Four- I claimed the pizza dough was defying gravity - ski klister wax defies gravity also - for all of you Nordic skiers - so I am going to the ski store and buying a stiff ski brush. - this should work to remove the burned on mess(after cooking just the stone and residual for about an hour at high temperature) from the pizza stone. I read ideas to clean the stone - from washing it- no way, it is porous! Running it in the self cleaning oven feature - no way - I am not trying this as I remove my racks during self clean! Then I saw the stiff brush idea and I looked at my skis and they agreed but suggested a new brush without ski wax mixed into the brush! I plan to try again next week!

Oh wow, this was a disaster. Trying to read btw here, the bosch instructions and the recipe I missed where I was supposed to heat the milk, sour cream and butter first so only warmed the milk and sour cream. It was too late for the butter. Did the water sugar, yeast and some flour and butter first, pulsed, then after that it all got random, there was an egg too, can't remember exactly when, including speeds and how long mixing/kneading, trying to please 3 different set of instructions. The dough seemed too sticky when I pulled it out to put on a greased surface as per recipe instructions even though I did add extra flour. While wondering why the bacon for the filling was only burning not cooking I notice that there is a lot of smoke coming from the oven vent burner (electric stove) - I open the pre heated stove and tons of smoke comes pouring out (and hasn't quit). The pizza stone that I unsuccessfully tried to "season" with some pillsbury rolls spread flat that just burned on - well I never could get it all scraped off and now its black burned on and there's smoke everywhere. I give up. I turned the oven off, the bacon off. I'm going to have a warm relaxing shower, put on my jammies, and drink some wine and ignore it all. Wish the place didn't smell so much.

Yup, Linda is correct. It's the shortening as well as the cranberries (adds some moisture) that make it tender rather than hard. Here is my recipe: Almond Biscotti 1 1/4 cup whole unblanched almonds (I buy the toasted unblanched unsalted almonds from Trader Joe and skip the first step below) 2 cups unsifted unbleached all purpose flour 1 cup sugar (I like the organic cane sugar from Trader Joe) 1 level teaspoon baking soda a pinch of salt 3 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Roast the almonds for 10 to 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned. Watch closely as they burn easily. Set the nuts aside to cool completely. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lower the oven to 300 degrees. Stir the dry ingredients together in a bowl just to mix. Set aside half a cup of the mixture. In a small bowl lightly beat the eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the eggs. Stir in the flour from the sides. When too stiff to stir, turn out the gobs of dough onto a surface floured with some of the dry ingredient mix set aside. With floured hands fold the dough over itself until it coheres. Use the rest of the dry ingredient mix to keep the dough from sticking to your hands and work surface. Press the nuts into the dough and keep folding it over itself until they are evenly distributed. Let the dough rest for a few minutes so that the flour will absorb the liquid and make it less sticky. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Shape each piece into a strip about 2-3 inches wide and about twelve inches long. When cut these will produce about 3 dozen cookies about 4 inches long. It is the cook's privilege to eat the wee end bits! Place the strips on the parchment covered baking sheet leaving at least 3 inches between them. Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes. Check your oven to make sure the temperature is correct and not hotter than you think. Let them cool for 10-15 minutes. Remove from baking sheets with a spatula and transfer them to a cutting board. Using a sharp serrated bread knife, cut diagonal bars every half inch. Lay the cookies on their sides on two parchment covered cookie sheets and put them back in the oven to toast for 35 to 50 minutes, depending on how dark you want them. Cool on a rack. Variations: For Lemon-Almond Biscotti Add the following to the beaten eggs: Zest from 3 organic lemons 2 tablespoons lemon juice Omit vanilla Dough may be a little stickier, use a little more flour on the board when kneading and pressing nuts into dough. I find that the lemon version browns more quickly. I use the shorter second baking time. For Chocolate-Walnut Biscotti (a hard, crunchy version, no shortening) Substitute walnuts, coarsely chopped, for almonds (you can toast before baking but I don't) Add: 1/2 cup cocoa powder to dry ingredients 1/2 cup additional sugar to dry ingredients 1/4 teaspoon additional baking soda to dry ingredients 1 additional egg (for a total of 4 eggs) 1 tablespoon white vinegar to beaten eggs Dough may be a little stickier, use a little more flour on the board when kneading and pressing nuts into dough. The Chocolate-Walnut Biscotti are good with one side dipped in semi-sweet chocolate.

Well, now, dcarch, why in the world should I bake biscotti, bake it again, then steam it to undo the baking, LOL, that would just be an extra step. Here is the King Arthur recipe. They do give options for flavoring, I'm thinking orange flavoring and a dunk in dark chocolate would be nice and of course I'll have to try that gingersnap thing, although they do not give that as an option. I did not spray them with water and they still sliced just fine. You know how those days goes, I couldn't even find a spray bottle for water! American-Style Vanilla Biscotti Here it is, a biscotti recipe everyone can enjoy � unlike classic Italian biscotti, which are quite hard, these are light and crunchy. Biscotti bake twice rather than once, and thus take a bit longer start-to-finish than normal drop cookies. But the dough is put together exactly like drop cookie dough. And if your kitchen skills include shaping a meatloaf and slicing a loaf of bread, you've got what it takes to make delicious, gorgeous biscotti. 6 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 2 large eggs 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour coarse white sparkling sugar, for sprinkling on top, optional 1) Preheat the oven to 350�F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet. 2) In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond extract (if you're using it), and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky. 4) Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Divide it in half, and shape it into two 9 1/2" x 2" logs, about 3/4" tall. Straighten the logs, and smooth their tops and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. Sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired, pressing it in gently. 5) Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven. 6) Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the logs, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier. Reduce the oven temperature to 325�F. Wait 5 minutes, then use a sharp chef's knife or serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal, for fewer, longer biscotti. As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake. 8) Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes, until they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They'll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool. 9) Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Store airtight at room temperature; they'll stay good for weeks. Yield: 30 to 40 biscotti, depending on size. Tips from our bakers Variations: Add up to 2 cups nuts, dried fruit (dried, not fresh), or chips to the dough, along with the flour. Adjust the spice to suit the add-in, if desired; e.g., add 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 cup chopped dried apple and 1 cup diced pecans. Or substitute hazelnut, butter-rum, or your favorite flavor for the vanilla. A classic Italian anise biscotti is made with 1/2 teaspoon anise extract (or 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon anise oil, to taste), and 1 tablespoon fennel seeds. I am getting better with the computer, I actually finally figured out how to open two browser windows at the same time, copy and paste from the King Arthur website, and hopefully it'll end up here without strange symbols. I'm switching to a cable internet service next Tuesday, it should cut my bill in half and maybe give me internet access all the time, instead of getting a "not available" message about once every five minutes. If I get that message in the middle of a post, the whole post is gone, I have to close the browser window and start all over again. It's frustrating as heck. Grrr. Annie