Summer

Serve this slightly sweet soup as a cooling first course or a light dessert.

This rustic dessert is great served with a glass of Vin Santo, a sweet Italian white wine.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites. To read more about the book, click here. When people travel to Maine they want to eat lobster, and this sandwich — created by chef Cheryl Lewis — has become the number-one-selling dish at the Stonewall Kitchen Café. You can prepare the basil aïoli, the lobster salad, and the bacon up to 8 hours ahead of time and assemble the sandwiches at the very last minute. On a hot summer day or night, this sandwich makes an elegant and easy main course, accompanied by tangy coleslaw or potato salad. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd. This recipe makes two very generous sandwiches; you will easily have enough for three to four more modest sandwiches.

This mildly spiked dessert is so easy to put together, it will quickly become one of your summer-entertaining standbys.

This smooth and creamy chiffon pie is utterly dependent on the fruit; be choosy and select only perfectly ripe, aromatic nectarines to produce the ambrosial flavor you're after.

The beauty of plums becomes all the more evident when they are displayed in a galette. Accompanied by sweetened Armagnac crème fraîche, this one makes a wonderfully sophisticated dessert.

Improv: Substitute chopped red or yellow bell peppers for the tomatoes in the salad; try basil instead of cilantro in the dressing.

Buckles are aptly named: Fruit is baked along with a layer of cake batter that rises to the top, buckling as it cooks. Don't skimp on the garnish: Vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream is great with this.

Susan Elizabeth Fallon of Boxford, Massachusetts writes: "I love to create new recipes to share with my husband, nine-year-old son, and friends. For me, that's the fun and adventure of cooking. I believe that eating well means using fresh, high-quality ingredients, so I'm choosy about what I buy and I grow many of my own herbs." Here's just what to do with all those tomatoes you have now. This versatile dish is great as a side, on toasted baguette slices, as a zesty omelet filling, or atop grilled fish.

Only in summer, when baby vegetables are so wonderful and elegant looking, could a one-skillet side dish seem so fancy. A gentle simmer and just a little olive oil and butter enhance the vegetables' natural sweetness — no more effort is necessary.

Corn grilled in its husk isn't just easy, it's also more delicious than grilled shucked corn. The silk adds sweetness and also provides an extra layer of moisture that protects the kernels from the heat so they stay tender.

This dramatic, gorgeous terrine isn't just visually arresting; it's also absolutely delicious — and such a sophisticated change of pace from a salad to start the meal. We used beets, haricots verts, and wax beans here, but feel free to improvise if other vegetables look tempting at your local farmers market; you'll need a total of 6 cups of cooked vegetables. Since the vegetables are cooked until very tender — a knife should be able to cut through them without resistance — the terrine slices beautifully.