The first of these recipes is actually not just a saying in Warner Bros. cartoons, but an indigenous American recipe. Succotash varies regionally, but should always contain the ‘three sisters:’ corn, beans and squash. I find it a delightful way of using up my garden’s vegetables. Some vintage cookbooks list bear fat to fry the ingredients in … my grandmother always used butter and bacon to stir fry the veggies. Though, if you would like to make it vegetarian or vegan … substitute the butter with olive oil, and the bacon with coconut oil. A trick to slicing the bacon into thin strips … freeze it for about a half-hour and that will firm it up a bit. I use paprika, but many recipes encourage chili powders, Cajun seasonings, Old Bay, or even a bit of curry.

Growing up in the Bay Area at most delis you would find a calamari salad sold by the pound … though now I very rarely find it. My mother used to serve it on butter leaf lettuce, or sometimes inside a halved avocado. If you are squeamish about cutting up the squid, you can find rings and tentacles in the frozen section. The reason why I let the squid sit in water with baking soda is to soften it before boiling. I usually make the salad a day in advance so everything can soak up the pickling and salt. The reason why there are ‘counted’ peppercorns, bay leaves, lemon slices and juniper berries is a trick my grandmother taught me so you knew how many pieces you need to find after dumping the boil in the cullender to drain. If you buy fresh bay leaves, to keep the rest, put them in the freezer for later use. If you can’t find juniper berries just use more peppercorns. The fun thing about this recipe is that it is a fun and vibrant starter for an Indian summer’s evening meal … served ice-cold. Try to find different pickled vegetables to toss into this salad … my mother always chopped up artichoke hearts … I like pickled red onions … though I have tried it with pickled asparagus with success.