Portuguese Biscoitos and a Christmas Wreath

Portuguese Biscoitos, a tender not-too-sweet treat just right for eating in the morning with a cup of coffee or dipping into a glass of red wine in the evening.  If you like a cookie that isn't too sweet, then these are for you!

These wreath-shaped cookies start out simply by beating eggs and sugar in a mixer, then adding flour and baking powder, after which some melted butter is added to the mixture until it all magically comes together into an easy to handle, soft dough.
The dough is rolled into little balls and then into long rolls, about 5 inches in length.
The ends are brought together and pinched closed.  These treats bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are a light golden color.
I keep these in a bag in the freezer where they stay fresh.  I'll take one or two out in the morning and by the time my coffee is done, the cookies are thawed and ready to eat!
My gardener never throws anything out.  As a result, we have quite a collection of wine corks.  When I saw a $75 Christmas wreath made out of wine corks online, I knew just what I was going to do with some of these corks!
I bought a grapevine wreath for about $6, got out the hot glue gun and got started!
The corks go on every which way - there's nothing to do but glue and stick!
Here is the finished wreath with some red berries woven between the corks.  I didn't glue the berries on so I can change them out for different seasons.  I might put some pansies on there for spring or sunflowers during summer.
Here's a closeup.  I'm guessing there are about 200 corks on this wreath!

You can find the recipe for the biscoitos here!

Popular posts from this blog

Blackened Scallops with Pasta

Image
This was our Valentine dinner last night. I made this based on this recipe but instead of the combination of spices that make up the blackening seasoning it called for, I used Old Bay Blackened Seasoning . Much easier! I sauteed half of a shallot and 8 ounces sliced mushrooms in a mixture of butter and olive oil. I added two Roma tomatoes, chopped and a little white wine. Then, the scallops were rolled in the blackening spices and sauteed in butter 3 to 4 minutes per side in another pan. I served this over pasta and grated some parmesan cheese over it. My Valentine said it was delicious and I agreed!
Read more

Animals

Image
For Pink Floyd, space has always been the ultimate escape. It still is, but now definitions have shifted. The romance of outer space has been replaced by the horror of spacing out. This shift has been coming for a while. There was Dark Side of the Moon and "Brain Damage," Wish You Were Here and the story of founding member Syd Barrett, the "Crazy Diamond." And now there's Animals, a visit to a cacophonous farm where what you have to watch for is pigs on the wing. Animals is a song suite that deals with subjects like loneliness, death and lies. "Have a good drown," they shout dolefully as you drop into the pit that is this album: "Have a good drown as you go down all alone/Dragged down by the stone ... stone ... stone ... stone ... stone ..." Thanks, pals, I'll try. It's no use. Like all Floyd records, this one absorbs like a sponge, but you can still hear the gooey screams of listeners who put up a fight. What's the problem? F...
Read more

Jenny Mccarthy Pictures

Image
Jennifer Ann " Jenny " McCarthy born November 1, 1972is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. Jenny McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and film acting career. Most recently, she has written books about parenting, and has become an activist promoting the controversial claims that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy helps cure it - both claims which are widely unrecognized or disputed by the medical community. Jenny McCarthy was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois to a middle-class Catholic family of Polish and Irish descent. She lived in the West Elsdon neighborhood of Chicago. She is the second of four daughters; her sisters are named Lynette, Joanne and Amy. Her cousin is actress Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls and Mike and Molly fame. Jenny McCarthy's mother, Linda, w...
Read more