Summer

The leftover peach-poaching liquid makes a delicious sweetener for iced tea.

If you're making this entire menu in a single oven, we recommend baking the cobbler ahead of time — that way you can reheat it while clearing the table. Otherwise, you can just whisk together the dry ingredients beforehand, but you'll have to excuse yourself during dinner to assemble and bake the dessert.

A slightly sweet tomato sauce blankets these tender baby back ribs.

For more variety, stir in other finely chopped herbs such as basil, thyme, or tarragon.

We use ice in this recipe because it gives the gazpacho just the right chill without the soup having to be refrigerated for any length of time. If you don't have precrushed ice, crush about 1/4 cup ice in a blender.

Of all the great American cookouts, surely the lobster bake, known outside of Maine as the clambake, is the most dramatic. The technique, learned from the original Americans, uses a steaming pit either dug in the sand or made from natural rock formations to cook a wide variety of ingredients without relying on forged pots and pans. The presentation, the most spectacular I have ever seen, is a ten-foot-tall burst of steam released upon removal of the tarp. As the steam subsides, bright red lobsters facing back to back on dark green rockweed come into view. Sweet corn surrounds the lobsters. Underneath the seaweed lie buried treasures: soft-shell clams, rock crabs, a whole fish, mussels, periwinkles, potatoes, boiling onions, sausage and hen or duck eggs. The sights and smells are intoxicating. The lobster bake, much more than a dish or even a feast, embodies a day filled with the wonders of water, fire, food, family and friends. The most important rule to remember to ensure the festive spirit of a lobster bake is that all who partake must share in the preparation. A lobster bake is an all-day affair, so bring along a midday snack and plenty of beverages. You will also need lots of butter, bread or rolls, salt, pepper, Tabasco and spicy mustard. For dessert, bring watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, berries and other fresh fruits as well as homemade pies. In Maine, blueberry pie is as good as mandatory.

This recipe adapts a classic outdoor clambake for the stovetop. The ingredients are steamed together in mesh bags that fit easily into a large lobster pot. Although the beauty and drama of unveiling an outdoor clambake cannot be duplicated, this method produces a mingling of flavors that's nearly indistinguishable from the original. "At my Summer Shack restaurants, we literally sell thousands of these indoor clambakes each week," says White. Clambakes vary up and down the New England coast. In Maine you might find chicken and hotdogs, on Cape Cod a whole fish, in other places crabs. One famous clambake held for over 100 years by the "Friends" from Allen's Neck in Westport, MA, features tripe that's braised and wrapped in little foil packages. "In this recipe," says White, "I add Portuguese sausage, which is common around the 'South Coast' area of Massachusetts and Rhode Island." Read more about White and clambakes >.

Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from Justin Rashid of American Spoon Foods in Petoskey, Michigan. To read more about Rashid and the northwestern Michigan cherry harvest, click here. "This is a fresh, colorful salsa that I make at home — a nice alternative to cooked versions like the cherry-peach that we sell at American Spoon Foods," says Rashid. "Feel free to substitute sweet cherries such as Bings — you'll just need to reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons."

Editor's note: This recipe is adapted from Justin Rashid of American Spoon Foods in Petoskey, Michigan. To read more about Rashid and the northwestern Michigan cherry harvest, click here. "In northwestern Michigan, we have more cherries than we know what to do with, so everyone cans to preserve the summer harvest," says Rashid. "I usually make this conserve with our local Schmidts, which are very black and sweet. But regular Bings, or any sweet variety, can be substituted. Be sure they're ripe, but not overripe — plump, glossy, and firm." The conserve is great on toast, croissants, or biscuits, or with bagels and cream cheese. It can even be thinned with a little red wine and used to glaze a roasted duck.

This super-easy and refreshing dessert is part Kir Royale, part peach parfait. For a very cool treat, layer the fruit and ice cream in frosty collins or pilsner glasses straight from the freezer. Serve with iced-tea spoons.