Making things easy…and cool…in the summer kitchen

It seems like it has truly been a long, hot summer this year. Just when I think we are starting to cool down, the heat (and humidity!) come roaring back. When the weather is like this, I try to make my meals as light and quick as possible. So this month I thought I would share some basic and versatile recipes…and walk you through the things I’ve been doing with them, sharing how they reveal the rhythms of cooking in my small household as one idea (or spark of inspiration) turns into a meal…which leads to the next…and then the next….

But before I start, I want to revisit something I shared last year (in the June 2025 newsletter): Shrubs (or sipping/drinking vinegars). Not only are they a great way to use up excess or abundant fruit…they are amazingly delicious and refreshing—just the kind of thing I want to sip at the end of a hot day. If you haven’t made a shrub yet, you should check out that old post and give it a try.

This year I have made blueberry….grape (from a bag of grapes that were flavorful…but sadly a bit squishy)…and—my favorite by far—cantaloupe. The cantaloupe shrub came about because I found myself with a melon that was wonderfully fragrant and flavorful…but kind of unpleasantly crunchy. I know I will make this one again and again. To make it, I processed the flesh in the food processor and used the fruit/sugar/vinegar ratios as described in the recipe. For the vinegars I used 25% white balsamic vinegar and 75% apple cider vinegar.

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