When it comes to gardening, Classie Parker is the fairy grandmother who we all long for—except that she doesn't turn pumpkins into coaches or mice into footmen. Instead she does something much more powerful and true-to-life. This spunky, funny, vegetable grower visits different communities in New York, "teaching people how to put the love in their food" by instructing them in the forgotten art of canning. Along the way, she inspires all who listen to her about passing along the lessons of our "mommas..grandmommas...and great-grandmommas..." as you'll see in this video that Etsy put together.

Photo: Sara Remington

Here's what's on our September menu...

Pizza with Sausage and Whipped Cream
Nancy Silverton, co-owner of Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza and Mozza2Go in Los Angeles, was so in love with the sausage and cream pizza she discovered at an Umbrian restaurant that she asked the chef to show her how he made it. When she went back to the kitchen, she saw that the heavy cream had been whipped, so it was spreadable. This is her "number-one favorite" out of all the pizzas she serves, which appears in her new book, The Mozza Cookbook. Here's the recipe.

Apples
Whether you pick your own or buy them at the greenmarket, apples are hitting their stride this month. September varieties include Gala, Paula Red, McIntosh, Ginger Gold, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Ultragold, Cortland, Jonalicious, Red Delicious and Jonagold. Find out what to do with these quintessential fall fruits--aside from eat them out of hand, that is--at OrangePippin.com, which catalogs more than 600 varietals, from Aceymac to Zuccalmaglio's Reinette.

A Concord Crush
Dark blue or purple-skinned concord grapes show up most often in wine or juice, but their tangy flavor also shines with vodka and lime juice. New York's Gramercy Tavern serves a seasonal concord grape cocktail made with whole grapes and a grape puree that's so tasty, you'll forget all about the end of summer margaritas by the pool. Beyond their lovely aromatics, concord grapes also contain a miracle nutrient: Polyphenols, which can reduce the risk of heart disease. Get the recipe here.

Long weekends always give us lots to be thankful for. As summer comes to its unofficial close, here's what made our week:

Once a teacher, always a teacher. An 85 year-old woman still leads class one weekend a year in her old one-room school.

Radiolab took some of life’s biggest concepts and smallest joys and turned them into sounds. (Via NYT)

Maybe you've seen this? Rebel with the best cause: the kid who ran a library of banned books from her locker.

They almost pulled it off: Some thieves wear cloaks, some dress in all black; these little goat-nappers were still in their footie pajamas when they got nabbed.

Never met a dance montage we didn’t like: 100 years of East London style in 100 seconds.


Enjoy the long weekend!

Photo: Thinkstock

Flash back to Labor Day twenty years ago: do you remember what it felt like to glide through the water at your local pool, or the pond at the campground, or the waves at the beach? Oh, the fun and freedom of being able to swim with the fishes (or the other kids in floaties)! To plunge, surge, reemerge, glide, flip and float! When your parents called you to come in for Bologna sandwiches, you'd do underwater somersaults and pretend you couldn't hear them. At the end of the day, as you reluctantly clambered onto dry land, you'd admire your prune-y, wrinkled fingers.

Over the years, our summers filled up with internships and odd jobs, and our beach holidays involved more sunbathing than swimming. Without regular access to a pool or pond, some of us are now tentative in the water. But with everyone from our physical therapists to our ob/gyns to our fitness trainers reminding us of the high-intensity, low-impact benefits of swimming, we're thinking more about it. That's why we decided to ask two swim coaches for their advice on getting back in the water. One more reason to dive in this weekend: average ocean water temps are still near their highest.

Ready to dip your toes in?

Photo: Thinkstock

We certainly don't want to spend a holiday weekend that celebrates workers by slogging through elaborate recipes and multi-step dishes--nor do we want you to. So we've pulled together the best summer recipes for feeding a crowd with a minimum of labor. Every one of these dishes can be made ahead of time, leaving you free to enjoy the party.

Art Smith's Make-Ahead Salsa keeps in the fridge for three days

Cream cheese and pesto unite in these Tortilla Spirals hors d'oeuvres, perfect for using up all that basil. Make them in the morning and serve them in the afternoon.

Marinate and grill this Beef Skirt Steak ahead of time and refrigerate it, then just slice before serving. 

Bake Cat Cora's Jalapeño-Jack Cornbread Muffins the day before and let everyone eat them at room temperature.

Lee Bailey's fresh Curly Leaf Lettuce, Avocado and Bacon Salad can sit in the fridge, undressed, for hours.

You can prepare and refrigerate White Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Crisped Sage up to four hours before eating it; take it out and let the chill come off it before serving.

Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups are a breeze to make, and won the grand prize at the 2010 Pillsbury Bake-Off.

Keep reading
What you need to know to feed more than 5 people at once, without scorching anything
The single most important step to grilling the perfect steak
Sides that go with any summer BBQ