It’s summer on the home front. And on the flip side…

Summer is my favorite season and swimming (ok, sitting by the pool) is my favorite pastime.

One person who really enjoys the pool and the yard today is my husband Jerry. My idea of a great yard is a clean pool, lush landscaping, nice furniture to sit on, lay out in the sun on, and a nice dining set to sit around when we barbecue.

My husband Jerry, unfortunately had different ideas. Don’t get me wrong. My backyard had all the things I want — only problem is it has sooo much more. Jerry has five adorable grandchildren, and including Jerry, that makes six children he likes to buy things for.

Let’s start with the airplane rider that showed up at my door three years ago.

I called up Jerry and asked if he ordered it.

“Yes,” he said excitedly. “The kids are going to love it; it got great reviews.” But of course it got great reviews — Jerry doesn’t order anything unless it has great reviews. It doesn’t have to be practical, the kids don’t have to love it, or shall I say even use it. As long as it’s a good deal and has good reviews, it’s a no brainer.

As excited as I was to have this schoolyard-sized airplane glider in my backyard, so was my brother in law, Jack, who is the lucky person who gets to assemble or repair all of our purchases. And excited he was when he put together the glider, on a summer day, during a heat wave, when the temps were over 100 degrees, during a fast day.

Truth is, Jerry did help, someone had to hold the instructions and hand Jack the screws and bolts. I admit, the kids loved it the first time they were on it, three years ago, for ten minutes. Jerry swears the height just has to be adjusted now. My brother in law thinks it’s just fine as it is.

Aside from the airplane glider, there are dozens of super soaker water guns, and then some more. They arrive weekly, each one sure to be better than the last. They are in my garage, basement and the side of the house, where they are left because, as much as Jerry loves toys, he doesn’t put them away, so I put them away, and then Jerry thinks we need more, and they’re on sale and you guessed it, they have great reviews.

So we have 1, 2, and 3 foot soakers in all shapes, sizes and colors. We also have water canons that can shoot from one side of the yard to the other, 140 feet away. They can hit a target, or shall I say a woman, all dressed up and about to leave to a wedding …

J E R R Y ! ! !

•••

This week, a three person Roman catapult-like water balloon launcher arrived, and, oh yeah, today’s late breaking news development, Jerry told me to keep an eye out for a monster-sized tire swing which can simultaneously fit Jerry and all five grandkids, with room to spare for any stragglers.

For those kids who need a break from the heat, there is the drum set in the den. (Sorry, Jordana, I did hide the drum sticks till you woke up last Sunday morning, but Ben realized he could play them with pool cues.)

There’s also an electric train set complete with loud annoying train whistle, harmonicas, duck call whistles, stuffed birds and animals that make lifelike sounds including flying chickens. My favorite, of course, is the screaming, snapping, pterodactyl which I first heard in the car, while picking up Jerry from the Far Rockaway train station (because he fell asleep and missed his stop) at 12:20 a.m. Needless to say I wasn’t happy at the time and was still annoyed that another shipment of “toys” had arrived that day.

He got into the car and put a plastic bag in the back seat.

As I hit a bump I heard a huge roar. I turned around and said, “What in the world was that? “Nothing,” he replied. The next time the roar got louder and the bag moved. Jerry, trying to suppress a laugh, explained that it was a dinosaur that roared and moved just as the real one did in it’s day. Yes, of course … it got great reviews and was on sale.

So this summer, whether at your pool, a friend’s or just having a backyard get together, here’s an easy cake to put together that’s lots of fun to look at and eat!

Flip Flop Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

For each flip flop, you can serve one or two.

•1 Entenmenn’s 11.5 oz loaf cake of your choice (or of course a homemade one)

•1 cup ice cream of your choice

•8-ounce carton frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed and whipped

•Pull-apart licorice twists

•Lieber’s Candy Megs Buttons to decorate the flip flop (The ones you have to peel off the paper)

•Graham cracker crumbs (for the sand) optional

Directions

1. Cut the loaf cake horizontally. Using a serrated knife, cut off the rounded top of the cake so each layer will be level. Cut each half into a flip-flop shape. I like to trace the bottom of a child-size flip-flop (needs to be 7 to 7 1/2 inches long) on a piece of paper. Cut out shape. Place paper, clean side down, on a piece of clean cardboard or sturdy paper; trace shape. Cut out shape. Place cardboard shape on top of one cake half and use a small sharp knife to cut around shape and through cake. Repeat with other cake half.

2. Place ice cream in a small bowl and soften a bit. Spread ice cream over one of the cakes. Top with second cake. Cover and freeze until firm. Cover with whipped topping.

3. To decorate, cut the ends of two twists at a diagonal. Insert a toothpick on the underside of each twist. Arrange the two twists with the cut ends together to form a V-shape, inserting toothpicks in cake to hold the twists in place as straps.

Arrange candies around base of flip-flop to decorate.

Freeze until serving.

Upon removing from the freezer, sprinkle finely crushed graham cracker crumbs as sand, on a platter and place “flip flop(s)” on top.

Judy Joszef is a pastry and personal chef as well as a party planner. She spent 18 years as a pastry chef at Abigael’s, The Cedar Club, Centro and T42 in the Five Towns, before launching her current business, Soiree. She can be reached at judy.soiree@gmail.com