Whether for cocktails and bites at the lake house or a come one, come all dinner with friends, here are more than 100 seasonally inspired recipes guided by the principle that summer cooking means keeping things loose (and the oven off when it’s just too hot out).

Fuel up for a surf day with a basket of Fantastic Focaccia Sandwiches, host lunch on the deck with a Grilled Shrimp Louie salad, pass around the beach picnic fare (hello, Spicy Pineapple Spears and Landlubber’s Lobster Rolls).

It’s a cookbook and so much more, with perfect party menus—how to choose between a Paella Party and Grilled Rib Revelry?—tiki cocktails, Five-Minute Frosé, tips on building a beach firepit. And to wrap it all up on the sweetest note, what could be better than Six Sensational Ice Cream Sandwiches?

Summer: A Cookbook: Inspired Recipes for Lazy Days and Magical Nights is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.ca.

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Key Lime Tart with Saltine Crust

There’s really no substitute for the brazen tartness of key limes, but if you can’t find them or don’t have the time/patience to juice them, use half regular lime juice, half lemon juice instead (or Nellie & Joe’s bottled key lime juice; see Pantry Provisions, page 218). We prefer using a tart pan versus a pie plate because we like the resulting ratio of crust to filling, but if all your cottage kitchen has is a scuffed-up Pyrex pie plate, that’ll do just fine.

Serves 8 to 12

Crust

1 sleeve saltine crackers (about 40)

¼ cup (25 g) unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted

2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Filling

4 large egg yolks

1 (14-ounce/395 g) can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons grated key lime zest

½ cup (120 ml) fresh key lime juice (from about 20 limes), strained (see Tiny Tip)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, strained

²∕³ cup (160 ml) heavy cream

¹⁄³ cup (75 g) plain full-fat Greek-style yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar

In the Summer Kitchen

Food processor

To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Grind the crackers into sandy crumbs in a food processor. Add the toasted coconut and sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until a clumpy dough forms. Gently press the dough into a 9-inch (23 cm) tart pan or pie plate and bake until the crust is just barely starting to color, 10 to 12 minutes. 

Remove the crust from the oven and let cool; keep the oven on.

To make the filling: Whisk together the egg yolks, condensed milk, and 1 teaspoon of the lime zest in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lime juice and lemon juice. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake until the filling is just set in the middle and the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Let the tart cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Excerpted from Summer: A Cookbook by Marnie Hanel and Jen Stevenson (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2021.