This summer my wine of choice is a Spanish Rosé (I haven't met one I didn't like). My outfit of choice is an airy summer sundress. And my motto of choice is "keep it simple." Meals are lighter and freer. Ingredients are fresher, preparation is simpler. I flutter around the kitchen, barefoot, like a robin building a nest, gathering a bit of this and a bite of that and weaving all the pieces together into something that resembles a meal. Then everything goes outside to the table in the shade, a refuge from the heat of the kitchen. I don't know if it's the breeze that blows down off the mountains in the evening or the heat that radiates from the patio stones beneath my bare toes, but everything tastes a little sweeter out there under the trees. I love to sit long into the evening, sipping a last glass of wine while the kids run around the yard or hop the fence to play with the neighbors. When twilight falls we cover the table with candles and sit a little longer. Summer is the season for savoring!
Here are 10 of my family's favorite summertime dessert recipes. These are the ones I come back to summer after summer, year after year. They're a snapshot of everything I love about summer, and of course, they're all peanut and tree nut free.