I have been holding onto this Gingerbread Biscotti recipe for months now, waiting for the holidays to give it a try. It was definitely worth the wait, although I wish I’d tried it much sooner – they are fantastic!

Most of the biscotti I’ve had in the past have been tasty but not especially noteworthy on their own. They usually come to life upon being dunked in a nice cup of coffee or tea. But these spices within these Gingerbread Biscotti, along with the fresh ginger and dried apricots mixed in, have wonderful flavor all on their own. I confess to having enjoyed several without even dunking.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/gingerbread-biscotti-with-apricots/

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It isn’t the holidays until someone breaks out a cheese log, am I right? Well this year I guess that someone is me. I can honestly say I’ve never really been all that into cheese logs. The whole concept is so odd…rolling out cheese into log form, crusting it in nuts and serving it with crackers? It’s just always seemed like this strange retro holiday food that’s continued to show up on appetizer tables inexplicably over the years.

I decided to make one – what the heck? What convinced me was the ingredient list in this recipe, which actually sounded like something I’d want to eat. Feta, cream cheese, Swiss cheese and honey? That combo was sure to be super tangy and a little bit sweet. And I’ve definitely demonstrated my affinity for cranberries and pecans over the past month. It would come together quickly and I could easily refrigerate and transport it to the holiday party I’m attending on Tuesday. Really…what’s not to like?

So I abandoned my past judgments on the issue and made one tasty holiday cheese log.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/holiday-cheese-log-with-cranberries-pecans/

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You’d think that after all the toffee I consumed last week I wouldn’t want anything more to do with the stuff for a while, but it’s not so. On the contrary, I was quite eager to chop up some of the decadent candy that had eluded my eager hands and parlay them into the Toffee Almond Shortbread recipe that I found on yet another package of butter (I’ve definitely become a fan of these recipes from the butter producers!).

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/toffee-almond-shortbread/

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Well, it’s a good thing I like cranberries.

What did your junior high home ec teacher always tell you to do before you started to prepare a recipe? Read it first. Not just give it a quick scan, but actually read it through so you understand what you’re about to do. For some reason, that lesson never quite sunk in with me. I still routinely skim the directions and good percentage of the time that means a degree of improvisation somewhere in the middle of my cooking. Making this Cranberry Nut Bread recipe from a package of cranberries was one of those times.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/cranberry-nut-bread/

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Whew! As much fun as Thanksgiving cooking was, I’m actually kind of glad to switch over to other late-autumn treats (if you’re looking for some good leftover turkey ideas, check out the leftover panini recipes on my other food blog – Panini Happy). Cookies call my name all year round, and as we enter part 2 of “the holidays” I find oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks especially irresistible.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/oatmeal-cranberry-white-chocolate-chunk-cookies/

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