Traditionally, squash blossoms are stuffed with creamy cheese, battered, and deep fried; lovely and enticing in their own right, to be sure, but a girl can only eat so many deep-fried snacks without palate fatigue. So when my best friend brought a basket of these Summer beauties to dinner, alongside a rustic baguette, a tub of creamy burrata, and a jar of pungent olive tapenade, I knew I was in for a real treat.
I watched in rapt attention as she deftly prepared this quick appetizer, barely able to restrain myself from sneaking a taste of the burrata as it oozed with cream. Mere minutes later, we bit in, and at that moment, I was sold. Not only are squash blossoms extraordinarily beautiful in their raw state, but when shed of their battered exterior, their nuanced delicate flavors truly shine. I imagine I'll be experimenting with raw preparations, until, like tomatoes (another Summer favorite), they're sadly whisked away until next season's flush.
We've been giving a lot of attention to berries, tomatoes, and corn this Summer, but that doesn't mean we've overlooked other vegetables at their peak. Case in point: zucchini, the slender Summer vegetable that's in abundance between May and August. Find out what we do with it when you 
Recently, our Sugar intern Victoria and I were chatting about ingredients that are, in our humble opinions, overrated. "What's up with baby carrots?" she asked, "they're always dried out or too soggy." I have to agree — baby carrots are definitely overhyped — especially since they're not true baby carrots, but rather ordinary root vegetables abraded down to a miniature size. I told her that I also think 