As the weather starts to really warm up, and as the summer season, along with all the fun that comes with it, is just around the corner, I am reminded of my childhood spent in the Bahamas. For the past 42 years, since I was 6 years old, my father has been traveling to Nassau every Tuesday on business. We did the math once, and he’s spent the equivalent of more than two months, nonstop, in the air.

My father started his shipping business to the Bahamas in 1982. When I was a kid, he and my mom would pick me up from school Friday afternoon with packed bags, and we would head to the seaport to catch a flight on Chalk’s Ocean Airways.

Arthur Burns “Pappy” Chalk first began flying his seaplanes to the islands in 1917. Their first base was a beach umbrella setup on the Miami shoreline. In 1926, they moved to Watson Island in Biscayne Bay, where they operated for the next 75 years.

Flying Chalk’s as a kid in the 1980s was, in a word, cool! They operated amphibious Grumman Mallards built in the 1940s and ’50s. You would board at the seashore, and the flight would taxi out to Miami Harbor, where it would gain speed and take off. The back floor of the plane would fill with seawater, and you could see it draining once we got in the air.

Later, when Eastern Airlines began flying to the Bahamas, we would take them. For almost every weekend, until I was about 10 and before my siblings were born, we would leave for the Bahamas Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. On the Sunday-evening flights, the stewardesses would help me with my homework that would be due the next day.

We would spend the entire summer there, bringing my grandmother, my great-grandmother and our dog with us for the three-month stay. Sometimes, my parents would send me off to spend the weekend with friends. My dad would take me to the plane, buckle me in my seat, and ask the stewardess to take care of me during the flight. These were different times.

The Bahamas of the 1980s was a vibrant, colorful, wonderful world. The islands gained their independence only a few years earlier in 1973, but as an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, their alliance and love toward the crown was (and remains) very strong.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force, with their stark white uniforms and white helmets, would stand on Bay Street directing traffic. Many older Brits had residences in the Deals Heights section of the island. Magnificent cliffside homes overlooked the ocean, where the sea breeze would drift through towering curtains and banks of French doors.

Restaurants would serve conch fritters alongside U.K. favorites like roast lamb with mint jelly. I recall the joy and exuberant atmosphere that enveloped the entire island when the queen visited in 1985.

In the early 1990s, once I was already in high school, I would help my dad load our cargo planes before going to school. We would go to the airport at 4 a.m. and load two planes before going back home, showering and dropping me off at school. I recall loading the boxes of fresh bread headed for the hotels that morning. The smell was intoxicating.

My parents would go to the Black & White Masquerade Ball at the grand ballroom of the Paradise Island Hotel every year. All the kids would stay together, and the nannies would watch us while our parents were at the ball. They’d make us trays of Bahamian mac and cheese, and we would run in the yard, climbing the breadfruit trees and picking mangoes.

One year, my mother came home starry-eyed, as she had met and danced with Sir Sean Connery. It was an incredible time to be a kid.

Every summer as the weather gets warm and the seashore beckons for a visit, I am reminded of these idyllic times, of the country that is so dear to my family’s heart, of the warm and proud people of the island chain that lies just off our coast. As their national anthem says, “Lift up your head to the rising sun!”

So, for this month’s recipes, I am featuring a few of my Bahamian favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

First up, next to Kalik beer, is what is widely considered the national drink of the Bahamas. It is incredibly easy to make and wonderfully refreshing. However, a word to the wise: It packs quite a punch and goes down too smoothly.

Sky Juice

2 cups fresh coconut water

1 cup gin

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Fresh cinnamon

Combine all ingredients, except the cinnamon, in a large pitcher, and mix with a whisk. To serve, pour over ice, and sprinkle with cinnamon and/or top with a cherry. Cheers!

Few dishes are as ubiquitous in the Bahamas as conch salad, and my mom makes some of the best around! Tangy, spicy and cold — it’s summer in a bowl.

Mercy’s Conch Salad

1 pound of fresh conch meat (cleaned and diced, available at fresh seafood markets or sold frozen)

1 large tomato, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 large white onion, diced

1 Scotch bonnet pepper, finely diced (Scotch bonnet peppers can be a bit hard to find around here; habaneros or even jalapeños work well, too. Use peppers according to your level of spice. We like things spicy!)

1 sour orange juiced (Sour oranges are available at most Latin and Caribbean markets. In a pinch, you can use the juice of 2-3 sweet oranges mixed with the juice of 1-2 limes.)

3-4 limes juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a large nonmetal bowl, and allow them to sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. This is even better the next day!

Finally, here’s a recipe for Bahamian Mac and Cheese. It’s so cheesy that I often joke it should be called “cheese and mac.” Baked like a casserole, it pairs well with almost anything! Eggs, evaporated milk and butter form both the binding agents and wonderfully creamy base for this dish. It differs from saucier American versions.

In the early colonial times, fresh dairy and meat were scarce on the islands. Canned evaporated milk became a staple, evolving into a key ingredient for this indulgent treat. Traditionally, this baked dish is cooled, cut into squares, and served right from the baking dish.

Bahamian Mac and Cheese

1 pound uncooked elbow macaroni

1/2 cup butter

2 (16-ounce) bags shredded cheddar cheese

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 large white onion, diced

4 eggs

salt & black pepper to taste

2 pinches salt

2 teaspoons paprika

12 ounces evaporated milk

Start by adding a hefty pinch of salt to a large pot of water, and bring it to a boil. Then, add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions. Once cooked, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Stir in the butter until it melts, then gradually incorporate most of the cheese, setting aside 2 cups for the topping.

Next, add paprika, salt, black pepper, onion and green pepper, stirring until the cheese is melted and everything is well-combined. Slowly pour in the evaporated milk, adding about half a cup at a time. Lightly beat the eggs, and gently fold them into the mixture.

Spread the mixture evenly into a greased 13-inch-by-9-inch pan. Top it with the remaining cheese, and loosely cover it with foil.

Bake at 375°F for 1 hour or until the top is golden. You may need to uncover it at the 45-minute mark to allow it to brown a bit. Allow the casserole to cool for 35-40 minutes before serving.