Shop local: Maker markets in the West

Chicken salad is always a favorite. We prefer ours with crisp, smoky bacon and tangy blue cheese.

Recipe: Chicken, Bacon, and Blue-Cheese Sandwiches

This gently spicy "white chili" is best made up to two days ahead and reheated so it's perfect for a pre-planned tailgating menu.

Recipe: Green Chile-Chicken Stew

A taste of summer in a bowl: barbecued chicken, sweet nectarines, tangy goat cheese, crisp salad greens, and toasted pecans. A speedy entree salad that’s perfect for the season.

Recipe: Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Salad

There’s room to relax on a daybed with a book, draw on a chalkboard, or play at a kidsize table.

There’s room to relax on a daybed with a book, draw on a chalkboard, or play at a kidsize table.

Poultry burgers have a reputation for being dry and bland. Not these: Jazzed up with sharp cheddar, parmesan, and garlic ― then topped with crisp bacon, juicy tomatoes, and lettuce ― they're boldness in a bun.

Recipe: BLT Chicken Burgers

Fruits per cluster: 5 to 8

Average fruit length, weight: 2½ in., 3½ oz.

Notes: Large fruit has meaty flesh with well-balanced flavor.

Seed sources: Johnny's Selected Seeds, Tomato Growers Supply, Territorial Seed Company,and West Coast Seeds

Shop like a local at Super Home Mart, where you can wander long aisles of ceramic dishes in traditional Chinese blue-and-white and floral themes, colorful bowls, pots and pans, knives and cleavers, and utensils for every kind of cooking--at prices that hover around wholesale. 988 N. Hill St., Ste. 101; 213/628-8898.

(G. lindheimeri)

White flowers cluster like butterflies atop tall spikes on these airy plants.