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Without a doubt, summer is the uncontested most delicious season to live in the South. When I was a kid, you’d often find me venturing out to the garden to eat my favorite veggies straight from the vine. I admit, I’ve never outgrown that habit. If you haven’t eaten a tomato straight off the vine — so ripe that the juice pours down your arms — you simply must remedy that this year!

In case you haven’t caught on, this month’s focus is the sensational spoils of a Southern summer garden. My own garden isn’t large, but I do plant one each year outside our test kitchen. I take advantage of our local farmers markets to fill in the gaps. Not only is this a great way to buy local and get the most flavorful produce, it’s also a way to build relationships with the local farmers in your community and help support them.

First in our lineup is a recipe from the Neighbors archives, Vidalia Onion Pie by Shirley Weeks of Lamar County. This recipe from Shirley, a longtime leader of Alabama Farmers Federation Women’s Leadership Committee activities, was

Vidalia Onion Pie

By Shirley Weeks, Lamar County

Ingredients

15 saltine crackers, crushed and divided

1/2 cup butter or margarine

4 medium Vidalia onions, sliced into 1/4-inch rings

2 eggs, beaten

1/2-3/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions first shared in the April 2003 issue.

While Vidalia onions are grown by our neighbors to the east, every Southerner knows just how exceptional they are! This is typically served as a side dish to a decadent Southern meal but is also great on its own with a glass of iced tea, served porch side.

My Summer Succotash is also a side dish — technically. But I don’t know anyone in their right mind who hasn’t made it a meal on more than one occasion. There is hardly a better way to showcase fresh, crisp, beautiful vegetables than a vibrant succotash. My recipe is loaded with onions, peppers, lima beans, okra, corn, tomatoes and bacon. It’s cooked up in a sauce of chicken broth, garlic and a hint of apple cider vinegar for tang. If your taste buds are like mine, one look at that photo will have you trying the recipe soon.

Sweetening things up is Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam. While I’m always a fan of canned jam, the magic of making freezer jam is it allows you to have that fresh-picked strawberry taste any time of year in a way traditional canned jam never could. I encourage you to make a little space in your freezer and whip up a batch for use on biscuits, sandwiches and so much more. You won’t need that freezer space for long.

Heat oven to 350 F. Set aside 3 tablespoons of cracker crumbs. Lightly grease a pie plate, sprinkle with remaining crumbs and set aside. In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and sauté until tender. With a slotted spoon, remove onions and arrange over cracker crumbs in pie plate. In a small bowl, mix eggs and milk. Pour over onions. Top with cheese and remaining crumbs. Bake 20-30 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

I hope you’re enjoying the long summer days as much as my family has been. I’m so grateful we can carve out time to spend together in the pages of Neighbors. Until next time, enjoy life’s bountiful blessings, y’all!

Stacey Little is a foodie, recipe developer and cookbook author whose Southern Bite blog helps families put simple, down-to-earth food on the table while preserving Southern cooking for future generations. See more recipes at southernbite.com.

Summer Succotash

5 mins 45 mins 8

Ingredients

6 slices bacon

1 medium sweet onion, diced

Stacey’s Recipe Note

The jam keeps in the fridge for about 3 weeks and in the freezer up to a year. Thaw the frozen jam in the fridge overnight before using.

Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam

Prep Time Makes 45 mins 5 (8-ounce) jars

Ingredients

1 pound fresh strawberries

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 cups white sugar

3/4 cup water

1 (1.75-ounce) box Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin

Instructions

Hull strawberries and place fruit in a large bowl. Use a potato masher or another tool (like a cocktail muddler) to crush the strawberries. They should be crushed very well but not pureed. You will need exactly 2 cups of crushed strawberries, so be sure to measure them.

Add lemon juice to strawberries and stir well. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let stand 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, stir together water and pectin. Place over high heat, stirring constantly. The pectin might be lumpy. Bring to a boil, and boil 1 minute. Stir constantly. Remove from heat.

Add pectin mixture to strawberry mixture and stir about 3 minutes — or until sugar is completely dissolved. A few sugar crystals are OK, but you don’t want it to be grainy.

Spoon jam into five clean, pint-size, freezer-safe jars or containers with tight-fitting lids. Make sure you leave about 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer. Loosely screw on the lids. Allow the jars to sit at room temperature for 24 hours to set. Seal tight. Store jam in the refrigerator or freezer.

1/2 large orange, yellow or red bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 (16-ounce) package frozen baby lima beans (about 3 cups fresh)

2 cups sliced okra

3 cups fresh corn (about 4 ears) or 1 (14.4-ounce) bag frozen corn

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt

Pepper

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (or 2 large tomatoes, diced)

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp. Remove using tongs or slotted spoon to allow drippings to stay in the pan. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble. Set aside.

Return skillet to heat and add onion and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent — about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 1 minute, being cautious not to burn. Use a slotted spoon to remove onion, pepper and garlic to a small bowl. Set aside while keeping drippings in the pan.

Add chicken broth to the skillet. Once bubbling, add lima beans. Cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes or until done to your liking. Add okra and cook, stirring occasionally, until okra has caused sauce to thicken slightly.

Add corn and return onions, pepper and garlic to the pan. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until corn is tender. Add vinegar and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Remove from heat. The residual heat will cook tomatoes through. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Serve immediately.