In my low tech practice of the culinary arts, mastering a lattice pie crust ranks pretty close to an apex of achievement for me. So, I am mightly proud of this autumn fruit pie that I assembled with an assortment of market produce: nectarines and plums, apples and strawberries, cherries and the last stalks of my garden rhubarb. Smelling divine and looking pretty stellar, this pie caps off a vegetable-centric dinner of pasta with homemade fresh tomato sauce, sauteed garlic-scented Swiss chard from my garden and a golden, crisp oven-roasted cauliflower spiked with grated parmesan cheese. But it is the pie that drew gasps of appreciation, the buttery crust topped with crunchy crystals of raw sugar and the filling holding itself together with thick fruit. I enjoy the casual creativity that spawns a pie like this, searching my fridge drawers for stray apples, strawberries and stone fruit, using what I have, turning a mis-matched collection into a cohesive dessert.

Now that I have witnessed the marvel of a multi-fruit pie, I realize that it is precisely the hodge-podge that accounts for this success. Sometimes an all-apple pie comes out too dry, the sliced apples never really melding into a soft, dense filling, the loose pieces falling hither and thither as you cut your slices. I don't know about you, but I like my pies to retain a wedge-like cohesiveness when cut. No loose juice for me, spilling all over the crisp crust and allowing sogginess to prevail. This is the other main pitfall of pie making, a filling that is too wet and doesn't hold together. Those juicy peaches just leeched too much liquid, or you didn't assess the amount of starchy binder correctly. We have all been there and don't really want to see the re-run. In truth, a recipe will not rescue you. No one other than you, in the moment, can assess how juicy your fruit is, how sweet it tastes and whether the binder you are using is adequate. My advise is this: if you want your fruit pie to hold together, use your senses and follow these guidelines:

• Use a mixture of fruit to allow for some juice, some texture, some softness, some sweetness, some tartness, lots of colour and contrast. Some of the fruit will soften into a paste, perfect for binding the fruit mixture together. Some morsels will remain whole and distinct, a good thing in a pie where mush is not quite the look you are going for, where distinct morsels of fruit suspended in some softness are a better goal.
• Add sugar to taste. Recipes are mere suggestions. There is such a wide spectrum of sweetness in fruits. Only you, with your particular fruit, can know how much sugar to add. Sometimes it is hard to know what a mixture will taste like once it breaks down and cooks in your oven. The allure of pies lies in this mystery. Taste the unbaked fruit mixture, guess and wait and see! This doesn't sound like much of a tip, but it's the truth. There is always an element of sweet surprise when you cut into a pie.
• How much binder do you need? I use flour in my fruit pie fillings, so this is what I will speak about. You will think this odd, but I keep adding flour until I feel that the fruit has an almost gluey feel to it. I know this sounds strange, but it really works. I do not measure, but if I did, I wouldn't be surprised if I used almost a cup of flour in my fillings. Mind you, I make gigantic 10-inch pies piled high with fruit, at least 8 cups worth of chopped apples, peaches, plums, berries, pears, etc. Remember that the more flour you use, the more sugar you may need to add to counterbalance it. Stir in the flour so that it disappears and taste the fruit to see if it is still sweet enough, after your flour is in. As you stir in your flour you will start to see the starch thickening the juices in your bowl. I cannot give you a more precise instruction than this. I distrust pie recipes for this reason. You must use your senses to adjust the sugar and flour in your filling. Don't be afraid to keep adding flour if the fruit is really wet and not starting to feel dense. I have never read about this method anywhere, but my pie successes are undeniable. The fruit holds together as if in a magic suspension, solid yet not sludgey, no gluey, sticky stuff to speak of, just a nice, clean wedge of fragrant, moist fruit when you cut the pie.
• Start with a double crust pie, and graduate to a lattice design once you are comfortable with the whole pie-making idea.

I WILL give you a recipe for my butter/cream cheese crust, delicious enough to win fans on its own merits, plus it bakes up golden, crisp and flakey. Make the crust first so that it can chill and rest while you prepare your pie filling.

Cream Cheese Crust:

1/2 pound unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 1/2 pound light cream cheese, cut into pieces, 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp. sugar.

In a food processor, pulse butter, cream cheese, flour and sugar until you have small pea-sized pieces of butter. Continue to process just until the dough clumps around the blades or holds together when pinched with your fingers. Carefully remove the dough from the processor bowl, form it into two balls, one slightly larger than the other, and wrap them well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate while you prepare the fruit for the filling. Makes enough for a large double-crusted 10-inch pie.

