August Recipes Including Mint-Chocolate Icebox Pie

Not to be too bleak, but we're heading toward summer's last gasp. With one last weekend standing between us and the unofficial start of fall, it's time to pull out all the stops.

Make the most of summer with a menu that celebrates all that's good about August, beginning with a salad of grilled peaches dressed with a bacon vinaigrette, a recipe we scored from the new Chicago restaurant Vera. If the mercury soars, two colder options: three-melon gazpacho or ice-cold bowls of vichyssoise, a favorite of Julia Child.

For a main course, serve platters of fried chicken (maybe this chile-garlic variety?), if only so you can make these incredible cold fried-chicken sandwiches with the leftover meat, dressed with a garlicky lemon-tahini dressing. Offer ears of grilled corn with honeycomb butter and smoky deviled eggs on the side.

For a refreshing, festive finale to your Labor Day weekend feast, bust out a mint-chocolate icebox pie. With a filling of rich chocolate pudding and a topping of mint mousse, it's a bittersweet way to celebrate summer's end.