Prunus dulcis
ROSACEAE, The Rose family
Slivered almonds are such a nice thing to have on hand this time of year. Lovely toasted in salads, makes cake more nutritious, mixed into crumbling topping on pies and crisps, so many uses. Tonight I made biscotti for the first time – it’s easy and has only 2 tablespoons of butter! I admit that a lot of my favorite recipes call for ‘a stick’ or ‘a cup’. I adapted a recipe for hazelnut biscotti off the Bob’s Red Mill flour package. I omitted the hazelnuts and anise, instead using slivered almonds, chopped bits of chocolate that I had left over from another recipe, and almond extract in addition to the vanilla. It made 2 dozen small biscotti. The honey makes it delish.
It was a year of stone fruits for sure. Usually this time of year I’m surrounded by apples and pears. But now, aside from kiwi, quince and persimmons that are ripening on the counters (all of which are from friends!), and a growing squash collection, most of what we have for the winter is peaches and plums in various methods of preservation. We’ve started nibbling at the jars of cherries. The almonds will be key in the winter baking.
