Hot Fun in the Summertime

Categories: Cookbooks , Home & Gardening , Outdoors & Nature

Summer is here in all of its glory, and we must revel in it as much as possible.  It is quite simple really: just sit outside and feast your senses on the birdsong and the fireflies.  The best recipe for tomatoes: pick one from the vine and eat it, the drippier the better.  For those who prefer more detailed instructions, here are a few books that can tell you how to enjoy summer, and even if you already know how, their beautiful illustrations could easily occupy a long afternoon in the shade. 

Summer: A User's Guide by Suzanne Brown is a delightful primer on the best of summer, from hanging a tire swing in a favorite tree to playing croquet to making simple and stunning appetizers for serving out on the deck.

Katie Brown's Outdoor Entertaining, which is subtitled "Taking the Party Outside", features the party diva's recipes, garden crafts, and fun stuff for kids to make.

The Summer Book by Susan Branch is an old favorite that stays on my coffee table all summer long.  Charmingly rendered in her palette of watercolor hues, Ms. Branch offers recipes, quotations, and a rambling meditiation on the joys of the season. 

Whether you choose to follow these directions for hot summer fun, or you choose to create your own wayward path, just remember to soak it all in before it flies away!