Fruit filling for a 10-inch pie:

2 tbsp. plain, fine breadcrumbs, to sprinkle over the dough; 8 cups of mixed fruit, cut into bite sized morsels; 3/4 cup granulated sugar or more if needed; 1/2 cup flour or more if needed; grated zest of 1 lemon; 1 tsp. ground cinnamon. Combine fruit, sugar, flour, zest and cinnamon. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary. If the mixture starts to look weepy and wet, add in flour by the spoonful. You should have a mass of chopped fruit that feels a little bit "gluey", but not too much so.

To assemble your pie:

The larger disc of dough is for the bottom crust. Unwrap it. On a floured surface, roll your dough into a 12" circle, about 1/8" thick. Fold it in half and then fold again into quarters. Gently lift this folded crust into a buttered 10-inch pie pan, placing the point of dough directly in the centre. Unfold your dough and gently fit it into the pan. Leave the dough hanging over the edge. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over it to help absorb some of the liquid from the fruit.

Arrange your fruit mixture evenly in the pie plate, mounding the centre a bit higher. Compact the mixture by tapping on the fruit with the back of a spoon. On a floured surface, roll out the other disc of dough for your top crust, roughly 11" in diameter and 1/8" thick. Fold it in half and then in quarters and lay it over the fruit, with the point in the centre. Unfold the dough and trim the edges of the top and bottom crusts if needed so that they are matched up, overhanging the edges of the pan slightly. Pinch the top and bottom crusts together and fold them upwards to seal. You may press them together with the tines of a fork or pinch into a crimped design. Cut two or three slits in the top crust. Brush with milk or cream and sprinkle with raw sugar to create a sparkly, crunchy crackle effect on the top of your crust.

To Bake Your Pie:

Bake the pie in the lower part of a 375 F oven for about 50 minutes or until the crust is deeply golden and the filling can be seen bubbling through the slits. Let cool to room temperature before serving. If you must cut into the pie before then, the filling may be a little bit loose.

Don't be shy about making pie! It's a bit of a project, admittedly, but well worth it. If sweet, fresh fruit and a crisp, buttery crust are pleasure points for you, you will be amply rewarded.

Photo courtesy of www.lottieanddoof.com

As soon as I spotted these glistening, sweet jellies on the adorable food blog Lottie and Doof, I knew they had to be mine. And, with new crop apples appearing in our fruit stands and markets, what better time to whip these up than right now? I am drawn to the blush pink tone, the firm, thick essence of apple residing in each bite, the crunch of sugar crystals in the mouth. In fact, I cannot think of a better project for this afternoon. . . . .

Thank you, Lottie and Doof!

Apple Jellies

• 3 pounds of apples (about 8), washed, quartered and cored
• 1 cup water
• 1+1/2 cups sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

Start by lightly rubbing an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with a flavorless vegetable oil (canola or safflower). Line pan with parchment and lightly oil parchment.

In a large pot combine the apples and the water and cook over medium heat until soft, about 20 minutes.

Pass the mixture through a food mill or sieve. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the sugar and lemon juice.

Simmer over low heat, stirring often, for about 1 hour. As the mixture cooks and reduces, it starts to thicken and bubble. Scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring to make sure nothing is sticking and burning. The puree is done when it holds a mounded shape. To be sure, you can chill a small amount on a plate in the freezer. It should appear and feel jellied.

Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan. Cool for several hours or overnight. When cooled completely, invert onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Leave to dry, uncovered, overnight. The paste should be firm enough to cut. If for some reason it is not, put the paste in a 150° F oven for an hour or more until firm. Let cool completely before cutting. The paste can be stored whole, wrapped tightly in plastic. Or trim the edges and cut into 1-inch pieces before wrapping. Store at room temperature or refrigerated for up to a year. Before serving toss the pieces in granulated sugar.

If the first photo didn't convince you to try these, here is another one to tempt you. . . .

Photo courtesy of www.lottieanddoof.com

Do something special with the apple harvest this fall with our help:

It's summer time and the living is easy. Someone said that once. It makes sense to me. It's time to bask in the kaleidoscope of colours at the produce stands. And then time to come home and put together something to eat that is fresh and fast. I did just that. The blueberries were plump and tempting, a perfect mango beckoned with its heady perfume, firm stalks of corn awaited discovery. Long, thin beans, bold peppers, slim green onions, I found them all today and made this bright delight to enjoy with some grilled wild salmon.

Let's start with the quinoa and what one does with it. There are different techniques for cooking quinoa and I am going with this one from trusty Saveur magazine.

