Carrots are a staple. Available in fairly good condition all year long, at reasonable prices, they evoke little comment. Only a severe shortage and/or outrageous price increase will affect their status. (And you never know.)

A primer on the appreciation and cooking of mushrooms, complete with a favorite pasta recipe where mushrooms play nicely.

Avocados are not one of my favorite foods. Occasionally I find some in a salad I am served. It doesn’t interfere. However, I prefer seafood salad with an artichoke.

At this time of year, when tomatoes and many other fruits or vegetables are lemons, turn to lemons to refresh a tired menu.

"Whoever heard of Christmas without dried figs?" (Is that anything like New Year's Eve without a date?)

There is still time to enjoy local tomatoes. Another month (with luck) before the rich, ripe, winey crop disappears for good, to be replaced by the phony fruit from Florida. 

Many ovens also have a summer vacation. Meat, whatever the cut, is prepared on the barbecue grill. It couldn’t be simpler. Paint on the “basic red” (as Craig Claiborne calls it), let it sizzle until you finish your gin and tonic, and serve.

Squid are simple to prepare, and when prepared simply, are very delicious.

The rules of purchase for steamers are the same as for hard clams: no broken shells and only those which are closed or which close when tapped should be selected. Steamers are soft-shelled clams which flourish from Virginia to New England.

Lacy French cookies, served for tea or to accompany an elegant dessert, benefit from the addition of wheat germ, as do the diners.

In this navy bean soup recipe, a cup of cooked dried beans will provide as much protein as two hot dogs, a thick pork chop, or a good-sized chicken leg. And except for the chicken leg, the calorie commitment is about the same.

Before the many farm stands were boarded up for the winter, they displayed a handsome crop of winter squashes. Some even found their way into the produce departments of the chains. The pumpkins to be sure, but also hubbards with warty shells in shades of red, some small, some immense.

A delicious but simple cooky, great for gifts, is a childhood memory. I had a friend whose mother came from Waterproof, La., and this is her recipe — actually a variation on the Viennese crescent.

Festive cupcakes so easy that a child could make them (with some adult supervision, of course).

“Cranberry Hole Road” is as aptly named as “Two Holes of Water Road” or “Highway Behind the Lots.” The area (Amagansett-Napeague) abounds in cranberries. Figuring Ocean Spray would be available if our mission failed, we set off for Napeague to go cranberrying. Truly pick your own, nature’s gift.

Forget everything I've ever said about growers and wholesalers devising ways to pick and ship produce while it is still green and how this works to the advantage of everyone but the consumer. The pear is the exception.

You've probably been eating local cucumbers for weeks. They have been with us since July and the season isn't over yet. There was a time, in early August, when you would have had trouble finding a cucumber that wasn't local. You could easily identify the outsiders by their excessively dark and shiny skins.

Real tomatoes, grown out of doors and in the sunshine, tasting juicy and fresh, are everywhere. Buy them; you have no excuses.

Now is the best time to make gazpacho. It is incredibly refreshing and all the ingredients are available locally grown, reasonably priced and fresh.

In New Orleans, this delectation was called “La Mediatriece,” a peace offering to an enraged wife when her husband trundled in after an evening in the French Quarter. I have served this for a first course, but it is really more suitable to Sunday lunch or a late supper. Serves four.