There's no stove-top clean up when the bacon is baked.

It’s a lovely moment when you’re cooking something ordinary and are reminded of the wonderful friend who first taught you the recipe. This secret bacon recipe, so beautifully simple, was shared with me by Candace McMahan, nearly 20 years ago, at her home in northern Colorado. I haven’t seen Candace in years, but I think about her even more often than I cook bacon.

Baked Bacon

Place the slices of bacon on a cookie sheet that is lined with foil. Sprinkle with coarse pepper and some sugar. Bake at 450 degrees. After about 15 minutes take the pan out of the oven, turn over the slices and sprinkle again with pepper and sugar. Return the pan to the oven, checking it every 5 minutes or so. It will take about another 15 minutes of cooking time, or about 30 minutes from start to finish.

To clean up, after the grease has solidified, gather up the foil and throw away the mess.

It's the pepper and sugar that make this bacon taste so delicious.

A BLT with a garden-fresh tomato makes an easy supper. We ate ours tonight along with some watermelon, potato salad and carrot sticks.

This soup is a great use for the current abundance of ripe tomatoes.

My mother would make this every summer, preparing the tomato base and freezing it in individual portions to use throughout the winter. She would then add a basic white sauce for a rich and fresh tasting cream of tomato soup. This soup has a very smooth flavor with just a hint of cloves.

Traditional Cream of Tomato Soup

• 8 c. tomatoes, stems removed, cut in half
• 1 onion, cut into think slices
• 3 c. water
• 10 whole cloves
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt

Cook everything until the onions are soft. Strain through a Foley food mill. At this point the tomato base may be frozen—before adding the white sauce.

Everything goes into the pot.

Here's the Foley food mill in action. Using this makes it so the tomatoes do not need to be peeled or seeded. This food mill is also good for apple sauce.

White Sauce (enough for about 4 cups of soup base, or to taste)

• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 Tbs. flour
• 1 c. milk

Melt butter, whisk in flour. Over a very low heat (or turn off the burner as you do this step), and while constantly stirring, slowly—very slowly—add the milk, stirring with each addition until very smooth. After all of the milk has been added, continue stirring until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

Cream of Tomato-Basil (or Rosemary) Soup

To the finished soup, blend in a nice sized bunch of fresh basil or rosemary leaves.

I added fresh basil to this batch.

Soup and toast were all my dad needed for dinner last night. He loves zucchini soup.

This is a smooth and fresh soup, wonderful hot or cold. It freezes well, and is a terrific use for your bountiful crop of zucchini. I got home late last night but still was able to  have a pot of soup ready for the table in only 30 minutes. The recipe, much like many of my mother’s, is very loose. So here’s the gist of it:

In a big pot, saute one or two onions in just a bit of olive oil. When the onion is soft, throw in a lot of cut up zucchini—for two onions you might use 8-10 cups of zucchini. You can add mushrooms if you like (Maralee always does). Just barely cover the vegetables with water and cook until the zucchini is soft. This should only take 20-30 minutes. My mother would throw in 1 or 2 cubes of beef bouillon, but you don’t have to if you want to keep it vegetarian. The last step is to puree the softened vegetables in a blender. Use a slotted spoon to fish out the vegetables and just enough broth to make the soup liquidy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Why do I forget how easy this is? Basil, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts (or walnuts) is all it takes. Twenty seconds in your food processor and you’re done. Toss with some hot pasta, put out a nice bread and a salad, and you’re all set for some fine dining.

The kids ooh and aah over this table full of small bowls filled with colorful salad fixings. Everyone picks their favorite toppings, which tonight included: croutons, shredded cheese, broccoli florets, kidney beans, corn, mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, pea pods, avocado, black olives, cucumber and hard boiled eggs.

A frittata is much more exotic than "supper eggs."

When the kids were small I would occasionally serve eggs for dinner. I would fry up a pan of sunny-side ups, put them on a nice platter and declare them “supper eggs.” But now that this group is a little bit older, and has developed a more sophisticated palette, I have retired the supper eggs and introduced the frittata. A frittata is much like a vegetable omlette (you could, if you wish, include meat in the dish), or a crustless quiche. You start it cooking on the stove top, and finish by sticking the pan under the broiler for just a minute or two, to cook and lightly brown the top. It makes a lovely and light dinner entree, can be served hot, warm or cold, and can be bursting with the best of the summer vegetables. Add a salad, fresh melon and crusty bread to fill out the menu.

Frittata (serves 4)

• 3 c. vegetables (I used 2 c. thinly sliced new potatoes and 1 c. tiny broccoli florets)
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 1 medium clove garlic, crushed
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese (may use cheddar, Gruyere or goat cheese)
• 1/4 c. chopped parsley
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Choose a pan which is oven proof. Saute the onion and potato slices in a little olive oil. Add the garlic, salt and pepper, cover and cook until the potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally. This should take 10-15 minutes. Add the broccoli during the last minute or two and cook only until barely tender and bright green.
2. Beat the eggs very well, in a large bowl, then stir in the vegetables, cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Clean and dry your pan, add 2-3 Tbs. olive oil and heat. When the oil is very hot pour in the egg mixture.
4. Let the eggs cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the bottom is quite set.
5. Place the pan under the broiler, for just a minute or two, to cook and lightly brown the tops of the eggs.

A kitchen mandoline.

This is a mandoline (pronounced the same way as the musical instrument). It’s a wonderful kitchen tool when you want uniformly thin slices.

Breaded and pan fried talapia.

This is a simple breading to use as an alternative to bread crumbs.

Fish breading

• 1 c. matzo meal
• 1 c. flour
• 1/2 c. corn meal

Rinse off your fish fillets, and dredge them right into the breading (no need to dip in an egg if you don’t want to). Season with some salt, pepper, dill weed and garlic powder, then fry them up in a little hot oil.