Summer Bucket List Ideas, the Only List You Need

There are officially 94 days of summer this year. Because I'm a weird, obsessive compulsive freak about lists, here's the Ultimate Summer Bucket List with 94 ideas for what to eat, drink, and do one for each day of the season, in no particular order.

Lies. Of course they're in order. You just don't know what that order it is.

Get crackin'. There are only {xo} days of summer left.

50 Foods to Eat for Your Summer Bucket List

1. Watermelon

There is nothing, and I mean NADA, more quintessentially summer than watermelon. Sure, there are all the cute little berries, and of course peaches, plum and other stone fruit. But to be honest, berries and stone fruit are available in grocery stores year round from other parts of the world. And if not fresh, berries and stone fruits are also available frozen. The only fresh fruit you see only in the summer is watermelon. And have you ever seen frozen watermelon sold in the middle of winter? Me neither. Take advantage and eat as much watermelon as you can.

• Watermelon Salad 
• Watermelon Agua Fresca
• Watermelon Juice and Suzanne Goin's Watermelon Vinaingrette {recipes}

2. Strawberries

It is a shame to do anything to farmers' market fresh, summer ripe strawberries — or any fruit for that matter — other than simply rinsing them off before eating them straight out of hand, but sometimes, when in a moment of desperation you've bought too many strawberries ("no such thing" blah blah blah I know) or worse, you shamefully bought white-on-the-inside cottonmouth strawberries in the plastic clamshell, you have to do something to/with them, so:

• How to Keep Strawberries Fresh - probably the MOST important post on this list
• Strawberry Salad with Feta and Walnuts
• Strawberry Butter Mochi Cake
• Strawberry Sorbet
• Strawberry Ice Cream
• Double Double Chocolate Pavlova with Ice Cream and Fresh Strawberries

3. Blackberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries

• Blueberry Salad with Avocado
• Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
• Blackberry, Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie
• Murray Family Farms has Kiowa blackberries (huge berries with huge, shiny bumps), marionberries, and other blackberry-looking berries
• Basic Buttermilk Pancakes with Blackberries
• the best blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and mulberries: Pudwill Berry Farms

4. Cherries

Apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums are all stone fruits that could be grouped together, but cherries absolutely deserve their own number on the list because they're cherries. Like strawberries, I can't imagine doing anything with cherries other than just straight up eating them fresh out of hand, especially since they usually come with stems and pits. But

• Grilled Salmon with Cherry Salsa
• Kale "Tabbouleh" with Quinoa and Cherries
• Cherry Pomegranate Smoothie

5. Nectarines and Peaches

• Peach Salad with Hot Honey Balsamic Dressing

6. Plums

7. Cantaloupe, Honeydew and All the Melons

• Sparkling Melon Sangria
• Cantaloupe Sorbet
• Melon Salad

8. Figs

ok, so basically ALL THE FRUITS, and I promise this list isn't just a farmers' Market shopping list.

• Arugula Fig Salad with Humboldt Fog, Prosciutto, and Pistachios AND
• Arugula Fig Salad with Feta, Olives, Pickled Onions and Pistachios
• Walnut Fig Olive Oil Cake
• Fresh Fig Ice Cream

9. Beachside Fish Tacos

In this part of the world, southern California, fish tacos, like board shorts and flip-flops, are all-season. G e e e e nerally, speaking though, I think of fish tacos as a summer food, specifically beach-y summer, even though I absolutely despise the beach, and even more so the idea of eating food on the beach.

• Baja Fish Tacos recipe
• Salmon Tacos recipe
• Fish Taco Bowls recipe
• Ricky's Fish Tacos, the Best in LA?

10. Grilled Salmon

11. Mediterranean Mezze Platter

If your Summer Bucket List included island-hopping around the Mediterranean on your megayacht but plans got derailed because you don’t actually have your own megayacht, it looks like an Epic Mediterranean Mezze Platter at home is going to have to suffice.

