Citrus

Susan serves these with homemade pico de gallo, but purchased salsa also works well.

"To celebrate my recent promotion, my sister treated me to dinner at Radius here in Boston," says Jill Thompson, Boston, Massachusetts. The dessert we shared was unforgettable—a hazelnut meringue concoction made by pastry chef Paul Connors. As we polished it off, my sister and I agreed that we had found the city’s best new restaurant." Each component can be made ahead.

Seedless watermelons are on the market these days, but I prefer the old-fashioned ones with big black seeds — easy to see and remove. Then proceed with the recipe.

An exotic and light main course. The vinaigrette would work just as well with red snapper.

Fresh kernels of raw corn are so sweet and tender that they don't need to be cooked. Their natural sugars and crisp juiciness pair wonderfully with the salty Parmesan and peppery arugula.

Gin Thoke This salad is pungent, crunchy, intriguing, and addictive. Although served as a dessert in Myanmar, it is also a great accompaniment to grilled fish, chicken, or steak.

This salad was inspired by one we had in Rome that was made with Stracchino cheese, but we've used mascarpone, which makes an admirable and accessible substitute. (Stracchino, a springtime cheese, is difficult to find here, even in season.) Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

These toasts are also delicious without the foie gras or with a slice of country pâté substituted for the foie gras.

The leftover syrup from the lychees makes a delicious sweetener for iced tea. Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min

Carrot Torte This cake is from the Veneto region in northern Italy. Use the sweetest, most flavorful organic carrots you can find—otherwise it will be a big "so what."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

"I'm hoping to get the recipe for a terrific appetizer I tried at Hamiltons' at First & Main in Charlottesville, Virginia," says Sue Carter of Murieta, California. "The seafood fritters came with lettuce leaves (to wrap around the fritters) and a spicy sauce."

For a prettier salad, we used two varieties of radicchio — the common Verona, with red leaves and white ribs, and Treviso, which can range from pink to red and has narrower, pointed leaves.

A pretty pink dessert that is refreshing and light. Plums with dark purple skin or flesh will give the sherbet beautiful color. Serve a pot of green tea alongside.

Having run the cake table at my daughter's school last year, I can say that there are two types of optimum bake sale fare: small, individual pieces that look cute and fetch high unit-prices and sheet cakes that can be made without effort or dexterity and sliced up easily. This recipe fits the latter category and has the added virtue of appealing to parents and grandparents who feel that something from the sale should be gratifyingly old-fashioned. The fresh ginger is a modern touch, admittedly, but I always keep some in the fridge and wanted to try it in a less contemporary, pan-Asian way one day (it worked.) The lemon icing may not be conventional either, but there is another starkly practical reason for it: brown things — if they're not gooily chocolate — don't sell so well; and the lemon spruceness of the topping is perfect with the musky sweetness beneath it.