Here's a recipe that came to me from the Virgin Islands via a mutual friend in Connecticut. Both are women of excellent taste, so I knew I couldn't go wrong when I made these mini-muffins for an office meeting. They were gobbled up in an instant.

Except for the chopping of apples and nuts, they're a cinch to make and perfect for a yummy,healthy snack now that the weather has cooled a bit for baking.

Carmen's Apple Muffins

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup peeled and chopped granny smith apples
2/3 cup cranraisins or craisins
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray mini-muffin tins with cooking spray. Put all dry ingredients in a bowl, mix. Add everything else. It is very thick; mix well until flour is absorbed. Place into muffin tins. You will fill the muffin tins completely. They hardly rise at all. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or so. Test by inserting a knife into the center. Don't undercook. It's better to cook them longer so they are crispy, which makes them good.

The good thing about mini-muffins is that you can have several without feeling guilty!

Cooking corn on the cob in the microwave wasn't my idea of how best to prepare the prince of summer's bounty. When my friend proposed cooking it that way, I was a doubting Thomas.

And then I nibbled on an ear that spent just one minute in the microwave still wearing its husk. It was heaven -- and I'm a zealous convert to the new method.

Susan Schenk did the convincing. She picked up the idea from her host farm family during a recent art residency in Oregon, Ill. Susan shared her know-how with guests at an impromptu weekend gathering and turned us all into believers.

Here's what to do: Cut the ends off each ear of corn, leaving on the husk. Rinse the husk under water and pat dry. Then pop into the microwave under a domed cover and cook just one minute. And that's it. The corn steams inside the husk and is crisp to the bite, hot to the touch and fresh to the taste. Be careful peeling off the husk because the corn can be steaming hot, depending on the power of the microwave.

For years I've plopped a dozen ears of corn into a huge pot of boiling water and cooked them no more than 3 minutes for that perfect doneness. But with the weather so hot and the kitchen so steamy I'm reluctant to put that kettle on to boil. Now comes the microwave to the rescue. I tried it last night with fabulous results. And you should, too.

Question: How do you cook your sweet corn?

When the weather's this hot, it's hard not to focus on foods that are easy to make and cooling to the palate.

Ice Cream in a Ziplock Bag fits the bill, but it sounds almost too good to be true.

I'm relying on Susan Ferris of LJS "Welcome to my Kitchen" fame for a recipe we ran a year ago in our paper, but one I never got around to trying. She has made it multiple times, always with mouth-watering results.

She writes from "summer camp" in Wisconsin:

"After S'mores and brats, I was looking for a camp recipe to share that would be worthy of being called tradition-in-the-making. I hope you'll take a few minutes and try this one! I found this great recipe last summer in the Lincoln Journal Star. I've tried it several times and we have had as much fun making it as eating it!

Ice Cream in a Ziplock Bag

Pour into one quart-sized zippered plastic bag:
1 cup whole milk (or try fat free half & half)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sugar
Seal the bag, and put this bag into a gallon-sized zippered plastic bag, along with:
4 cups of ice
1/4 cup salt
Seal the gallon-sized bag.
Hand it to the most enthusiastic helper and have them shake and toss the whole thing for 5 to 10 minutes and watch the ice cream form!

I have added mini-chocolate chips, mini-M&M's and chopped nuts at different times to this mixture (at the start, before the shaking), and next time I make it I'm going to add chopped strawberries....or peaches.

The only problem is it doesn't make very much, so be prepared to make a few batches if you're feeding a crowd. I want to try to see if I could take the first quart-sized bag out of the ice cubes and put a second one right back in to have a second batch (or flavor),
because ice is always in short supply around here.

Make it anytime in the day and keep it frozen in the freezer until you're ready to enjoy!"

Thanks, Susan, for sharing this fun-to-make cool treat! I'm going to try it next month when the grandkids come to visit.

If anyone else has a favorite ice cream treat, feel free to share...

The stacks of giant red beets called to me Sunday at the Old Cheney Farmers Market (as did the season's first sweet corn). I could almost taste the thinly sliced boiled orbs peeled and coated in melting butter or sauteed with orange marmalade.

In a hurry to get home, I asked the vender to chop off the long red stems and green leaf toppings to make my bundle smaller. The guy behind me stepped in to say that I ought to cook those greens instead of tossing them out. And so I did. It's like getting two veggies for the price of one.

I added the chopped toppings to some hot olive oil with minced garlic and cooked them til they wilted. For flavor I added salt, pepper and chopped oregano from my patio herb garden.

The greens were good enough to make me forget about cooking the beets for dinner, but I think I missed an opportunity to make them absolutely delicious.

Anyone have any ideas of what would jazz up these greens without much additional work? I've still got another bunch to go...

What a treat to go out to the frontyard and pick the fixings for dessert. For the past dozens of years I've reaped the leftovers from the cherries that the birds feasted on as their main meal. And it's been the pits!

It's all about timing. If I wait til the cherries are at the peak of ripeness and if I miss a day of checking, that's always when the birds have their banquet. This year I was vigilant, and I am savoring my victory with a Chocolate Cherry Clafouti.

My goal was to make a simple cherry cobbler. But when I started poring through my cookbooks for a recipe with all the ingredients that I had on hand, I discovered the clafouti.

The name scared me at first since I wasn't in the mood for a complicated dish. Not to worry. The hardest part was pitting the cherries. (Reminder to self: Buy one of those olive/cherry pitters that veteran cherry-cookers say are indispensible.) Otherwise, it's absolutely simple to make.

The recipe is from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts from the Moosewood Collective (1997, Clarkson/Potter, soft cover).

Here's the note preceding the recipe: "According to Julia Child, clafouti originated in eastern France near Limoges. It is a soft, puffy, crepe-like omelet -- almost like a pancake, almost like a pudding -- and the silky custard is almost always combined with fruit. Clafouti looks best and has the finest texture when served within hours after baking, but still tastes good the next day."

It can be made with all sorts of fruit, and may be served with a dusting of confectioners' sugar or with a dollop of whipped cream.

Chocolate Cherry Clafouti
3 cups pitted sweet cherries, fresh, frozen or canned in water
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Batter
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter the baking pan (10-inch pie pan or a 9-inch square baking pan). Arrange the cherries and chocolate chips in the bottom of the baking dish. In a blender, combine the ingredients for the batter and whirl until smooth. Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the clafouti is puffed and golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 to 8 servings.