There is nothing like the perfect Biscotti recipe supplied by another blogger to make life simple and keep me well fed at the same time. A little creative license with a few changes gave me a new flavor for the Biscotti with my mind conjuring up lots of new variations. Before I get to the Biscotti, I have a story to share about two calls; one home and one missed.

Requesting recipes from my family started a whole big to do. Finally after having my arm twisted, I broke down telling them I was blogging and needed the recipes to start cooking again. After the what is a blog question and answer session they held me hostage.Turn the blog address over or no recipes. Being a little nervous; as approval from the family is always wanted I relinquished the address and held my breath.

Here is what happened (while I succumbed to a vulnerable moment; oh how any shrink would be proud:) To my surprise my sister thought I was hysterical;yes, she thought I was hysterical. Her husband on the other hand was certain that my sister couldn’t possibly be referring to me as hysterical as he was certain I didn’t even have a sense of humor! Surely there had to be a blog mix-up where my name got put on someone else’s site, “isn’t a sense of humor a prerequisite for hysterical,” he asked. Well he is in for a surprise; as I am crafting a little piece on the brother-in-law. Let’s see what he thinks of my sense of humor then.

So, on top of the whole being vulnerable with my family issue and my brother-in-laws comment, I managed to call home to tell my sister that I had another post should she want to read it to my parents. Further since she is the only one who can navigate a computer, perhaps my parents would want to dictate to her a comment for my blog which will make me feel like I am gaining popularity. Instead of getting my sister on the phone, my beloved dad answered.

Hi Dad

Hello Kimmy (this is what he calls me)

Dad, Heidi (my sister) said you and mom enjoyed listening to my writing the other day.

Are you kidding? You are a riot!

Really, I am a riot? You thought I was funny?

Yes, and let me tell you, you missed your calling!

I missed my calling! But……… I’m still alive dad.

Yeah, but you could have been writing and making good……….money from this all along instead of being stuck in a job you hate.

What, you really think I’m funny?

You are regular Erma Bombeck, Kim.

Sure dad, but I’m still here. It’s not too late, I’m not dead yet!

Like I said, you missed your calling.

We said our goodbyes as I had to go rather quickly I might add. Now as I hung up the phone, I was both excited and stunned at the same time. Excited because my dad adores me and thinks I have talent and that I am funny. I must confess even though it will make me sound dull-dull-dull, funny is not a word anyone would ever use to describe me. Not even my own family, especially my own family, especially my husband, especially now.

Stunned because how could this be? How could I be funny and have the ability to write and not know it? I’m 53 yrs old, how could I miss this? Wouldn’t I have laughed really hard sometime and tipped myself off? Wouldn’t I have made someone else laugh and tipped myself off? Wouldn’t I have gotten something that closely resembles an A or B in English, along with a word of encouragement from a teacher that said” grammar not to good, but you are funny keep up the good work”?

What if I did miss my calling? What if God gave me a funny clue and I didn’t see it? The thought of this is just awl full, and I have been scanning my life for missed humor clues. The only thing I can find is that my favorite movie is Libel Lady (an oldie). I laugh hysterically when William Powell falls in the water while fishing. In fact I laugh so hard, my children want to know when I am watching the movie so they can watch their mother be out of character while laughing hysterically. Certainly that can’t be the clue? God has got to make things a little easier for me; bold letters, a repeated message, billboards or an email that says here is your funny writing call.

What happens if you miss your calling? Does God call you again, or does God say time is up you weren’t paying attention; too bad? Don’t you think God should give a menopausal woman extra clues and extra time to find the calling, especially with the whole foggy brain symptoms that God created in the first place? You try to find a funny calling, with a foggy brain while going through a hot flash.

My only hope that I have not missed my calling is that perhaps God put my husband in front of me with his unappreciative attitude towards my good cooking as a sign post. In case that wasn’t a good enough perhaps God added a job that I am not happy with. Let’s face it; my combined frustration with my husband who ignores my culinary efforts and my uncreative stand on your feet in heels 10 hours a day job has led me to write in the first place. In case that wasn’t enough impetus I am challenged with trying to manage a high end high pressure business. My job includes working with the bosses best friend who has become quite skilled at throwing me under a bus every few days just for practice. I have tread marks on my head to prove it.

If you are still reading this post I imagine you are saying where is she going with this? I have decided I need a sabbatical. A multi-faceted creative commitment that will keep me focused and turn my life around. It can’t be a daily cook challenge as my hours are to long. Let’s face it,I am not as young as the some of the other food bloggers who pose a challenge to cook every day after a long day at work and still end up looking cute when the year is over.

Not wasting anytime I have decided to cook Southern for my year long food/mental health sabbatical. In the meantime, while I get a game plan, enjoy my ………………………Biscotti or shall I say Smitten Kitchen’s Biscotti. Smitten Kitchen just did a post on these, they were to die for or get fat for, which is basically the same thing as I ate a gazillion of them. I am on a Biscotti kick altering the recipe by keeping the basic formula and changing the flavors. Orange Almond Chocolate are the feature for today, yes that means more Biscotti are to come. I simply added 1/2 tablespoon of Almond Extract, upped the Orange zest to 3 Tablespoons, and added 1 cup bittersweet chocolate which on the second go around I froze for an hour so they didn’t melt to much.

And no, I am not copying Deb at www.smittenkitchen.com. I have just been hungry for Biscotti. I discovered them on her site and rather than cooking food for my blog, I have been baking batch after batch of her Biscotti, while eating batch after batch of her Biscotti.

So get ready as Monday the 16th of March is day 1 of turn my life around Southern Kitchen Sabbatical. I am most thrilled about the sabbatical. The alternative is a straight jacket and God knows I wouldn’t want to have a hot flash while having my arms tied around my back. That would surely cause me to miss my calling.