This post appears in the Face Time in the Kitchen challenge.

Throughout the years, I have learned many things from many different cooks, both in restaurant kitchens and in home kitchens as well. The tips, I picked up chatting face-to-face with these well seasoned cooks, are priceless. They are not the sort of thing you find in a book or surfing the web. They are precious tidbits grown from real life experience and garnished generously with the personal opinions. True morsels of wisdom.

One of my more memorable kitchen conversations, was many years ago. My friends elderly grandmother had enlisted us to help her make cookies. While I had eaten biscotti before, I had never made them myself. This was awhile back, and biscotti was still sort of an exotic cookie for the average American at that time (Yes, I’m showing my age). Of course, for my friend and her grandmother, this was a commonplace food.

When I inquired about what should be put in them, the wizened woman chuckled at me, and said “anything, they are just sweet biscuits”. With that, and seeing how easy they really were to make, I felt licensed to do as I wished with this sweet treat. Now decades later, I think of that now passed woman, as I make these Pumpkin Biscotti with White Chocolate Chips. A recipe which owes it’s first tiny ember to that conversation and the experience of making that first batch with her.

Also, check out BonAppetit.com‘s “OUT OF THE KITCHEN,” an exploration of the coolest food artisans in America, from spice blenders to knife makers to cider brewers. See how they mastered their crafts—and learn how to apply their knowledge at home.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bon Appetit. The opinions and text are all mine.

Read the original on: Mom Foodie