Berry

This sauce, a mix of everyday and exotic, provides a sweet and tart contrast to rich meat or poultry.

Amaretti cookie crumbs, sprinkled between layers of phyllo, give lots of satisfying flavor and texture this this apple-cranberry pastry.

The filling of these classic cheese blintzes gets its perfect consistency from a mix of cottage and farmer cheeses. The latter, a drier version of cottage cheese, is available at most supermarkets. A simple blueberry sauce tops off the dish. If blueberries aren't in season, frozen berries can be substituted. Use unsweetened, and do not defrost them before combining with the sugar and cornstarch.

The leftover peach-poaching liquid makes a delicious sweetener for iced tea.

If you're making this entire menu in a single oven, we recommend baking the cobbler ahead of time — that way you can reheat it while clearing the table. Otherwise, you can just whisk together the dry ingredients beforehand, but you'll have to excuse yourself during dinner to assemble and bake the dessert.

Spear fruit with skewers and dip it into the butterscotch, then dip into the nuts and crème fraîche.

How do you improve on ripe summer berries and cream? Whip the cream with a sugar syrup that's been infused with lemon verbena, a fragrant herb available at many farmers' markets.

Marielle Ainsworth of Roswell, New Mexico, writes: "I'm a vegetarian, but my husband isn't, so I'm always looking for recipes that will make both of us happy. The blueberry-banana muffins here are one of my favorite ways to sneak fruit into his breakfast.
These delicious muffins are packed with oat bran, soy milk, and fresh fruit.

Strawberries and kiwi wedges are threaded onto lemongrass skewers for a fun garnish. To make the skewers, cut a four-inch piece from the tough end of a lemongrass stalk, then peel away the outer layers until only a 1/4-inch-diameter skewer remains. (Look for lemongrass in the produce section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets.)

A fruity flavor and mellow heat make ancho chile — poblano chile in its dried form — a delicious and unusual addition to the sweetness of ripe peaches and raspberries.

This cake bakes for a long time at a moderate temperature, which helps keep the ripe fruit from bursting and releasing its juices. The easy-to-make pastry bakes up moist and crumbly, with a texture that's like a cross between a biscuit and a cake. A note from our cooks: We've received some letters from readers complaining about a burned crust when making the peach blueberry cake (August 2005 cover), so we ran through the recipe two more times. Baked in a standard light-colored metal pan, the cake was perfect; baked in a dark metal pan, however, it burned — be aware that the cake's high sugar content makes it more susceptible to burning at high heat. As you'll see in "Tips: A Guide to Using Gourmet's Recipes" (located on the recipe index page) we recommend always using light-colored metal pans for baking. Dark metal pans, including nonstick, will cause your baked goods to brown more quickly. Manufacturers suggest reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees when using dark pans.

When leading ladies such as Christina Applegate and Kate Hudson crave a facial followed by some light fare, they venture to this day-spa-cum-café. Kinara's menu is slightly more indulgent than standard spa cuisine, featuring a cheese plate, steak, Champagne, and dessert. Of course, this treat does more than satisfy your sweet tooth — all the fruit in it made the USDA's list of the top 20 antioxidant-rich foods.

Healthy bonus: Manganese from fruit; antioxidants and fiber from berries; selenium from egg

Requiring a scant 20 minutes of prep time, chef Don Jakubowski's flavorful starter salad delivers more than a burst of color: The spinach packs beta-carotene and lutein for healthy eyes; the raspberries, oranges, and carrots add fiber; and the red bell pepper offers vitamin C.

Begin making this at least one day ahead.

Bake and freeze the Triple-Chocolate Cookies a day before filling them with ice cream. For convenience, you can make the homemade ice cream up to three days in advance. Purchased strawberry ice cream (softened slightly at room temperature until spreadable) also works in these sandwiches.