Homegrown heirloom bell peppers.

Raw cacao beans and a whole lot of chocolate at the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon.

Indonesian fried chicken is cooked twice. Boiled with spices, then deep-fried.

Banh tom (Vietnamese shrimp and yam fritters).

Pasta pomodoro, trying to eek out a few more tomato recipes before the season is over.

Where did summer go? Celebrate one last time with a pitcher of sangria.

Jumping into list-mania. My list of 100 Vietnamese Foods to Try.

Loofahs on the vine and how to make a loofah sponge to scrub in the shower or sink.

These yellow-skinned pomegranates have pink seeds and are completely sweet, no tartness like the red-skinned variety.

Popcorn tofu, a healthier take on the Taiwanese tea house popcorn chicken snack.

Banh tet chuoi (Vietnamese sticky rice cakes with bananas).

Papaya trees.

Che dau trang (Vietnamese pudding with white beans in coconut milk).

Tri-colored carrots simply roasted with butter and brown sugar.

Dried squid, shrimp, and scallops. My secret ingredients for a flavorful broth for many Vietnamese soups.

Sup mang Tay cua (Vietnamese crab and asparagus soup).

Tropical fruit cocktail delight. A great way to try all those cans of fruit from the Asian grocery store.

Turn whipping cream into homemade butter with a hand-held mixer.

Doctoring up a boxed mix. Pandan mini cupcakes with coconut flakes.

Jackfruit – the largest tree borne fruit in the world.

How to cook jasmine rice. So important is this staple that I counted 14 ways to say rice in Vietnamese.

Pineapple fried rice with Spam and shrimp.