There comes a moment every summer when the garden finally quits showing off one thing at a time and decides to throw a proper party.

The tomatoes are perched on the windowsill. The crisper is filled with cucumbers. And the sweet corn is sitting on the kitchen counter, shucked and waiting for the water to boil.

Sweet corn and fresh tomato-and-cucumber salad. You don’t need anything more.

The corn is so sweet it could pass for dessert. The tomatoes are still warm from the garden and smell like sunshine. The cucumbers are cool and crisp, bringing just enough snap to keep those tomatoes from stealing the show. Toss them together with a little salt, a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of vinegar and call it supper.

This is not company food—the kind that requires three grocery stores and a recipe printed from the internet. This is the kind of meal that says, “Pull up a chair on the porch. The fireflies will be here in a minute.”

I love that August has a way of humbling us. We spend the rest of the year trying to make dinner interesting, and then summer arrives and reminds us that two or three things picked at their peak can outshine anything we’ve spent hours cooking.

Our grandparents knew this, of course. They didn’t have names for eating seasonally or locally. They simply ate what the garden gave them and considered themselves lucky. Sweet corn was shucked on the back steps, tomatoes were sliced thick enough to hang off the bread, and cucumbers appeared in such abundance that it was impossible to eat them all. Then you made pickles.

These are the meals that never make it into family cookbooks because nobody wrote them down. Everyone just knew. Slice the tomatoes. Cut up the cucumbers. Shuck the corn. Add salt with a generous hand and eat it while summer is still sitting at the table with you.

Before long, we’ll be talking about soups and sweaters and putting the garden to bed. But for now, August is asking very little of us—only that we pay attention and enjoy what’s right in front of us.

Sweet corn and fresh tomato and cucumber salad. Easy, delicious, and pure summer. And around here, that’s about as good as supper gets.

Marinated Tomato Cucumber salad

Slice ripe tomatoes as thinly as you can. Peel (or don’t) cucumbers and slice very thinly (a mandoline works well for this). Slice red onion thinly. Add splash of mild oil such as safflower, a splash of cider vinegar, a dash of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature. Add what you like – feta, mozzarella, garlic, minced basil.

Simple Tomato Pasta Dinner

Chop garden-ripe tomatoes, mince some garlic, slice fresh basil and stir together with fruity olive oil and salt. Toss with hot cooked pasta and fresh parmesan.