it has to be a bowl of fresh sweet cherries. There are amazing in my part of the world and are a once a year treat. My problem, I buy a 10lbs flat and instead of making all the treat I dream up, I eat them. In a week.

It has to be my Mom's Strawberry Shortcake. The house we moved to had this wonderful strawberry patch that was so prolific that we had strawberries for breakfast, lunch and dinner, especially shortcake for breakfast. To this day, strawberry shortcake is for breakfast and I don't even think of it as dessert. Served with half and half or milk, you have your serving of dairy, grains and fruit all in one dish. Delicious!!

Natural casing hot dogs cooked over a bonfire on the beach.

Sliced peaches on my Cheerios

Cherries (and cherry tomatoes) eaten right out of the bowl until I make myself slightly sick.

paletas!

Tomatoes and watermelon generally define summer for me.

Regarding: "...she hadn't had a single fresh garden tomato yet this summer, and I was stunned. I was stunned, though, because I had the same problem. I couldn't believe it."

When I was growing up it was very common for folks in the neighborhood, church, and school to bring in bags of their extra summer vegetables to share with folks. I remember in my early 20s (1990s) getting numerous bags of tomatoes, okra, corn, beans, etc from folks. But, I find that very rare nowadays. Not sure if it's because I'm older and are no longer viewed as a starving young adult or the area of the country I live in or perhaps the result of fewer gardens??

I've noticed this the last 5 or so summers and I miss it greatly.

Corn on the cob.

The really tasty local corn becomes available in mid-August (hey, that's now!) and it heralds that last bit of summer before school starts. Always left me with a bit of melancholy too because I knew the fun wouldn't last much longer.

Potato salad!

A burger actually grilled outside, on a grill; a good fresh tomato with olive oil and vinegar; and peach pie. So far I've had 2/3, but no peach pie yet....

corn on the cob. Eating it every night until it's no good anymore.

watermelon. Only had it once this summer so far though because I'm single & don't own a car so totin' watermelon isn't really my thing.

I learned to love these as I grew older and I can't imagine a summer without them:

Gazpacho!
Peaches
Watermelon (with a dash of salt to bring out its essence)

And as for a quintessential summer drink: Lemonade. Preferably with strawberries and blueberries and if you want to be naughty, maybe a splash of vodka :)

Watermelon, I can't get enough of it. And corn on the cob, with lots of butter and salt.

Caprese salad!

Bruschetta too, now that I think of it.

tomatoes for garlicy tomato salad.

put i love corn and watermelon and strawberries too.

I live in Southern California and good fruit is easy to come by. Spectualar fruit is pretty each to come by actually.

For me, it is shell beans. I love shell beans and it is my favorite thing to buy (other than mulberries) at the farmer's market. We've been eating them all week and the kids love "beans with coats."

I always look forward to local peaches, watermelon and tomatoes. Sadly, this year's peach crop had no flavor and I wasn't able to get one tomato off my plants. This drought in Texas is horrible. :( At least the watermelon has been delicious.

Vietnamese bun, tacos and popsicles are what we eat a lot of around here during the summer.

Corn on the cob - yellow & chewy (don't like the sweet milky stuff)

TOMATOES! Home grown

Watermelon - lots of it

Grilled hamburglars and brats/italian sausage

Peaches

Cucumber & onions in vinegar, iced cold

Yummmmm!

Summer Sweet Corn... right off the cob, no cooking. Delish!

Also, heirloom tomatoes. A little salt and you've taken my mouth to heaven.

Mark me down as someone else for whom tomato and peanut butter sandwiches are the mark of summer! I didn't know other people did that - it's been a family food for generations, everyone else seems to think it's gross!

Tomatoes for certain-eaten in a myriad of ways but most often in a simple tomato, cuke and red onion salad. I ate so many of those growing up that it wouldn't be summer without that salad.

Native nectarines!

I'm craving some butterbeans, but haven't found them at the farmer's market in a few attempts.
Also asked my mom to make me her labor intensive corn off the cob, fresh cream style. I just toss the whole ear in the microwave a few minutes and then husk it.

Where I live I can get great tomatoes most of the year, and I love caprese with homemade mozzarella or burrata, but only peaches shout it's Summer!

@abcornwell

I call them hamburglars too :) Glad to know I'm not the only one who has a cute name for burgers!

Blueberries are local produce here and I have grown to love them.

Kensington Pride mangoes...

I was in the States last year for our summer (I live in Australia) and missed the entire mango season (and the entirety of spring!), so I haven't had one since December 2009.

Believe me, as soon as the first ones become available, I'm buying one. I don't care if it'll be $5 a piece in early spring!

corn on the cob!

Caprese salad x 1000

Thanks a lot for all the tips and recipes!

May I ask what is the recipe of the picture illustrating this article? It looks really good, would love to try doing the same. Thanks!

Corn on the cob, watermelon, tomatoes and cucumbers from my mom's garden, and waffles and ice cream made by my grandma the day we arrived in California every summer.