Plums are ripening now on fruit trees around the country.

This is a recipe which makes use of silverbeet which flourishes in the garden.

If you make your own pastry you need a batch of short sweet or pate brisee, as they say in French. I used a sheet of thawed frozen.

The French have a stylish name for an entrée or dessert presented in a glass, a verrine.

There are so many ways you can cook with delicious and plentiful plums.

This may be a little time consuming but it has to be one of the best tomato chutneys you will ever make.

Recipes, like ingredients, travel. This pasta sauce travelled via my friend Jane from Nice where she learned to cook it one New Year’s Eve. It can be made all year round by substituting three cans of whole tomatoes when tasty fresh ones are not available.

You really know it's summer when you're on a holiday road trip and you pass stalls selling fresh produce.

Once plentiful, pick-your-own orchards are now a rarity. Bronwyn Sell packs hats and buckets for a family day adventure.

Challenge the taste buds with some specialty salad leaf recipes.

The chicory family has many members and should all be eaten young. Frisee is the sweetest of this bitter group.

A little of this goes a long way to my taste. I like to mix it up with other less strident leaves but I can't resist its gorgeous ruby colour.

When planning your summer menus, make the most of what's readily available.

Your friends are going to want more than one of these after trying them so it would be a good idea to prepare lots on hand.

This was a new trick for me. We are familiar with using citrus juice to make Polynesian-style raw fish but I had never seen tomato juice used to cook seafood. Those clever Mexicans, or in this case, a Venezuelan.

There is a bumper crop of avocados this year so guacamole can become your summer staple.

All this food was making us thirsty, so Ramirez prepared micheladas. In another new trick, she rimmed the glass with magic powder mix - it was a taste explosion.

Go shopping, call a bunch of friends and use the summer days to stage your own fiesta.

The executive chef of dine by Peter Gordon at SkyCity answers your cuisine questions.

Mai Tais, margaritas, lychee mint muddles - it's music to a cocktail drinker's ears.