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Sweet, spicy and chocolate—Aztec Chocolate Chile Cookies are perfect for Cinco de Mayo. I learned to make these cookies during the winter and served them with chocolate chile espresso pot de creme. My husband and I decided that these are among the best cookies in the world! In other words, these cookies will disappear rather quickly.

The recipe that I used came from the blog, Savour Fare. I altered the recipe by using powdered ancho chile instead of chipotle. My photos were taken with an iPhone and therefore don't really show the darker color of the chocolate cookies as the photos on the recipe blog.

The cookies while cooling...before they disappeared!

I used Madagascar vanilla and Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa. Using quality ingredients will give you the best results. The cinnamon, honey and ginger add so much to the flavor and if you love ginger snaps, just imagine those flavored with intense chocolate and dash of spicy chile. The chile isn't overwhelming at all, so don't let that ingredient prevent you from trying these easy cookies.

One tip that I'd like to pass along is my non-messy method for rolling cookie dough into balls. Using a regular flatware spoon in my left hand, I scoop out the dough. In my right hand, I swirl another spoon on top of the dough to create perfectly rounded balls without putting my hands in the dough. This method makes quick work of the task as well.

With no eggs in the dough, you can pass the bowl to hungry onlookers to clean it up for you!

Rolling the dough with spoons keeps hands clean.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.  All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

I faced and conquered a fear. On a January evening, I was bored with reading the Internet and watching TV. I avoided reading a novel because I was writing a novel and didn't want someone else's fictional work to influence my own. I needed a challenge that was creative and different. It was time to attempt to bake biscotti!

Biscotti is a twice-baked Italian biscuit. The "twice-baked" aspect is what seemed daunting to me. Every time I took a bite of a biscotti from a bakery, restaurant or store, I was in envy of the baker behind the product. How difficult can it be?

Ingredients in my kitchen led to my choice of a recipe. I had almonds and dried cherries on hand. Finding a Williams-Sonoma® recipe for hazelnut and dried cherry biscotti was close enough. I didn't want to go out and purchase more ingredients, so I substituted almonds for the hazelnuts. Other than the substitution, I followed the recipe, adjusting my oven temperature down by twenty-five degrees to use the convection baking option.

I was so pleased with the results! There was nothing difficult about baking biscotti except for allowing the amount of time to cool between baking. The tasty slices stored well but didn't last long as my husband and I enjoyed the biscotti with our coffee...that I can no longer drink...but, that's another story. I now drink decaffeinated ginger tea for breakfast.

Go ahead and bake a batch of biscotti!


(All photos were taken with my iPhone. Click any photo to view enlarged in a slideshow.)

Biscotti after first baking. I used parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

After cooling, cut slices diagonally and turn on sides. Bake for the second time.

Let biscotti cool again. Shake off loose crumbs and store in airtight container.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Need an extra jolt of caffeine to get you started in the morning? It is very easy and inexpensive to make good quality espresso at home in ten minutes.

Come along as The Musician demonstrates how he makes espresso coffee on the stovetop.

Espresso is used for making cappuccino and lattes. All you do is add steamed milk and foam to the espresso shots. If you have a way to steam your skim milk to 140°, then you can make all three coffee beverages.

An espresso cup (shot) is roughly 1/3 of a measuring cup and a regular size cappuccino cup holds two espresso shots, plus milk and foam. Therefore a 4 cup espresso maker will produce 4 espressos or 2 regular size cappuccinos.

What you need to make a simple espresso:

1. A stovetop espresso pot. We prefer stainless steel instead of aluminum and purchased the Primula® Stainless Steel Espresso Coffee Maker, 4 cup for around $30 USD at our local Macys®. 
2. Good quality espresso coffee. Make sure you purchase espresso strength as regular ground coffee will not be good. We select beans at the local shop, A Southern Season®, and have them grind the beans for us. If you can't get fresh espresso coffee, the Illy® brand is very satisfying.
3. A tablespoon to measure the ground espresso coffee.
4. A stovetop burner.
5. Four Espresso cups—or two cappuccino cups if adding steamed milk/foam.

