On Location at the Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine

It was definitely feast without the famine at the inaugural Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine on Sunday.

Culinary experts and wannabes (*cough* me *cough*) packed Paramount Studios' back lot, infusing the New York and Brooklyn facades and landscapes with enough people that you might mistake the busy pseudo streets for the real deal.

While I dined on ice cream from Carmela (love the salted caramel) and beef brisket from Uncle Lau's Island BBQ -- not to mention wines from all over California -- I also got to meet up with some very interesting kitchen experts.

Check out the below videos of my interviews with Yvette Garfield from Handstand Kids Cookbooks and Cooking Channel's Roger Mooking ("Everyday Exotic").

The California-based Garfield offers fun cookbooks for kids -- Mexican, Italian, Chinese -- that really get children involved in the cooking process. She even offered a special discount for L.A. Story readers.

When ordering online at www.handstandkids.com, use the code HSK20 to receive 20% off your order.

She gave me the Italian cookbook, complete with chef's hat, and CC is already exited to start making Italian sodas and lasagna.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow, when I'll include my video interview with Cooking Channel's Aida Mollenkamp as well as a few tasty tidbits from food truck vendors and Q&A's with food blogger and mom Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman), LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons and LA Times Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter.

And lots more photos for dessert!