Compiled by Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Required reading

I love the name of this cookbook: The Summer House Cookbook (Potter; $30) by Debra Ponzek and Geralyn Delaney Graham.

If you have a summer house, you know cooking there is different. You have more time but less kitchen. You're on vacation, so you want to eat well, but not spend much time cooking. If you don't have a summer house, you may still want to cook as if you did.

This cookbook presents easy, flavorful dishes that don't take any appliance more complicated than a blender. There are warm-weather foods for cookouts, summer drinks, and heartier dishes for those rainy days. There's a pack-and-pour chilled nectarine soup for a picnic, Mediterranean vegetable frittata for breakfast, Jersey corn chowder to use what you bought at the farm stand, and cumin-spiced tuna with carrot ginger vinaigrette for the grill..

From the book

Peppery Arugula and Potato Soup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 medium leeks (white part only, cleaned, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons)

1 small onion, sliced

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

9 cups chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

2 large bunches of arugula

21/2 teaspoons sea salt

8 generous grindings of black pepper

In an 8-quart soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add the potatoes and chicken stock (or broth) and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the cream and return the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the arugula, salt, and pepper.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Taste the soup and reseason if necessary. Serve warm or chilled. Makes 10-12 servings.

From The Summer House Cookbook

Timely Tip

Question: I have a bag of white granulated sugar that is rock-hard. How can I soften it?

Answer: Your sugar became damp, then dried out. That's what caused it to harden. The Sugar Association recommends breaking it up with a rolling pin or other sturdy object, then whirling the lumps in a food processor to achieve a granular texture.

If the entire bag of sugar is welded into a brick, you may need to use a sledgehammer. Before you take a swing, though, make sure the sugar is wrapped in something that will contain the flying pieces.