Around here, a perfectly ripe avocado can induce mania and ecstasy. Forget drugs — let's just do avocados. We have the best of avocados for you today, with one brilliant piece of advice on how to pick a good avocado, to smart tips on dicing and storing them. We revisit some of our favorite creative uses, from grilled guacamole to crispy avocado fries (fries! avocado FRIES!). There's ice cream, breakfast pudding, and the ultimate California BLT — all featuring the glorious avocado. More

Tomatoes are on everyone's mind this month. And really, why shouldn't they be? August is the time to make tomato salads, fresh tomato sauce, tomato jam, caprese salads, homemade pizzas, and on. And on. When you've run through that list, there's a wonderful way to use up any tomatoes perched on your windowsill: oven dry them! More

Have you jumped on the kale wagon? It seems to be in salads everywhere this summer, and we can't get enough. If you're still a little wary about the dense, leafy greens, why not try grilling kale to soften it up a bit? Take a look at this summer salad — it comes together super fast and is packed with nutrients, and, most importantly, flavor! More

I had a pile of sweet Georgia corn on my counter this past week, and a vision to create the perfect summer soup. Soups, especially in the midst of this damp Southern heat, are not necessarily my forté, but I do know a good one when I taste it. My mission was a smooth-as-silk corn puree as yellow as the sun, jam-packed with fresh corn flavor, and worthy of any restaurant menu around. It only took three tries, but I finally succeeded. More

It's easy to get in a reading rut. I always gravitate to books that deal with food in some regard. (My boyfriend jokes that he may just walk in one day and find me reading "a real book.") The same thing happens with blogs: I have my tried-and-true favorites and don't often stray, for lack of time more than curiosity. But I recently researched summer salads for a writing project and discovered a few beautiful blogs I hadn't known before. These folks specialize in developing stunning salad recipes. Ready to hear more? More

In college, I occasionally worked at a small café tucked inside a local art museum. It was a ladies-who-lunch scene, and the food was brought in by a local caterer. The menu was what one might expect for that crowd—chilled soups, tea sandwiches, and dainty salads. Accompanying every entreé was a pile of tangy yellow squash laced with diced red bell peppers; it was our signature side. More

With their thin, edible skins and tiny seeds, Japanese and Persian cucumbers are easy to prep and a joy to eat. But for even sweeter and tastier cucumbers, try this Japanese trick: give them a salt rub! More

The moment when beefsteak, heirloom and cherry tomatoes are spilling over the bins at farmers' market and grocery stores? That's the moment you know summer has truly arrived. Tomato season is a little later here in Seattle than, say, California, but it's here now and there's baking to be done. More

CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are something many of us are familiar with. CSAs are programs where customers pay farmers to share in their harvest (usually in the form of a farm box that is delivered or picked up at a farmers market). But this model of purchasing food has gone beyond weekly bundles of squash and kale — I've seen weekly share programs evolve into meat, cheese and pasta CSAs. And now for the first time, a company in Boulder, CO has started something really new — a CSA for preserved goods. More

This season I went a little gung ho with the tomato plants, but I've been loving every tasty moment. One reason I love them so much this year is that I've been altering their acidity levels to make sweet tasty treats. If MacGyver had a garden... More