Crisp

If you don't have a cherry pitter, use the side of a knife to crush each cherry against the work surface. Once the flesh has been separated, remove the pit. Be sure to wear an apron; cherries tend to squirt when crushed.

Use fresh peaches when available - six peaches should do it.

Here's a nice summer dessert from the Fore Street restaurant.

The nutty, crunchy topping makes a nice contrast to the juicy peach filling.

Serve the crisp warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Oregon's Willamette Valley produces great wines — as well as prunes, hazelnuts, and apples, which combine in this dessert.

Active time: 30 minutes Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours

I once heard that the heir to an amaretti factory fortune was kidnapped for ransom. In my imagination I pictured him leaving a trail of amaretti crumbs in the forest to lead the authorities to his rescue. I can't guarantee that this strategy will work if you're kidnapped, but if you leave a trail of crumbs that leads to this crisp, you can be certain a crisp search-and-rescue party will follow.

Homespun treats like cobblers and this crisp never go out of fashion for home cooks, but the past 12 months saw them show up on a lot of restaurant menus.

When Archibald makes this recipe, she uses a kind of apple called Yellow Transparent, grown in the Pacific Northwest. We substituted Macouns, Fujis, and Jonagolds (which hold their shape during baking), all with great success.

The mixture of fruit in this dessert, a long-standing menu item at The Marx Bros. Cafe in Anchorage, might include anything from wild Alaskan blueberries to apples, depending on the time of year.