Back in February, I received a message from a blog reader Audrey who just wanted to say hello and express her appreciation. After a few lines back and forth between us, she mentioned that she’s from Massachusetts and was currently on vacation in Buôn Mê Thuột, Việt Nam. Our charity connection started from here when I asked her if she has come across any villages in dire humanitarian crisis. Coincidentally, her mother-in-law who lives in Việt Nam often do charity work for the poor, especially the minority groups. And in fact, she and her mother-in- law just visited a minority group in a remot ..read more

The rain and wind have been intense in the past few days. My neighbor's beautiful blossoming plum was uprooted, our American flag torn apart, and my lounge chairs tossed into the swimming pool. The only thing soothing coming from outside is the melody flowing from my wind chime swaying in front of the kitchen bay window. It seems to calm the storm inside and out. But it's also days like these that intensify your senses - especially my olfactory- to the aroma emanating from a stuffed deboned whole chicken roll. Inside my kitchen, I was rolling up a deboned whole chicken with the combination ..read more

I was in my vegetable garden early this morning - meaning after 10 am when it's nice and toasty - contemplating what to grow this year. The usual lush greens of various plants and veggies gave way to mostly brown with a hint of mustard greens and edible chrysanthemum. I suddenly thought of brussels sprouts and how my girls would be so excited to see their favorite vegetable flourishing right now. My girls won't mind if I feed them brussels sprouts every day, but it has to be cooked in a certain way. In a previous post, I shared with you one of my girls' favorite brussels sprouts dishes (cli ..read more

It's the Super Bowl. Are you excited about the ads, the game or half-time? I'm sure my husband can't wait to hog the TV all day. On Friday morning, my plan was heading out to run some errands and do one small thing a day that makes me happy - that happened to be buying myself some plants and flowers. I had finally stow away my winter decorations and wanted to usher in the blossoms and bloom in anticipation of spring. Two days prior, I wanted to serve dried chicken noodle - phở gà khô (click here for the recipe) to my family but as I was browsing through a local market, I found myself stopp ..read more

Happy New Year! No, I haven't forgotten about this blog nor my readers. Nor do I plan on shutting it permanently, even though that thought had crossed my mind once in a while. But the truth is that my laptop has been acting weird for the last half of the year. It took me hours just to type up a paragraph. Thanks to my  husband who didn't want me to give up on writing so he surprised me with a brand new one. As the Lunar New Year of 2018 is fast approaching - it's on February 16th this year - let us welcome the year of the dog. There're many traditions and customs for the lunar new yea ..read more

It’s hard for us to imagine life without a constant supply of water, let alone potable water. But at this very moment, this is life for many people in remote villages in Vietnam.  In July, we wanted to provide the basic need of clean water for 32 of the poorest families who lack access to clean water in a remote village of Hop Tac Xa, Ca Mau Province. Your support and generosity have fulfilled the dream for not only these vulnerable villagers but also their future children.  Our goal of building a community water well was completed in August of this year. The estimated ..read more

This crispy fried tofu is simple and yet tasty to have as an appetizer. The bite-size fried tofu has a natural sweetness and tender center; the beautiful golden brown skin is full of hearty savory notes. Firm tofu is best for frying as it holds its shape and browns better than other varieties. There are many brands and types of tofu in the market but not all tofu are created equally. When time allows, I would make a trip to a local tofu store to buy their fresh daily made tofu, otherwise, the next best bet is buying packaged organic tofu with the farthest expiration date from my local Costc ..read more

Within a year, our collective effort has transformed two remote villages of Ca Mau and Vinh Long Province, Vietnam. There are 250 families now have clean potable water. It may not sound like much to us, but it's essential to their existence. The Living Water Project (click here) was a massive undertaking and the result was nothing short of amazing.  Our work, however, is perhaps just beginning. We're witnessing more villagers in remote regions with no direct access to clean drinking water and sanitation. We can imaging the morbid consequences of this dire situation. While The Spices ..read more

If you have a chance to visit the mountainous region of Pleiku where I was born, you must try the dry noodle dish (phở khô) - the pride of Pleiku.  When ordering your food, you just called out: "cho một tô phở khô" (give me a bowl of dry noodle) - and automatically they will bring you two bowls.  How's that for service? Phở khô known as 'phở hai tô' (two bowls of phở). The first bowl consists of noodle and toppings.  The second bowl consists of delicious broth, meatballs, or rare beef. Then served with a plate of bean sprouts, lettuce, and herbs. Every phở khô place has its ..read more

A ..read more