Ideas for August

Celebrate summer by keeping fresh produce on hand for dinner and keep cool with frozen treats.

In Season: Corn

Use a paper towel to brush away loose wisps of silk from shucked ears of corn. For stubborn strands, a clean toothbrush will do the trick.
Guy's Chili Lime Corn on the Cob

It’s National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! Make homemade versions that look like the real deal. Transfer softened ice cream to a resealable plastic bag and press to lay flat. Freeze again, then peel away the bag and cut out rounds using a cookie cutter. Sandwich the rounds between cookies.
Use Strawberry Ice Cream in Sandra’s Cookies

Pick Your Watermelon

National Watermelon Day deserves a good, ripe watermelon. Tap on a green and cream-striped melon (avoid white spots!) with your knuckles — it should sound hollow, rather than muffled.
Watermelon Salad

Pre-Cook Grilled Veggies

For foods that take a long time to grill (new potatoes, eggplant, onions), partially cook them in the microwave before grilling to cut back on time.
Bobby's Hoisin-Glazed Eggplant

Celebrate Farmers Market Week

Celebrate National Farmers Market Week by preparing meals using local summer produce, such as summer squash, stone fruit or bell peppers. Check in with the farmers or an information desk to find out what’s good.
Baby Bell Peppers With Feta

Summer Snacks

Keep a bag of crunchy fresh summer green beans on hand for a quick healthy snack. Rinse, trim the stem ends, then store in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator — this prevents the beans from drying out.
Rachael’s Green Bean Salad

What to Wash

Never put bristle brushes in the dishwasher, where the high heat can break down the glue keeping the bristles intact. Maintain by washing with a drop of dishwashing detergent and air-drying.
5 More Kitchen Spots to Clean

Salad Secret

Remove that last bit of moisture when spinning dry greens by adding a paper towel during the final spin. Dry greens are the secret to the dressing coating each leaf.
Creamy Salad

Keep Salt Clump-Free

Mix a few grains of rice into the salt before storing in a saltshaker. This stops the salt from clumping in the humidity.
Strategies for Fuss-Free Summer Cooking

Guy's Melon Ball Cocktail

Use a melon baller to scoop orbs of melon flesh and freeze on a rimmed baking sheet. Store in a freezer bag and use as ice cubes in summery cocktails.
Make Guy's Melon Cocktail

New Use for Plastic Bags

Reuse the perforated plastic bags used for grapes to store washed greens — the holes allow air to circulate and prevent moisture from collecting. Greens will stay fresh for about 3 days.
Simple Salad Recipes

Cocktail Monday

Just because it's a Monday, doesn't mean you can't have a summer cocktail. Fix a refreshing caipirinha to toast the beginning of a new week.
Plum Caipirinhas

Better Stuffed Peppers

Bake stuffed peppers in a well-greased muffin tin — they’ll stay upright for better presentation.
Spanish Stuffed Bell Peppers

Save Summer Tomatoes

Save in-season tomatoes to make sauce during the colder months: No need to blanch them to remove their skins before you freeze them. Freeze, then thaw the tomatoes — the skins will come right off.
Cavatelli With Tomato Sauce

Longer-Lasting Basil

Unless using basil as a fresh garnish, blanch it for a few seconds before use. This stops the leaves from turning black once cooked.
Giada's Spaghetti With Asparagus, Smoked Mozzarella and Prosciutto

Spicy-Food Relief

Tone down the aftermath of a too-spicy meal by drinking milk or eating yogurt. Or whip up an Indian lassi: Blend together yogurt, a rich fruit like mango and a pinch of salt.
Mango-Agave Granola With Greek Yogurt

Corn Off the Cob

Remove corn kernels by standing corn cobs upright inside a large, shallow bowl using one hand; hold them by the stems and snap those off afterward. Slice the kernels off in a vertical strip using a knife in the other hand.
Crab Cakes With Grilled Corn Relish

Make Extra Veggies

Toss on extra vegetables when grilling — they quickly bulk up salads, scrambled eggs or pasta. Leftovers will keep for about 3 days.
Grilled Potato and Pepper Salad

Happy Panini Month!

Try leftover grilled veggies on a split ciabatta loaf spread with goat cheese in honor of National Panini Month. Add deli-thin slices of salami to satisfy the meat lovers in your family.
Tyler's Cobb Salad Panini

Sugar-Saver

Soften hardened brown sugar by adding a piece of bread or apple slice and sealing the bag overnight — place it all in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container if the seal is broken.
5 Tools for Easier Baking

Chile Pepper Tip

The white ribs found on the insides of chile peppers contain much of the heat found in a pepper, so scrape them away along with any seeds for less of a kick.
Rachael's Arroz Con Pollo

Chile Pepper Part Two

Don’t trash the seeds and ribs from chile peppers. Freeze so you can add them to dishes that need an extra kick.
Add Heat to Guy's Pork Tacos

Paula's Sponge Cake

In honor of National Sponge Cake Day, give this light treat the summer special by grilling slices and topping with a quick raspberry compote (cook raspberries in a saucepan with some lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar).
Or Make Paula's Golden Sponge Cake