3LFPOD 103: The Perfect Summer: A Recipe

This week we're diving headfirst into summer — the songs, the memories, the adventures, the food, and those moments that somehow only seem to happen between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

What's The Buzz?

We kick things off with a little bit of everything:

• The World Cup and the surprisingly high-tech "smart" soccer balls helping officials make calls.• Lynne's dental emergency that sent her packing home from vacation and Nancy's adventures caring for a post-wisdom-teeth Riley.• The frustrating reality of shrinkflation and why your ice cream container suddenly feels so much smaller.• Mars' decision to move away from artificial dyes in M&Ms and what that means for those iconic blue and brown candies.

Let's Jump In: Summer Flings & Summer Songs

What makes a perfect summer?

For us it means lakes, camps, road trips, mosquitoes the size of small birds, midnight adventures, and friendships that somehow only existed during those magical summer months.

The sisters swap stories about:

• Summer flings and lake romances.

• Camp counselor adventures and the surprising responsibility we somehow survived.

• Skinny dipping, fishing trips, and unforgettable nights under Midwestern skies.

• The memories that still define summer decades later.

Then we reveal our official Three Little Fishes Top Ten Summer Songs, featuring everything from John Denver to Dua Lipa, The BoDeans to Sabrina Carpenter, plus a surprise addition from Producer Tim himself.

You may find a few new additions for your own summer playlist.

What's For Dinner:

Summer Sides

No summer episode would be complete without potluck food.

This week we're sharing our favorite sides to bring to cookouts, picnics, and lake weekends:

• Lynne's crowd-favorite Cowboy Caviar bean dip.

• Kathy's crunchy cabbage salad with almonds and ramen noodles.

• Nancy's German potato salad (She uses Serious Eats' recipe linked here)— with the great family debate over whether bacon belongs in the recipe.

Spoiler alert: Team Bacon may have won this round.

Fishes Out...

This episode also marks the beginning of our July break. We'll be taking the month off to enjoy family, vacations, sunshine, and a little slower pace before returning in August with new conversations and new stories.

If this episode reminds you of your own favorite summer memories, your first summer crush, a family road trip, or the song that instantly transports you back in time, then we've accomplished exactly what we hoped to do.

Thanks for letting the Fishes jump into your day.

We'll see you in August.

Fishes out.