Fill the bottom of the pot with water per instructions  with the espresso maker. Our pot is filled with water to the line just below the screw shown on the front of this section.

Drop the espresso basket onto the bottom section  of the pot.

Fill basket with espresso.  Do not pack tight, loosely smooth. This pot makes 4 espresso shots and uses 2 heaping tablespoons of espresso coffee.

Screw top of the pot together  over bottom/basket. Place over medium low heat. Listen for gurgling sound. When gurgling stops, remove immediately from heat. Pour into 4 ESPRESSO size cups and enjoy!

Cappuccino variation:

1. Before espresso is ready—heat 1/2 cup of skim milk to 140° using a special steamer device with a stainless steel pitcher and thermometer. There should be ample foam on top of the milk.
2. Hold foam back with a spoon and pour hot milk into 2 cappuccino cups until 1/3 full. 
3. Spoon foam on top of hot milk until cup is half full.
4. Immediately pour hot espresso (2 shots per cappuccino) through the foam in a steady stream. 

Carefully pour espresso through steamed foam and milk  to make a cappuccino.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.  All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

The rosemary is in bloom with hundreds of tiny, blue flowers. Passing by, I can't resist picking a few to eat. The taste is sweet and refreshing. Yes, rosemary flowers are edible and a favorite garden snack!

Reading a garden story about edible flowers in the Guardian reminded me not only of the dainty sugar-coated violets on confections in the spring, but also of other edible flowers in my garden—cottage pinks, lavender, marigolds and nasturtiums.

There's an interesting recipe from Jim Long for Stuffed Tomatoes with Marigold that I'm adventurous enough to try.

For my lavender scones, I purchase Provence culinary lavender from a local farm, but I should grow this variety with all the other lavenders in my garden. I cannot easily describe the flavor of lavender, but it's definitely on the menthol side of taste. A local dairy will sometimes feature lavender chocolate and vanilla ice cream!

Be careful in the garden. Allergies aren't a problem for me, but everyone should definitely take precautions. Be sure to thoroughly research any flower before eating the petals. There are many poisonous flowers in the garden. If you have small children, it's probably best not to let them see you munching flowers since they cannot tell the difference between the edible and the poisonous. My garden is organic, so no toxic chemicals are sprayed on my plants.

More information: Epicurean: Edible Flowers Recipes for Edible Flowers Edible Landscaping

Chive blossoms, great on omelets, have such a wonderful flavor and I try to cut those as fresh as possible. The light pink color makes a wonderful, edible garnish on dishes that include chopped chives. This is another flower that I love to nibble while working in the garden.

Although I don't have a veggie garden, squash and zucchini blossoms are often on the menus when visiting France and Italy. These flowers wilt so quickly, magic happens in the kitchens to serve up Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms.

I grow so many herbs for the foliage, but I've not yet tried the edible flowers of oregano, marjoram, sage officinalis, borage, chamomile and basil.

With my renewed interest in edible flowers, I'm ready to try some new recipes this summer. I can imagine the look on my husband's face when I serve him baked potatoes sprinkled with marigold petals! At least he likes spicy foods.

All links provide more information on the topic of edible flowers. Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

It's the holiday season, the weather is really cold and I am thinking about baking scones. Not just any scones, but those baked by my friend on one of my visits with her in California.

Once upon a time, Betsy lived here in North Carolina. I can't remember the exact year, but I think maybe 30 years have passed since we packed up her Saab and drove to California. We had a great time on the cross-country road trip and even more fun while I spent a week with her in the Bay Area. I still consider Betsy to be my best friend, even though we may go years without seeing each other in person. Thank goodness for email!


Betsy's Cranberry Scones

Makes 16 scones
Preheat oven to 400°F

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine or unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

3/4 cup dried (or fresh) cranberries
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 cup buttermilk

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.


2. Add margarine/butter and beat with an electric mixer (or use pastry blender) until well blended.


3. Stir in zest and cranberries.


4. Pour in buttermilk and mix until blended.


5. Gather dough into a ball and divide in half.


6. On lightly floured surface, roll each half into a circle (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick).


7. Cut each circle into 8 wedges.


8. Place scones on lightly greased cookie sheet.


9. Bake in preheated 400° F oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.


10. Serve warm or cooled.

I have also adapted this recipe to make lavender scones (in photo).

