The Power of Rocking and Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Our alarm clock is set to the radio because the beeping is really not conducive to a peaceful waking. Granted, the screech of the latest 16 year old's heartrending tale sung to the tune of Frere Jacques (or whatever) does set one's teeth on edge but most mornings it's a good way to wake up. Such as this morning when I was awoken by the sheer power of rock. I actually started laughing, as I always do, because it was the Scorpions. Not for nothing, Klaus Meine has a serious set of pipes, these guys have been doing their thing for like 38 years and I love this band. No, it's love, pure love.
That being said, I always laugh when I hear them.
Why?
This answer is 4-fold.
1. Really... no really these songs hold no bad memories for me. In fact, I always associate Rock you like a hurricane with a particular carnival ride.
2. I became friends with a set of Albanians when living in Italy (I know.. I know...) and one of them attempted to woo me with a Scorpions song. I don't mean the actual song, he just spoke some of the lyrics. And really... it was his best English. I think he may actually have learned most of his English from Scorpions and Metallica (you know... aside from the necessaries like "you are a beautiful American woman be my wife"). I feel proud for introducing this particular person to Megadeath.
3. 38 years? Can that be right? That's longer than most marriages. These guys have staying power.
4. A band member's name is Lothar.
And now you know that I know wayyyyyyyyyyy too much about Scorpions and we shan't speak of it again.

Along the same lines as my love for a particular German band, I adore the library. I'm sure my parental units are responsible for this (along with a certain spectacular Auntie) and I thank them for it. I'm not quite to the Ray Bradbury level of library adoration but I'm pretty near to it. When the pocky-clypse happens (Membah This!!??*) I will hit up a library pretty soon after I collect my arms and munitions. (One must be prepared to defend thy books.) The county I live in has recently instituted downloadable audio books in our libraries and it's the best thing EVAR. I highly approve and have given it my official stamp of approval.

As an aside: If you have no idea what the Ray Bradbury reference means, check out this youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzD0YtbViCs it's a little long but I feel like Mr. Bradbury is responsible for running a section of my brain. One of my favorite things he says in this interview is "I saw the planet Mars and I said 'Take me HOME!' and it took me home and I've never come back" that and "I want a close up of the cat now". For those of you who've known me for a while you can see that yes, he is indeed manning the helm.
Some of the other youtube clips with him are rather odd/interesting too.

What goes better with reading than coffee and a biscotti?
Well yes, a beer does go quite nicely with a book.
Stop distracting me.

Ingredients
6 Tbspn unsalted butter softened
2 c all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pistachios
1/2 cup chocolate chips (the mini ones work well)

Preheation
1. pre-heat oven to 350F
2. grease and flour your baking sheet

Mixology
1. sift flour, cocoa, soda and salt together, set aside
2. cream butter and sugar until fluffy
3. add eggs to creamed mixture beat until combined
4. add flour mix a bit at a time until all is combined and it makes a stiff dough
5. fold in nuts and chips

The First Bake
1. On greased/floured sheet, Form dough into a flattened log
2. Bake until slightly firm (about 25 minutes)

The Second Bake
1. Take log out of oven and set aside for 5 minutes
2. Reduce your oven heat to 300F
3. cut your biscotti log into 1" thick slices and lay them flat onto the baking sheet
4. Bake slices until crisp (About 10 minutes)

If you like slightly chewy biscotti, cut them slightly thicker or cut the 2nd bake time. If you prefer cracker-like biscotti, cut them 1/2" inch.

*from the flick Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which needs to be seen for nothing else then you'll know the answer to the question "Who runs Bartertown?"