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Back in the day (like 10 years ago), I would post at least once a week. Sometimes several times a week. How did I find time to do that? No idea. Nowadays, my life is filled with meetings, child care pick-up, date nights with my husbands, travel, and other things I stopped blogging about. I don’t want to be posting about everything, but at some point, posting about everything became a habit. Is it a sign of a specific generation? Boredom? Humble bragging?

I created this fish dish the other day. If you don’t have access to black bass, it can easily be substituted with another flaky white fish. I swear one of these days, I will be posting less seafood recipes. I’m just really REALLY into it lately.

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This is one of my favorite dishes from Taiwan…but I feel like I say something is my favorite is quite often. I’m a little homesick for the island that’s rich in seafood and fruit. The plan is to be able to take my daughter there in the near future and I can’t wait to show her our roots.

For 4 servings (adapted from Cathy Erway’s The Food of Taiwan):

• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups rice wine
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 pounds clams (I used Littleneck instead of the preferred Manila, since that’s what I had access to)
• 1 cup packed fresh Thai basil leaves

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook until fragrant. Add rice wine and sauce sauce. Bring it to a soft boil. Carefully add clams and cook until the clams are opened. Stir in basil and transfer contents into a serving platter.

Brown Sugar Steamed Cake 黑糖糕 is a specialty in the Taiwanese archipelago called Penghu. It’s fluffy and slightly chewy with a deep molasses flavor. What’s challenging about this particular cake, is that the flavor is a very specific Taiwanese brown sugar flavor: it’s not as sweet as the conventional brown sugar from your local grocery store and it has this rich, slightly smokey-salty aroma to it. You CAN find Taiwanese brown sugar at some East Asian grocery stores or order it online somewhere, but I don’t like waiting for ingredients to come in and I wanted something with ingredients that are a little more accessible.

This recipe does have sweet potato flour and this kind of flour may not even be on your radar. (You may not even know it exists!). Thanks to the growing demand and need for gluten-free, you can find them in most grocery stores. I stuck to the Taiwanese sweet potato flour that I already had in my pantry.

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This is part of a paid partnership with Halo Top®

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You can also step into a warm weather mindset with this warm-weathered inspired recipe: pan-fried bananas with cinnamon-sugar brings out the salty caramel flavor of the creamy Vanilla Caramel Milkshake Halo Top ice cream.

For 2 servings:

• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 banana
• 1 pint Halo Top® Vanilla Caramel Milkshake

In a nonstick skillet, heat canola or vegetable oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Slice the bananas; toss banana slices into sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Spread banana evenly around skillet. Cook each side for 1 ½ to 2 minutes or until the sugar is caramelized. Let bananas cool to room-temperature.

Divide Halo Top® between two glasses or bowls. Top with bananas.