Photos and words by Freda Cameron. Recipe from Betsy Livak.

It all started with Thanksgiving 2006. Expecting a crowd for the big meal, I couldn't work out a way to get everything in the oven since the turkey was so large.

We had to figure out how to get everything cooked on time. The microwave wouldn't do it. Ah ha! What about using the grill? Would that work? My husband placed the turkey (in the pan) on the grill to see if the lid would close. It did. Since it was already Thanksgiving morning, I frantically searched the Web for turkey grilling instructions. After finding several versions, my husband and I created our own variation.

All of our guests showed up. We announced that the turkey was on the grill. Amazed, all the men went out onto the grilling deck to witness what they'd never seen before -- a turkey on the grill!

They didn't bother with the games on TV, they wanted to watch the turkey. There was a problem with that. The guys kept opening up the grill lid to see the turkey! Opening and closing the grill lid slows down the roasting with all that cold winter air. It took longer than expected due to the spectator interference and the meal was still late. However, the results were fabulous and we agreed to grill the holiday turkey in the future.

Fast forward to summer 2007. I was shopping for a new gas grill for my husband's birthday. After all, if he was going to grill the turkey from now on, he needed a better grill.

I asked the salesman if grills came with windows. No.

I asked if I could buy a "turkey cam." He laughed hysterically! No, they don't make cameras for the inside of a grill.

I bought the grill in spite of the lack of desired features.

A few days later, I went to my favorite kitchen gadget store. Telling the salesperson about the problems with the spectacle of turkey grilling, she had a brilliant idea...buy a remote digital thermometer!

When I enthusiastically presented that thermometer to my husband, he was skeptical. Very skeptical. I was tempted to return the thermometer with such a reaction, but we kept it. It was several months later before the debut of the remote thermometer at Thanksgiving 2007.

I prepared the fresh turkey by rubbing it with olive oil and Herbes de Provence--a mix of basil, savory, fennel and lavender. I placed the turkey in a standard roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack. I put chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan to create moisture during the roasting process. The culinary sage in the garden was still looking great, so I added fresh leaves to the chicken broth. I handed the turkey off to my husband. He programmed the remote thermometer and agreed to keep the grill lid closed.

I was free and my oven was free! I worked on the side dishes without having to worry about the turkey.

The remote radio control sat in the kitchen. Several hours later a voice said "your food will be ready in five minutes." The thermometer had worked! We double-checked the temperature with another thermometer and the two agreed...the turkey was done.

The Herbes de Provence and the fresh sage provided great flavor. The turkey was moist from the method of grilling. Our guests all agreed that it was the best turkey...even if they didn't have the fun of watching it grill!

Story by Freda Cameron, November 2009; Photo added Thanksgiving 2008;
My recipe (Your results may vary. I'm not a chef!)

To me there is nothing more delicious than a pain au chocolat, or chocolate croissant. These tasty croissants are best when freshly baked and enjoyed in France. The locals line up outside their favorite bakery (boulangerie or patisserie) to buy their pain au chocolat on Sunday mornings.

Is it possible to have a croissant culinary experience at home that comes close to the French experience? If you have a Trader Joe's® nearby, then you are in luck! My friend in Berkeley had told me to try the frozen croissants from TJ's.

I was skeptical about the taste and texture since France is one of our favorite vacation destinations and a place where I've consumed many fantastic chocolate croissants. They are quite addictive. Fortunately, I walk so much when in France that I can honestly say that consuming croissants on a daily basis led to weight loss, not weight gain!

To bake the frozen croissants, remove them from the package before going to bed at night. Place them on a baking sheet on top of parchment paper. Let them rise overnight, uncovered. Make sure you leave at least four inches of space between the frozen pastries, as they more than triple in size once they have risen overnight. The next morning, bake the croissants for 25 minutes in a 350° oven. It doesn't get any easier or better - unless you're in France!

Voila! Bon appétit!


No free croissants were received in exchange for writing this story. However, a few were consumed! I'm out walking now. Photos and words by Freda Cameron.