Ten exceedingly summery things to do while there’s still time.

The sad cold rainy start to the week reminds us that the unthinkable is true, summer will not in fact last forever.  Labor day is fast approaching. We need to wear white while we still can. Luckily the temperature is soaring back up to the 90s again here in New York, so there’s still time to …

Raspberries Illustration for summer recipe ideas1 – Make popsicles – try pureeing a punnet of raspberries and topping up with lemonade then freezing. And if you don’t have a popsicle set (an ice lolly set for the Brits) use odd yoghurt pots and chopsticks. Not so elegant, but they work.

Peach Slice Illustration for summer recipe ideas2 – Make frozen yoghurt with frozen fruit.  Freeze some Greek yoghurt. Freeze some fruit – think papaya, or peaches or raspberries. Blend more or less equal quantities of each together in a blender. Add sugar to taste. Top with granola.Cherry illustration for summer recipe ideas

3 – Eat fruit. Strawberries and cream, raspberries with Greek yoghurt and honey. Eat a mango in the bath. Gorge on cherries, peaches, nectarines. Going, going, gone.

Cherry tomato illustration for summer recipe ideas4 – Tomatoes – yes you can get them the whole year round, but they’re never as good as ones ripened in the hot August sunshine. Get thee to a farmers market and buy the oddest-colored strangest shaped ones you can get your hands on, then make caprese salad – chop the tomatoes, chop up some mozzarella, add salt and pepper and a drizzle of really good extra virgin olive oil. Or make caprese salad tart.

Watermelon martini illustration for summer recipe ideas5 – This is the moment for kitsch summer drinks. Make sure you get your quota of frozen martinis. Blend them up with sorbet or frozen fruit. I use watermelon a lot, but other melons work well and – bonus – come ready chopped at the deli. Pineapple is delicious, though you’ll want to add a little sugar. Kiwi is not so good unless you juice it first, strain out the pips then freeze it, but pretty much every other soft fruit you can freeze you could turn into a frozen alco-pop. Hooray.

Limes illustration for summer recipes6 – Top crunchy salad leaves with chunks of roasted chicken, chunks of mango, finely chopped scallions (spring onions), then whisk together the pulp from 1 passion fruit with the juice of half a lime and 1 tbsp of olive oil to make a dressing. Top with chopped macademia nuts for crunch.

7 – Drink Pimms – and eat the chunks of strawberry, apple and cucumber that you’ve soaked in it. Try to find real lemonade. If you’re in the UK you’ve got it made, but seriously, I can’t find any in the whole of Manhattan. Real lemonade has very little to do with lemons. It looks like Sprite, but doesn’t taste of artificial lime flavor. If anyone has seen it let me know.

Affogato illustration for summer recipe ideas8 – Drink ice coffee, or try ice coffee made with coffee ice cream, a shot of espresso, and some whipped cream on top. Decorate with chocolate coffee beans. This is a brilliant way of getting more ice cream in your life. Or you could sneak some in at breakfast with an affogato.

9 – Take a picnic to the park – bread, brie, grapes, a bottle of wine and a bar of Toblerone.

10 – Drink beer in a garden.

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