Pear

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Serve with: Toast (especially when cheddar omelets are on the menu), potato pancakes, waffles, pancakes, or French toast. Combine with: Crusty bread and blue cheese. Use as: A dessert topping for pound cake (serve with vanilla ice cream).

Here's a fresh take on the classic combination of fruit and cheese. Placing parchment on top of the pears as they are poaching helps keep them moist and submerged in the poaching liquid.

Top this with dollops of chilled whipped cream or scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Caffelatte is what Italians of all ages have for breakfast at home. For small children it is a cupful of warm milk lightly stained with coffee, the ratio of coffee to milk increasing with one's years. It is often accompanied by some store-bought biscuits, but not in my assistant Nadia's family. She lives on her father's farm outside Venice with her husband and small boy, and for her son Tommaso she bakes wholesome cakes with fresh fruit. He has some with his caffeelatte and takes another piece to school to eat for merenda, recess. I was particularly taken with the cake Nadia makes when there is no more summer fruit on the farm. She uses pears and apples and always adds a banana she buys in town. The proportions of one fruit to another may vary, and indeed Nadia says they always do, but nothing much can go wrong or affect the cake's plainspoken, engagingly fresh taste.

Two favorite fall fruits turn up in an interesting, herb-scented side dish.

At Aux Truffes, the poached pears are brushed with a sabayon-like mixture and then broiled. This version is much simpler to prepare and just as pretty and delicious.

A beautiful dessert that's just right for the season. Begin making it at least three hours and up to one day ahead. What to drink: Marsala or Asti.

Caramelized pears plus dried apricots, cranberries, and prunes add intense fruit flavor to this stuffing from Rochelle Palermo Torres, a freelance recipe developer and cooking teacher.

Melting the chocolate in the pear poaching liquid makes an instant sauce.

Great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Roasting tones down the sharpness of the fennel and enhances the sweetness of the pears in this salad. The pears also combine with balsamic vinegar to make a delicious dressing without much added fat.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The traditional apple, walnut and chopped celery salad is updated with a yogurt and low-fat mayonnaise citrus dressing, pine nuts and Cajun seasoning.