12. Salad Every Day

13. "Classic" Backyard BBQ Side Dishes

Pasta Salad and Potato Salad can be eaten any time of year, but there is no better time and place than during a summer BBQ in your backyard. Here are the best:

• Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
• Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad
• Roasted Garlic Potato Salad with Chorizo {recipe}
• Garlic Roasted Potato Salad,  Dean & Deluca Cookbook {recipe}
• Christina's Korean Restaurant-Style Potato Salad {recipe}

14. Birthday Cake

15. Pie

Any kind of pie. Bonus if you bake it even when it's 100+º outside.

One quick note about pie. Though there's nothing more American than apple pie, apples are actually BEST in season in the fall, not at the peak of summer when we celebrate American holidays like the 4th of July. Stick with peaches, nectarines, and berries, which are at their peak during the summer and will make for the sweetest pies with minial addition of sugar!

16. Farmers' Market Bowl

17. Sunday Funday Brunch, all day long. Or Saturday Faturday, whichever works.

18. Avocado

• Avocado Board aka "Avocuterie" Board, pictured above
• Avocado Cucumber Salad with Chili Garlic Dressing
• Avocado Goddess Dressing
• Easy Avocado Hummus

19. Tomatoes

20. Corn

21. Okra

22. Zucchini

• Thomas Keller's Roasted Zucchini
• Healthy Zucchini Bread
• Easiest Zucchini Bread
• Zucchini Ghanoush

23. Eggplant

24. Cucumbers

• Spicy Avocado Cucumber Salad recipe
• Spicy Cucumbers, Din Tai Fung Dupe
• Oi Muchim, Korean Spicy Cucumber Salad

25. Shell Beans

26. Backyard Korean BBQ

27. Homemade Pesto, best with Home Grown Herbs (see below #68)

28. Green Goddess Dressing

29. Gazpacho

30. Soupe au Pistou

31. Naeng-myun | Korean Buckwheat Noodles in Chilled Broth

• Mul Naeng-Myun recipe
• Bibim Naeng Myeon recipe

32. Cold Soba

• Soba Noodle Salad
• Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce
• Cold Soba aka Zaru Soba

33. Summer Rolls

34. BBQ Ribs, in the backyard

35. Grilled Chicken

36. Grilled Shrimp

37. Ceviche/Poké

38. Clambake or Crab Boil

39. Lobster Roll

40. Ballpark Hot Dogs

Preferably in an actual ballpark, but even if it's in your own backyard, that works, too

• Dodger Dogs with Nectarine Pico de Gallo {recipe}

41. Funnel Cake from the State Fair

42. Shaved Ice/Sno-Cones/Pat Bing Soo

• Korean Shaved Ice Pat Bing Su

43. Ice Cream Made in Two Coffee Cans

• Ok, maybe not make ice cream in coffee cans, but I can make coffee ice cream

44. S'mores

45. Ice Box and Ice Cream Cake

Basically, no-bake cakes

• Tiramisu Ice Cream Cake

46. Popsicles

• How to Serve Popsicles for a Party

47. Aïoli

the French "no cook" spread of aïoli served with vegetables and baguette

48. Jams and Jellies You Preserve Yourself

Look, I'm not even going to try to pretend I "preserve" summer by canning and jamming and all that stuff that people do with fruit and vegetables from their gardens to keep through the fall and winter. What I AM going to do is make jams and jellies that don't require any NASA-level sterilization of jars and equipment.

