I spent the month gorging on tomatoes, basil and shelling beans. And that's it. Oh, and rosé.

In June, as apricots, peaches and cherries started piling up at the markets, although I stopped doing my Instagram Live Apéro Hours daily (archived here), I've been doing them several times a week, presenting a few cocktails and apéritifs, like a Strawberry Spritz, a Strawberry Margarita (yum!) and a Bourbon Peach Cooler.

Since the lockdown was lifted, for my IG Live Apéro Hour, I've visited Benoît at La Cidrerie, a great cider bar in Paris, Combat, where Margot (who is featured in Drinking French) gave me a lesson in shaking up a cocktail (she has the best shake of anyone I've ever seen), and the lovely Moko of Mokonuts in Paris, who shared a superb non-alcoholic cucumber lime tonic that I've been keeping a jug of in my refrigerator, and I'll be sharing the recipe on my blog shortly.

So much went on the last few months that I'm going to be slowing down for the summer. Before COVID 19, I was supposed to go to Sri Lanka and eat vegan food and sit on the beach while I waited for my ayurvedic treatments. That didn't happen in late spring as planned (it was supposed to happen right after my now-canceled book tour), and even now, overseas travel seems to be off the table.

In Paris, much of the city makes an exodus to head to the countryside and the beaches. More people may be staying at home this year so it's anyone's guess what things will be like and when they will return to normal. Hopefully they will bring down the infection rate in the U.S. so people can travel between the two countries again. And hopefully, the infection rate will remain "under control" in France, too. Fingers crossed.

We'll likely be taking some road trips to visit friends here and there. Romain has been keen on going to Venice and Rome, and seeing the cities without the usual density of tourists. He wants to drive and I just read it's a 12-hour trip, without stops, so I'm not sure la doce vita is on the agenda.

Hope you all have a great start to your summer. I know many are coming out of confinement later than we did, but hope you can catch up with a bounty of summer fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes, cherries, apricots, berries, peaches, plums, and nectarines. I've been gorging on them as much as possible!

-I added a few Instagram Live Apéro Hour videos, including a how-to video on how to make salted candied peanuts, a visit to a cider bar in Paris, and more. You can see them all archived here.

-I talked to the charming Krystal Kennedy of La Vie Creative in her Paris podcast about finding creativity doing what I do.

-On the Inside Julia's Kitchen podcast, we talked about French drinking culture and I revealed the two times I met Julia Child.

-Chris Kimball of Milk Street discussed French drinks and drinking traditions with me, as well as how to make The Yellow Cocktail from Drinking French, from Cravan in Paris.

If you make something from the book, or just want to show off your copy of it, use the hashtag #drinkingfrench so I can see it. And should you feel so inclined, leaving a review on Amazon is always appreciated, too : )

To get your very own copy of Drinking French check out these independent and online booksellers, as well as your local bookshop:

Bookshop / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kitchen Arts & Letters / Indiebound / Book Depository (free int'l shipping) / Book Larder / Powell's / RJ Julia / Omnivore / Books are Magic / White Whale / Now Serving / and your local bookshop.

Summer strawberries make this the perfect summertime sipper - the Strawberry Margarita.

While Banana Bread became the rage during the lockdown, this Low(er) Fat Banana Bread (above) rises to any occasion, with a healthy twist. Oh, and chocolate chips!

For a lighter berry beverage, this Strawberry Spritz may become your new favorite apéritif...lasting at least as long as strawberries are in season.

A quick wholegrain loaf of bread can be yours with just a few minutes of work, with no yeast and a minimum of kneading. Check out this Wholegrain Soda Bread, perfect with cheese, or for breakfast with jam or honey and salted butter.

Peaches and bourbon really are a perfect pairing. But when you add brown sugar and some ice, they become the base of a wonderful cocktail, the Peach Bourbon Cooler.

This lofty (and easy) Cheese Soufflé is a great summer meal with a big green salad...and a glass of very cold rosé.

And although I posted this recipe a few summer's ago, my Summer Fruit Galette is the perfect free-form tart to use whatever summer fruits and berries suitsyour fancy.

-dl