Life is good. Morning Glory Farm corn is in. (Hello Grilled Corn on the Cob!) With tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini all on the scene, it’s time to make our favorite summer veggie gratins. We’re also making frozen ice pops to eat on the deck after supper while we watch the fireflies dance and the supersonic bats swoop across the sky. By day, a new beach umbrella and a stack of great books beckon us to the shore. The water is fine, the clouds are high in the sky, and August is on the near horizon – along with a very special event brought to you by Cook the Vineyard and the Vineyard Gazette.

First (and simplest) things first: Frozen pops (and hot dogs — go figure!) seem to be all the rage this summer. We’ve got some tips for making them at home and two recipes to try: Frozen Chocolate-Coconut Pops and Frozen Berry Pops. You can take it from there and design your own recipe – strawberry-yogurt-basil, orange-mango, lemon-blackberry. Very cool.

Get ahold of some ice pop molds for best results.

Next I’ve got a little piece on eggplant (“The Game Changer”) to convince you of its merits, and a new twist on one of our all-time favorite dishes — a “tian,” or layered summer vegetable gratin. You probably remember this Layered Zucchini, Tomato, Parmesan, and Bell Pepper Tian (below).

If you like that as much as we do, you’ll love this Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Gratin with Feta, Leeks, and Herbs (above). It will take a spot of time to put together (one of the secrets is roasting the eggplant first), but if you want happy houseguests, that’s the ticket. And remember those quick-roasted eggplant slices can be tucked into a salad or turned into appetizers. 

The eggplant gratin would pair well with Grilled Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops. (The sauce also works as a marinade for boneless leg of lamb.) The zucchini one perhaps with Barbecued Chicken Thighs or Sear-Roasted Striper Filets with Summer Tomato-Fresh Corn Dressing.

We’re going to celebrate the new corn and our just-ripening garden tomatoes with our first batch of Island Fresca for the summer, that tomato soup that Chef Ben DeForest can never take off his menu — it’s that good.

Then we’ll make this Summer Grain Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, Corn and Nectarines.

And now about that special summer event. The Vineyard Gazette (celebrating its 175th birthday this year) and Cook the Vineyard are hosting Dawn Davis, editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine and Epicurious; Sam Sifton, editor of NYT Cooking; and Dr. Jessica B. Harris, historian and author (and currently featured in High on the Hog from Netflix), in a panel discussion (moderated by me) on Wednesday, August 11, called The Changing Story of American Home Cooking. We’ll be under a tent at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum at noon time, and after the discussion, we’ll eat a box lunch and raise a toast to Dr. Harris in honor of her James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award.

I’m very excited about this as I know these panelists – who are on the frontlines of opening up food journalism to a broader spectrum of voices – will have a lot to say about how our interpretation (and execution) of American home cooking has been influenced by the food media over the years, and how ingredients, techniques and stories can be used to put a spotlight on the many cuisines that make up our melting pot

We hope you’ll join us if you’re on-Island. You can purchase tickets by clicking here. I’ll see you there, and I’ll see you on Instagram @cookthevineyard. Happy high-summer cooking!.