I’m still not entirely sure why Sarah Kaiser wanted me to do the recipes this month. Left to my own devices in a kitchen, my mastery doesn’t go beyond frozen waffles. Dawn K. Shanks

You can “make your own history by making pies with family and friends,” says chef Daniel Orr “Nobody can so no to a slice of pie.”
Sarah Kaiser

These chicken (or tofu) and vegetable kebobs, flavored with orange juice and dry white wine, will make a delicious treat for family and friends. Pair them with jasmine rice and a tossed salad and you have a meal. Sarah Kaiser

With warm weather and a holiday mood in the air, summer is the perfect time to drag out the grill and fire it up. But when you start grilling, don’t just stick with the same old burgers and dogs: try something new! Sarah Kaiser

Ready to get drinking? I’m not going to coddle you and give you advice on what to do to avoid a hangover and where to find the best digestifs downtown, but I’m not going to be the sorority girl hissing in your ear to chug faster, either. Dawn K. Shanks

The plaza would be filled with people wearing their Saturday best: jeans, sandals and tee shirts. There would inadvertently be a dog with a bandana good-naturedly running around leash-less as shoppers gave him absent-minded pats. Somewhere in the background there would be a barefoot college student playing guitar. What I discovered at the Farmers’ Market that day was far from fantasy, but far from disappointment, too. Dawn K. Shanks