• Blueberry, Raspberry, and Strawberry Chia Jams, no canning, not even pectin required
• Pinot Noir Prune Jam

49. Pickles You Pickle Yourself

As above, ain't no way I'm "pickling" by fermenting. I will, however, pickle just about anything with a strong dose of vinegar. Here are the favorites:

• Pickled Carrots and Radish aka Vietnamese Do Chua
• Sweet and Sour Korean Pickled Radish
• Korean Soy Sauce Pickles aka Jang-ajji
• Perfect Pickled Red Onions
• Lime-pickled Onions aka Salsa Criolla

50. Oysters

straight out of the ocean if possible

Best Drinks for Summer

51. Summer Sangria

• Sparkling Melon Sangria {recipe} Summer 2015
• How to Make Any Sangria

52. Rosé Wine

53. Chilled Red Wine (previously: Lambrusco)

54. Prosecco

55. Bellini with farmers’ market fresh white peach puree

56. Wine Spritzer

57. Beer with ginger ale or fruit in it

58. Tropical Fruit Frozen Blended Cocktails with Tiny Umbrellas

59. Mojitos Made with Backyard Garden Mint and Limes

60. Water

61. Cold Brew Coffee

• Fairly easy (but a long wait time) to cold brew your own coffee at home

62. Iced Tea

63. Lemonade from a Roadside Stand

64. Date Shake

65. Strawberry Almond Milk

66. Agua Fresca

67. Home Squozen Green Juice

• Ultimate Green Juice {recipe}

Summer To-Dos

68. Grow a Vegetable Garden

Or an Herb Garden or any garden hell drop an avocado pit into a glass half full of water and just watch it grow

69. Throw a Pool Party

even if you have to use an inflatable kiddie pool

70. Play Tennis. (ok, ok, watch tennis. twice.)

71. Celebrate All the Summer Holidays

And if there aren't enough holidays to celebrate, pick any day in the summer and there will be a food holiday to celebrate, June Food Holiday Calendar, July Food Holiday Calendar, August Food Holiday Calendar.

• June 14 - Flag Day
• June 16 - Juneteenth
• June 19 - Father's Day
• June 20 - Summer Solstice
• July 4 - American Independence Day
• July 14 - Bastille Day

72. Go to a Baseball Game

73. Picnic at the Beach

Just kidding. Picnic in the backyard. Ok, maybe just in the dining room.

74. Concert at the Hollywood Bowl

75. Outdoor Movie Night/Drive-In

76. Rooftop Cocktail Party

77. Go to the County Fair

78. Go on a Road Trip and Eat Junky Road Trip Foods with No Guilt

79. Watch the Summer Paris Olympics

WEAR

80. Sunscreen

Every. Day. Moisturizer with SPF, straight-up sunscreen, makeup with SPF, that's right, NEVER leave your house without protection, and LAYER IT to be safe, though abstinence is always the best.

81. Bare Nails

Ok, you're right, I'd never go bare nails. At the very least Nude Nails

82. French Manicure

83. New Flip Flops

84. Espadrilles

85. Cheap Sunglasses

86. Bikini

87. Beach Wavy Hair without Going to the Beach

88. Cutoffs

89. Romper

90. Hats

91. Beach Tote as a Your Every Day Tote

92. The Perfect Little Summer Dress, Floral, White or Otherwise

93. White Jeans

Food for Afterthoughts

I'd be living in a fantasy world if I thought I could write a blog post about a different one of these Summer Bucket List items every day of this summer, especially since we're already a few days into the season.

We've also seen how (un)successful I've been trying to write a 100 Posts in 100 Days, which, after successive post-less weeks, I had to downgrade to 30 Under 30. Eventually, I just wanted to squeeze out one post. Can I just write one?! I did. One in 40. Chrise.

Clearly, posting daily, even weekly, is a pipe dream, especially since the whole point of this list is to do something this summer besides sit in front of a computer inside for 18 hours a day blogging about doing things outside. So at the very least I am going to try to eat, drink, or do one of these 93 things each day (except eat grilled shrimp, to which I am allergic), whether I actually write something meaningful about it here.

And hell, if I drink a glass of rosé every day for 94 days, I'll consider that winning summer.

(Do you want to do some of these things, too? Let me know. Maybe we can do some together! I'm keeping track by tagging #summerlicious here, there, and everywhere)