Blender

The best thing about Good Housekeeping's newest cookbook is just about every cook already has the most important ingredient you need: a blender. Blend It! (Hearst Books, 2003, $14.95) is a collection of 150 recipes from the folks who do simple better than anyone else, Good Housekeeping magazine's triple-testing editorial kitchens, under the direction of author Susan Westmoreland. And the appeal of this cookbook is that the blender isn't the only ingredient that cooks often have on hand.

Cold and creamy, a lassi is a perfect treat for a summer day, especially when it's flavored with fresh, ripe fruit. Lassis, as fans of Indian food will know, are similar to milkshakes, except they're made with yogurt rather than ice cream. And like a good milkshake, a lassi is versatile enough to carry a wide variety of flavors. If you're like me, you tasted your first lassi in an adventurous moment at an Indian restaurant. Chances are the flavor was mango, which is always a good choice but especially now when fresh mangoes are abundant.

Pina Colada. Frozen Daiquiri. Blue Hawaiian. They all sound tempting right about now, don't they? In the heat of summer, nothing refreshes quite like a frozen blended cocktail. Alas, too many calories accompany these delights. A Pina Colada can pack about 500 or so, including nearly 5 grams of saturated fat - that's more than the average fast food hamburger. Unfortunately, some of those calories are unavoidable (another reason not to drink alcohol to excess), but some are not. Generally, frozen drinks that rely on whole fruits or certain unsweetened fruit juices (lemon or lime, for instance)

Blushing beauties Apricots, the first of California's summer fruit, are now in grocery produce aisles. Two main varieties are produced commercially, Castlebrite and Patterson, according to the California Fresh Apricot Council. As many as 10 other varieties are grown, but some are available for only a week or 10 days. Colors, size and even aroma depend on the variety. When buying fresh apricots, select plump, well-formed fruit. Ripen in a paper bag with an apple or banana. Apricot's sweet-tart flavor compliments desserts, salads, sauces and entrees.

From the beginning, there were hints that The Real Cancun was, oh, how shall we put it ... not your typical movie. There was the fact that even before the opening credits finished rolling, two women had played tongue twister and another had hoisted up her sodden T-shirt. There was the bespectacled guy so stock-character nerdy that any self-respecting filmmaker would have thought thrice before writing him into a script. Above all, there was the first scene - 16 strangers arrive at a Cancun hotel to spend the week together.

NEW YORK - Most editorial decisions at Blender, the irreverent music magazine that has thrown a scare into Rolling Stone and won a "launch of the year" award from Advertising Age, are conjured in a tiny conference room dominated by an armless punching bag dummy just like Mariah Carey's. The dummy was acquired under the auspices of journalistic research, an accessory to an article the magazine ran on the diva's reinvention, and it has been customized by the staff to the point where it has a new identity: dummy as editorial muse.

It's ruby red and sweet and, this time of year, ripe and abundant. It's also bursting with juice. Watermelon is one of the delights of summer. But it's most often enjoyed as chunks of fruit, while its potential as a sipper's delight often goes unrecognized. That may be changing as watermelon juice turns up in more recipes. A recent feature on the food and nutrition Web site Foodfit.com featured a watermelon-juice recipe from the chef-owners of the Border Grill in Santa Monica, Calif., Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.

Get your credit card ready: That season of once-in-a-lifetime moments has arrived again. If you're planning to attend several weddings -- plus a graduation or two -- you could easily be in for $500, according to estimates from local retailers and wedding planners. Wedding gifts start at $75 and climb ever upward -- Bride's magazine places the average gift at $100--- and graduation gifts aren't too far behind. But buying wedding gifts usually raises more anxiety, perhaps because of the changing nature and etiquette of weddings.

During the 10-day honeymoon Robert and Kristin McCollum had in Italy, they enjoyed romantic gondola rides in Venice, relaxed near scenic Lake Maggiore and blew hundreds of dollars on beautiful glassware from the famed island of Murano. The Dallas couple had no worries about the myriad honeymoon indulgences burning away their savings. In fact, the McCollums didn't even pay for the trip -- their family and friends did, using a honeymoon registry that allowed them to buy items like gondola rides, cappuccinos and hotel stays for the newlyweds.

Some of the richest-tasting, creamiest vegetable soups are made in only half an hour -- and entirely without milk or cream, or even flour or cornstarch for thickening.What makes such soup possible are plenty of ripe vegetables to provide superb color and pure, sweet flavor, and a food processor or blender (conventional or immersion) to spin everything into a velvety puree.Sweet peppers, carrots, spinach and other produce make exquisite pureed soups. For a dairy-free version, substitute olive oil for the butter in the red pepper soup recipe below.