Pared-down summer menus leave you time to catch up with friends

June, July, and August are our "off" months at Martha Stewart Living Television, and I love to entertain on weekends during the summer. I try to use these precious days as catch-up time, inviting family, friends, and colleagues to my homes in Maine or East Hampton, N.Y., where I can socialize and pursue my beloved outdoor activities: hiking, sailing, kayaking, and horseback riding.

Of course, good food is important, but I don't want to spend a great deal of time preparing complicated dinners or lunches. So menus are pared down, relying on the fresh, the available, the "order ahead," and sometimes even mail-order.

Most of the time, everyone arrives on Friday evening in time for a simple feast: a pasta and salad or a main-course salad and dessert -- nothing too heavy, nothing that will interfere with a good night's sleep or an early morning start .

Getting to East Hampton from New York City is simple, but the journey to Maine, all the way to Mount Desert Island, is a challenge because of distance and variable weather . Planning for a weekend in Maine is important because of my home's remoteness from stores and my reluctance to drive a half hour or more for a quart of milk. And forget finding bottarga on Mount Desert Island!

If you develop simple, interesting menus for weekends with guests, shopping lists can be drawn up and all ingredients purchased beforehand so that nothing will be missing when a dish is assembled. And try to rely on locally obtainable foods. That's really what everyone wants to savor when venturing to the beach or coastal Maine: clams, lobster, fresh corn, just-gathered mussels, farm-fresh eggs, handpicked strawberries, etc.

But also be sure to keep some delicious, unusual ingredients on hand, and keep a file or a notebook full of recipes that give your guests that special feeling that, yes, indeed, you took the time out of your busy, busy life to care.

Of the many butter alternatives available, which is the most healthful?

When you're cooking or baking, real butter brings a rich flavor and texture to foods that is unmatched by substitutes made from vegetable oils, such as soybean or canola. However, opting for a butter alternative at the table -- on toast, baked potatoes and the like -- can be a fine way to cut back on calories and saturated fat.

Margarine (a vegetable oil spread that, like butter, contains at least 80 percent fat) is no longer the sole alternative. Grocery store cases are packed with other oil-based spreads that are lower in fat than margarine and often have added nutritional benefits.

When comparing products, eliminate any that contain trans fat, which raises bad cholesterol, says Lisa Hark, director of nutrition education at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of "Nutrition for Life." Butter substitutes sold in sticks are often solidified using hydrogenated soybean oil, a source of trans fat. Choose a product that contains 2 grams or fewer of saturated fat per tablespoon (butter has 7 grams to 8 grams) and between 50 calories and 75 calories per tablespoon.

Some spreads provide essential nutrients or promote heart health. If you have elevated cholesterol, it may be worth the cost (which can be three or four times as much as other spreads) to buy a product with plant sterols or stanols -- indicated on the label -- which are derived from plant cells. Studies suggest that eating foods containing these additives on a daily basis may help reduce cholesterol, Hark says.

You'll also find butter alternatives made with olive, fish, or flaxseed oil; these are all good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Other spreads incorporate nonfat yogurt, though generally not enough to count as a calcium source. However, products with yogurt and olive oil usually contain fewer calories and less saturated fat than many of their shelf mates. If you'd like to add a serving of calcium to your diet, some spreads are fortified with this mineral.

And if you stick with real butter, try a low-fat or whipped version -- the latter has more air and, hence, less fat -- to cut down on calories.

My landscaping company says it practices IPM. What is this?

Integrated pest management, or IPM, is an approach to lawn and garden care that assesses a landscape's microclimate and environment, then recommends solutions to specific pest problems. These include damage caused by disease, insects and deer. IPM also addresses indoor pests, including termites, and those that plague humans and pets -- fleas, ticks, and the like. While traditional pest-control practices tend to treat any infestation with pesticides, IPM regards chemicals as a last resort. The program is not necessarily organic, but it is always environmentally conscious.

There are many IPM methods that reflect common sense. Choosing disease-resistant plants is one. Another is keeping plants healthy by meeting their nutrient requirements and siting them properly -- for example, avoiding planting boxwood in a sunny, dry area. Encouraging a balance of predator and prey is one of the most important principles of IPM.

Plants and insects, along with nuisances such as slugs, evolved together, so small populations of pests will not harm your landscape. On the contrary, many creatures -- ladybugs, lacewings and praying mantises among them -- are quite effective at reducing the amount of pests. IPM advocates supplementing populations of these predators by buying them (or in some cases, their eggs), and placing them in the garden.

Those interested in practicing IPM can start by taking a close look at their plants, keeping an eye out for pests as well as chewed or tattered leaves. Pay particular attention to plants that have been victims in the past. Try to identify harmful pests by using a field guide to insects or by contacting your local cooperative extension office. The latter can also help you decide on a course of action that is in keeping with IPM tenets. This may be as simple as hosing aphids or spider mites off plants or hand-picking Colorado potato beetles from leaves. More severe infestations might be treated with insecticidal soap or, if absolutely necessary, a chemical spray.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Questions should be addressed to Ask Martha, care of Letters Department, Martha Stewart Living, 11 W. 42nd Street, New York, N.Y., 10036. Questions may also be sent by electronic mail to: mslletters@marthastewart.com. Please include your name, address, and daytime telephone number. Questions of general interest will be answered in this column; Martha Stewart regrets that unpublished letters cannot be answered individually. For more information on the topics covered in the Ask Martha column, visit marthastewart.com.