Mi madre prepara gazpacho con tomate y pepino en verano.

Mi madre is the normal way to say my mother in Spanish.

• mi is the possessive adjective meaning my
• mí with an accent means me after a preposition, as in para mí = for me

So:

• mi madre = my mother
• para mí = for me

La madre mía is not the normal basic way to say my mother here. Spanish usually uses the possessive adjective before the noun: mi madre, tu casa, su coche.

In Spanish, when you use a possessive adjective like mi, tu, su, nuestro, you normally do not use an article before the noun.

So Spanish says:

• mi madre
• tu hermano
• su casa

Not usually:

• la mi madre
• el tu hermano

This is different from English only in structure, not meaning. Mi madre already fully means my mother.

Prepara is the present tense of preparar for él / ella / usted.

Here it goes with mi madre, which is she, so:

• mi madre prepara = my mother prepares

In this sentence, the present tense most naturally gives a habitual meaning:

• My mother makes gazpacho in summer
• My mother prepares gazpacho in the summer

So it is not necessarily happening right now. It can describe something she usually does.

Because the subject is mi madre, which is third person singular:

• yo preparo = I prepare
• tú preparas = you prepare
• él / ella prepara = he / she prepares

Since mi madre = she, the correct form is prepara.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the person.

So instead of saying:

• Ella prepara gazpacho...

Spanish can simply say:

• Mi madre prepara gazpacho...

And even if the subject had already been mentioned, Spanish could often just say:

• Prepara gazpacho...

That sounds natural because prepara already points to he/she/you-formal.

Spanish often leaves out the article when talking about something in a general sense or naming what someone makes, eats, drinks, buys, etc.

So:

• prepara gazpacho = she makes gazpacho

This is very natural.

You could sometimes hear prepara el gazpacho, but that would more likely refer to a specific gazpacho, for example one already mentioned or understood in context.

Compare:

• Mi madre prepara gazpacho en verano = she makes gazpacho in summer, generally
• Mi madre prepara el gazpacho para la comida = she prepares the gazpacho for lunch, a specific one

After con, Spanish often omits the article when talking about ingredients or things in a general way.

So:

• con tomate y pepino = with tomato and cucumber

This sounds like listing the ingredients.

If you said con el tomate y el pepino, it would sound more like you mean the specific tomato and cucumber already known in the situation.

In ingredient lists, Spanish often uses the singular to talk about a substance or ingredient in a general way.

So:

• con tomate y pepino = with tomato and cucumber

This is similar to English when we talk about ingredients as substances:

• with tomato and cucumber
• with onion and garlic

You could use plurals in some contexts, but the singular is very natural when naming ingredients generally.

En verano means in summer or during the summer.

Spanish commonly uses en with seasons:

• en verano = in summer
• en invierno = in winter
• en primavera = in spring
• en otoño = in autumn

So en here is the normal preposition for this time expression.

With seasons, Spanish often uses them without an article, especially in expressions like:

• en verano
• en invierno

So en verano is completely normal.

You may also hear en el verano, and that can be correct too, depending on region, style, or emphasis. But en verano is very common and natural.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, although the original sentence is very normal.

You could also say:

• En verano, mi madre prepara gazpacho con tomate y pepino.

This puts more emphasis on when it happens: In summer, my mother makes gazpacho with tomato and cucumber.

The original order is straightforward and neutral:

• Mi madre prepara gazpacho con tomate y pepino en verano.

Both are correct.

Yes, often you could.

• preparar gazpacho = to prepare gazpacho
• hacer gazpacho = to make gazpacho

Both can work, though preparar sounds a little more like prepare, while hacer is the very common general verb to make/do.

So both of these are natural:

• Mi madre prepara gazpacho en verano.
• Mi madre hace gazpacho en verano.

Both are correct, but they feel a little different.

• mi madre = my mother
• mi mamá = my mum / my mom

Madre is a bit more neutral or formal. Mamá is more familiar and affectionate.

In Spain, many people would naturally say mi madre in a neutral statement like this, but mi mamá is also possible depending on family style and personal preference.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Mi madre prepara gazpacho con tomate y pepino en verano.

Approximate English-style pronunciation:

mee MA-dreh preh-PA-rah gahth-PA-choh kon toh-MA-teh ee peh-PEE-noh en beh-RAH-noh

A few Spain-specific notes:

• z in gazpacho is usually pronounced like th in thin in most of Spain
• g before a in gazpacho is a hard g
• y in y pepino sounds like ee

So tomate y pepino sounds like toh-MA-teh ee peh-PEE-noh.