What’s Been Cooking: July 2026

Summer always seems to go by too quickly, especially here in Vermont (we’ve already spotted some leaves changing color 👀). July was peak summer in terms of weather and outdoor activities, though! Here’s what we were up to this month.

🎆 4th of July Weekend

Independence Day in Burlington is always a blast. It’s a tourist town in the summer, so downtown is usually packed and the city hosts a big festival and fireworks by the lake.

This year, the fireworks coincided with one of the early World Cup games we wanted to see (Argentina vs. Cabo Verde), so we headed to a bar downtown before walking over to the lake. The energy was palpable, with fans on both sides cheering along, tooting horns and waving flags, and a very passionate Cabo Verde fan sitting two seats over. It was exactly the type of energy we’d hoped for and we had a blast.

Then we speed-walked down to the waterfront with our blanket to find a spot for the fireworks. As always, it was an impressive show over the lake and the crowd was packed. So instead of fighting the mad rush at the end with everyone trying to leave at once, we lingered for a while, made our way back up to Church Street and got some late night shawarma from our favorite spot. A truly perfect end to the day!

🏖️ Summer Relaxation

We’ve been all about relaxing in the little free time we’ve had this month. My day job has been crazy busy lately and we’ve been tackling lots of projects for the blog (more on that below), so all we’ve wanted to do on the weekends is chill.

Thankfully, the weather has been beautiful and Burlington’s lakefront beaches are perfect for hanging out with a book, sunbathing, and swimming. It’s nice not to have to drive far for a beach day, even if it’s not quite the ocean.

Along with quieter weekends, we’ve been keeping weeknight dinners simpler this month, too. Pizza nights, sandwiches, and easy stir fries and rice bowls have been our go-to’s lately for quick and easy meals we feel good about eating. This chipotle lime black bean burrito bowl is one of our favorites in the summer.

🤓 Blogging Updates

It’s been another busy few months of work here as we continue to learn and shift our strategy as the internet evolves… (thanks AI). Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to:

• We took an email marketing course that gave us the tools and inspiration we needed to make our newsletters more helpful and more engaging.
• We implemented a new strategy for posting more on social, including better recipe reels!
• We’re continuing to chug along with updating some very old recipes on the site, so you may see new photos and recipe tips pop up on recipes you have bookmarked.
• We’re gearing up for football season, already thinking ahead to the fall with some new game day appetizer ideas in the works! We’re so excited to share them with you soon.

There’s a never-ending list of things to do that keeps our blog up and running, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re so thankful that we get to share our love of food with you and truly love spending our time on this blog every single day!