Summer

The fruit is delicious served warm, with or without a small scoop of ice cream or a tablespoon of crème fraîche.

 

To use, sprinkle ribs, brisket, or chicken as if you were putting on heavy salt and pepper.

Raspberry Coconut Popsicles

Peaches (or nectarines), raspberries, red currants, strawberries, and other berries that share the season are happy companions.

This could be the lightest, freshest tasting potato salad of the summer.

Please remember these are suggestions and ideas, not etched-in-stone recipes. Making homemade marinades is a good way to begin trusting your own taste, so sample as you put them together and vary measurements and ingredients as you like. They’re a snap to pull together, have none of the dubious ingredients in commercial versions, and can be inexpensive to do at home once you have gathered the ingredients.

This cooler is an old standby at our house. With no alcohol, no sugar and lots of tart-sweet citrus, it’s what to drink when the heat index is up in the stratosphere. As you sip, the mint leaves are bruised by the ice cubes just enough to let loose some of that cool snap.

This salad resounds with the intense fragrances and flavors of southern Italy. It's a new take on an old favorite. Thick-sliced tomatoes with mozzarella and basil are spiced with a mixture inspired by the Arab influences in southern Italy. Spoon between the slices a blend of toasted pine nuts, onions, currants, and garlic spiked with fresh lemon juice and hot pepper. The tomatoes and mozzarella foil these new tastes beautifully.