On Saturday night, we had dinner at my brother’s place, pulling up to his house at the end of a blazing hot day to find he had made a full taco night spread, a mirage shimmering just past the front door. These were not tacos in the “It was like I was at the market in Mexico City!” sense. It was a taco kit-style deal, with seasoned sautéed ground beef and turkey; a platter of soft tortillas and hard shells; bowls of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sliced avocado, salsa; black beans and rice on the side; cold beer. It was a blast, the most fun I’d seen kids and grown-ups have sharing the exact same meal together in a long time.

A superb non-kit recipe is below, and I highly recommend reading the thoughtful and joyous column that goes with it, by Sam Sifton, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my boss. (He also told me that when he makes this dish he likes to load up a hard-shell taco and then wrap a flour tortilla around it, creating a sort of edible napkin that soaks up flavor.)

And two follow-ups to recent newsletters: First, Georgia peach lovers really came at me (in a kind way) when I asserted that nectarines were superior. It’s true, I’ve never had a freshly picked Georgia peach! Only the ones that are shipped up north. I now know that I haven’t truly lived, and I would love to fix that as soon as possible. I also made Alison Roman’s lamb skewers with lemony onions, but I had only ground pork (and no actual skewers), so I mixed the spices into the meat, made little patties about two inches across, and pan-fried them. It was great. (Have you made any newsletter recipes lately? Tell me what you thought at dearemily@nytimes.com.)