If the hot weather and countertops covered with green beans and tomatoes didn’t tell me it was summer, I always had another telltale sign when I was a kid. Mom would take out her tall, slender, frosted glass and mix herself a gin and tonic with a fat wedge of lime.

That was her special gin and tonic glass, meant just for her favorite summertime cocktail.

Although I’ve met many people who also find gin and tonics refreshing, I’ve never been able to stomach them myself. Maybe because I dislike gin and I dislike tonic. I could suck on the lime wedge, but what good would that do me?

I’ve always been fascinated by people’s “signature” drinks. I know some folks stick to their Jack and Coke no matter the season, but I do find that some people switch up their drink of choice in the summertime.

My personal favorite summertime cocktail is a Cape Cod: vodka mixed with cranberry juice and garnished with lime. I like margaritas, but they can sometimes be overly sweet and heavy, in my opinion. And mojitos are good, but take a little time to throw together.

What makes a good summertime cocktail, besides simplicity? I would say light flavors, no dairy ingredients and lots of ice. Citrus flavors are typically very refreshing during hot weather, too.

I’ve got a fantastic book called “Slurp” by Nina Dreyer Hensley, Jim Hensley and Paul Lowe (I guess it took lots of people to test out all those concoctions). I’m going to share a summery recipe or two from this book, and I’d love to know: What’s your favorite summertime cocktail?

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Have a look at this beautiful photo of shrimp pad thai, which was sent in by blog reader Angela.
Angela noticed the Thai cooking class mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry and thought she’d send in this photo of a dish she mastered.

According to Angela, she was addicted to the shrimp pad thai at Thai Orchid, but when that restaurant closed, she tracked down a Thai cookbook and decided to master the recipe herself.
“I was surprised to find that my rendition was just as good,” Angela wrote.

The first time I tried Thai food, I was hooked immediately. I adore the flavors of coconut milk, curry, kaffir lime, lemongrass, ginger and Thai basil. So like Angela, I decided to try and create two of my favorite dishes, pad thai and green curry, at home.

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It’s been four years since we bought our first house over in Northwest Roanoke, and it may finally be time for me to start my first garden.

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long.

As tempted as I am to go whole hog, planting row after row of tomatoes, green beans, squash and peppers, I think I had better start small this year. So I plan to spend this weekend tilling up a small square in the corner of my yard — a patch just big enough for a beginner.

After my family relocated to Virginia from Colorado in the early 1980s, my parents always had a garden in the back yard. It was barely half the size of my grandparents’ garden, but it still turned out all of the veggies I mentioned above, along with spring onions, asparagus, corn, lettuce greens and much more.

My father has a green thumb. When he ran out of space in his own backyard garden, he borrowed a big plot on a friend’s farm and planted enough green beans to feed five families for a year.

I doubt if I’ll ever get to that point of infatuation, but I know I have it in my blood to at least grow a few Better Boys. In light of the tanking economy and the burgeoning slow food movement, I figure it’ll save money and help the environment if I can do at least a portion of my produce shopping in my own backyard.

How many of my faithful blog readers out there are gardeners as well as foodies? What are your favorite vegetables to grow?

If you’ve got any tips to share with a beginner, bring them on.

I’ve decided to award this week’s free cookbook to frequent blog reader Henry.
Henry offered up several fine ideas for jazzing up dishes with products that most cooks keep on hand on a regular basis.
For that, he gets a copy of “Mealtime Magic” by Joey Green.
Henry’s comment was:

Boullion.

You can jazz up gravy with a shot of Cream of Chicken soup. Of course, these are casserole standbys.

I especially like the suggestion that boullion cubes can be substituted for salt in various recipes. I can see myself adding boullion to all kinds of steamed veggies to add flavor without fat.

Henry, shoot me an e-mail at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com to claim your book. Don’t forget to include your address!