How to weather the weather

Got this?

Get this:

Oh you want this, you know you do. I certainly did as soon as I saw Molly's post about it. Reading Molly's blog also make be realise the true insanity of the fact that London came to a complete standstill on Monday due to a mere half foot of snow. I mean, come on, does a "heavy" snowfall really have to result in all the buses being cancelled, eleven out of twelve tube lines disrupted and the ballet cancelled - I'm more than a little sore about this last one as I missed seeing it last year due to a massive cock-up and my own stupidity (bought tickets, forgot to put it in the diary, booked something else and completely forgot), so having finally managed to not only have tickets, but to have remembered that I did, calling it off due to some frozen precipitation was more than a little irksome.

Other countries have snow, proper snow in large amounts, for months. Yes, months, not days. And they still get along with everything, albeit with cold feet and wood fires etc. I know that England doesn't get this type of weather very often (though I swear it used to be more common) and so when it does actually occurr it's all very exciting and unexpected, but why can't we have something in place - like some salt, or perhaps some infrastructure - to deal with it?BUT, I shouldn't complain. We both got a day working in the warm, laughing heartily at Sniff experiencing snow for the first time (which went along the lines of "oh, something's ruined my garden, I'm not going out" *sulk*... "I'm not going to give in to this white tyranny, I'm going out anyway," *loud disgruntled stomping through catflap* "OHMYGOD this stuff is cold and wet" *see above annoyed face which was followed by a frantic dash back through catflap into warm* ... "oh wait, I have a fur coat and this fluffy white stuff is actually rather hilarious to run about in, plus I can go in and out lots and put wet paw prints on everything...this is BRILLIANT") and of course I had an excuse to make these:

Double-chocolate biscotti, or; "Batter-splattered's blizzard spurners." I had to adapt Molly's recipe slighty, I veganised it, and used hazelnuts because I didn't have any walnuts. I also halved it because I knew how quickly two coffee-loving biscotti scoffers would get through this no matter how much I baked, and munching through a whole batch wouldn't do my waistline any good at all, particularly as the weather meant I wouldn't be going anywhere soon.This is my version of the recipe, but for the non-vegan walnut toting full-batch goodness head to Molly's blog. Check out her packaging too, there are some very lucky ladies out there if they're getting some of this in the mail. I know I won't be sharing mine anytime soon, I'm just not that nice when it comes to the need for chocolate in snowy weather.

Double Chocolate Biscotti

Makes about 15 (ish)

1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/2 cup sugar
20g egg replacer powder (+ 55 g soy milk) - or whatever you choice of egg replacer suggests for one egg.
1/2 cup hazelnuts
50g dark chocolate, coarsly chopped
1/2 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with parchment or silicon stuff

In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, egg replacer powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the soy milk and beat and then add dry ingredients and beat until combined well. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into a slightly flattened log, about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Bake log for 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool for about 5 mins

Remove from the tray and nn a chopping board cut the log diagonally into 3/4-inch slices. Arrange the slices cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack. Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and frozen, 1 month, but they last about five minutes in reality because they're so darn tasty.