This week’s recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

You know summer’s nearly here when your cocktail looks like a snow cone. Or a lassi. Or an ice cream float. Or a fruity soda pop that comes in a glass bottle, complete with bubbles and twist-off cap. A wave of new cocktails that hew toward the playful not only puts us squarely in summer but also is helping to make L.A.’s cocktail scene uniquely its own.

What if I told you I had a device in my kitchen that could manipulate and modify the cooking atmosphere and change the fundamental laws of physics by raising the boiling point of water to above 250 degrees Fahrenheit? Then I told you that this device could not only save up to 70% of traditional cooking times but also make many foods taste better? OK, relax, this isn’t an infomercial. You might think I am in possession of some futuristic experimental piece of lab equipment I stole from Nathan Myhrvold. Nah. I just own a pressure cooker.