5 Things About Summer

Summer Bounty

. It's hot. The oven shuts down, the grill goes on. And I buy a toaster oven, because let's face it. Sometimes you still have to brown things. I just don't want to brown them in that huge heat box.

2. I keep trying to cook from the market. Lots of good stuff in the markets now. Peaches. Lettuces. More peaches. One of my favorite memories is being at a market around closing time and landing a case of peaches for not much money. I made peach jam...I sure could use a case of peaches now.

3. Drink real lemonade. Please do one thing this summer: make real lemonade with REAL lemons, real sugar. There is nothing like it.

4. Eating outside may not be for summer--for us, at least. I think spring and fall are great for eating out on our porch, but the afternoon sun starts beating down on our porch around 4 p.m. and the heat doesn't quit until the sun dips below the horizon. It's too hot to eat out there. Not too hot for my morning cup of coffee, though! (I am researching shade options! Maybe we'll get to eat outside again if we have more shade.

5. Grills can have very long lives. I bought our grill used for about $50. It gave us two full years of service, even when I asked it to fire up in the winter. The bar where the gas comes out--the piece with tiny holes in it--the burner?--finally just rusted through. Huge flames were licking up at the food, burning everything...we were reduced to cooking around the edges...but then I saw a replacement burner, bought it, installed it in about five minutes (okay: maybe 10!) and voila: We've still got this grill running. Maybe next year it'll get new grill grids. The ignition never worked, so I'm not worked up about it...The year after that? New bricks to spread the heat...And maybe by the year after that I'll have to replace the burner again. Repair before replacing, right?