This month contains the longest day of the year, which makes it official: summer has begun in earnest. It’s time to loosen up, relax, kick off your shoes, and get a little sand between your toes. Eating outdoors is the rule rather than the exception, and every meal feels like a celebration of the season’s bounty. Gia has long celebrated the start of summer with a solstice gathering that friends and family have come to mark on their calendars months in advance. It’s a completely low-key affair, one that leaves her free to enjoy the party. An easy fresh tomato salad, a vibrant pasta salad, and chicken fingers coated with coconut for the kids are on the menu, with refreshing shaved ice for dessert. It’s a meal to replicate throughout the warm months—a go-to in keeping with the casual vibe of the season.

In our Father’s Day menu, we created one of our clever edible “bowls” from shredded potatoes pressed into muffin tins to form a nest in which a tasty bite of sausage and an egg perch. Between that, the grilled cheese sandwiches shaped like ties, and fruit letters arranged to spell out a sentimental message, we’re pretty sure Dad will be charmed beyond measure.