acquired a taste for these types of sweets, I turn instead to the fruit in order to satisfy my cravings. For 10 baht one can grab a half of pineapple, mango, papaya, or watermelon (to name only a few) each sweeter than the next. Fruit carts are ubiquitous on the street and ready to serve up nature’s candy anytime. Bananas and oranges are often also bought in bulk and make up in-between snacks throughout the day.

I honestly can say that I am never bored of Thai food. It offers so much variety and reaches far beyond what I believed Thai food to be from my experiences in the States. If I was forced to identify something that I miss from the States it would be wine. What we would consider a cheap bottle of wine in the States may run upwards of 20 USD here. But, I’ve taken to drinking beer, mostly Chang, a local favorite, which satisfies thirst wonderfully after a long, hot day. Cheese and dairy are also missing from Thai cuisine. So, munching on that brick of brie before dinner is only an option if you’re willing to hand over the cash at the grocery store stacked with imported goods. Instead, we simply stick to the local, fresh (and cheap) food which never fails to hit the mark.

The world is so big, filled with layers to discover. I just love it when a little window into a new place opens and you learn about something that you never knew existed. I had just such a finding today. There is an article in the Wall Street Journal on the front page about the Baking World Cup. Since 1992, every 3 years, international teams of bakers gather to compete in a “baking marathon.” The artists must produce perfection in three categories - baguettes, yeasty pastries and a freestyle or “artistic” piece for panel of judges (which apparently range from a map of France crafted with a scalpel to full bread statues of sexy women).

After further reading on the Chicagoist, I found that a fellow Chicagoan is heading to France to represent the USA and uphold their championship status. That is right… Americans won the Baking World Cup last time. Hard to believe from a country with aisles full of preservative-pumped, plastic-enshrined loaves, but, also somewhat encouraging.

Although I enjoy a good sports match, I would take a seat in the stands of the Baking World Cup any day over most major events - including the Superbowl or the perhaps even the World Series… unless the Cubs were playing. I am dying to see how this whole thing goes down. Is there a large journalist section? Spectator’s arena? Announcers?

Commentator #1: I don’t know Pierre, it just seems to me that Paul from the American team is just not kneading the dough with the same gusto we have seen in the past years.

Commentator #2: It really is anyone’s game this year….

The photo above has nothing to do with the Baking World Cup. But, who wants to read a story without a visual?! It is a delicious olive loaf I ate in San Francisco while visiting my friends Stephen and Molly.