In much of the Midwest, this week felt like someone abruptly turned off the summer switch and turned the autumn dial all the way up. After an extremely hot summer, suddenly the nighttime lows dipped into the 50s and the days emerged crisp and cool. This whiplash-inducing change got me panicked about all my favorite summertime foods disappearing before I had a chance to savor them. Epicurious must have been reading my mind, because they just posted about recipes we should all be making before the season ends.

My panic about missing out subsided as I read the article and ticked off the items I have enjoyed this summer: a perfect watermelon, deep red and candy sweet; several lush and fragrant cantaloupes; and the most intensely-flavored tomato I've had in years (Brandywine, from my garden). Those three foods are high on my must-have list every summer, and this was the best year for all in recent memory. Also excellent this year: cucumbers boasting crisp flesh with hardly any seeds, peppers with just the right amount of heat, a delightful peach crisp, and lettuce that matured just as the cyclosporiasis outbreak hit the news.

Even though the weather has done a 180, the garden (and farmers markets) will linger for a few more weeks, giving us time to savor the last of summer fruits and vegetables as we transition to the season of apples, pumpkin, squash, and root vegetables. Soup season is around the corner, providing something to anticipate as we bid adieu to summer flavors. What were your food highlights this summer?