How to Cook Quinoa Perfectly
adapted from www.saveur.com

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well and drained; 1 tsp. salt

In a 4-litre pot, bring 6 cups of water and 1 tsp. salt to a boil. Add quinoa and simmer 12-15 minutes until tender and grains have bloomed. Remove from heat and drain quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Set sieve back over empty pot, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let rest 15 minutes. Serves 4 people.

Quinoa Salad

Next, if you would like to construct a summer salad, you need some vegetables. I used about a cup and a half each of fresh green beans, cut into small pieces, cherry tomatoes, quartered and fresh corn kernals. I cooked the green beans and the corn until tender and drained them well. Tossed them into the bowl of quinoa I had waiting on the side along with the tomatoes, seeds pressed out lightly, by the way. I toasted a cup of sliced almonds and included them in my creation along with about 6 green onions, sliced into small rounds and two jalapenos, diced, for a hit of heat. Fruit and quinoa get along beautifully and I was after some big time colour, so in went a mango, diced and about 3/4 cup of fresh blueberries. I made a simple dressing with almond oil, fresh lemon juice and the zest of that same lemon, adding salt and pepper, a bit of cayenne and a pinch of raw sugar to taste. The only thing missing was a big handful of fresh herbs from my garden, mint, chives and oregano, adding lush freshness and speckles of green.

My quinoa creation was a perky foil for the rich, delicate meat of the wild salmon, cutting the density of the fish with bursts of fruit and a friendly jolt of peppery heat. It is a salad I will play with and adapt all summer long, as the fruit season delivers its wares. I am looking forward to tender, young zucchini, diced and gently cooked. Corn will continue to appear and will get better as the summer progresses, as will peppers and beans. Parsley and dill, cilantro and thyme, all will play roles.

Keep your summer meals easy and fresh:

Photo courtesy of www.lottieanddoof.com

If you can boil water, you can create colourful, cool frozen treats to satisfy your hot weather cravings. With fun molds available in a variety of shapes and sizes, a whole array of popsicle forms and flavours awaits you.

The building block of paletas, a Spanish term for frozen treats on a stick, is a sugar syrup. It is this easy to prepare: place 1/2 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of cold water in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Set aside and cool completely. Makes 1 cup.

The second essential ingredient in popsicle making is fruit. I have honeydew melon versions for you, blackberry lemonade, strawberry/cranberry and sour cream cherry paletas to share with you. Each one showcases jewel-like colours and deeply satisfying natural flavours, unlike the icky-sticky fake pops you buy at the supermarket. Thanks to Bon Appetit magazine for these great ideas.

Layered Melon, Lime and Lemongrass Paletas

1 cup sugar syrup; 3 stalks lemongrass, roughly chopped; 1/3 cup lime juice; 300g chopped ripe honeydew melon.

Place half of sugar syrup and lemongrass in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Strain and allow to cool. Add lime juice and stir. Set aside. Place remaining sugar syrup and melon in a blender and process until smooth. Divide melon mixture between 8 x 1/3 cup ice block molds, insert stick and freeze for 2 hours. Pour the lemongrass mixture over the frozen melon mixture and freeze for a further 3 hours. Makes 8.

Blackberry Lemon Paletas

1 cup sugar syrup; 1+1/2 cups lemonade; 2 tbsp. lemon juice; 140g blackberries.

Pour the sugar syrup, lemonade and lemon juice into a large jug and stir. Divide berries between 8 x 1/3 cup capacity ice block molds. Pour the lemonade mixture over the blackberries, insert stick and freeze for 4 hours. Makes 8.

Strawberry and Cranberry Paletas

1 cup sugar syrup; 1+1/3 cups cranberry juice; 8 strawberries, sliced.

Pour sugar syrup and cranberry juice into a large jug and stir. Pour half the cranberry mixture into 8 x 1/3 cup capacity ice block molds. Place 2 strawberry slices into each mold, insert sticks and freeze for 4 hours. Pour remaining cranberry syrup into molds. Divide remaining strawberry slices between molds and freeze for a further 4 hours. Makes 8.

And, now, for the adults. . . .

Sour Cream, Cherry, and Tequila Paletas (recipe by Fany Gerson)

8 ounces stemmed and pitted cherries, fresh or frozen; 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar; 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice; 2 tablespoons silver or blanco tequila; 1+1/2 cups whole milk; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1+1/2 cups sour cream.

Put the cherries in a nonreactive saucepan with the confectioners’ sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar has dissolved. Lower the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and simmer, stirring often, until the syrup has thickened and has a consistency like maple syrup. Remove from the heat, stir in the tequila, and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid for another use (soda!). Combine the milk, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. If using vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the mixture, then add the pod. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture just comes to a boil.

Remove from the heat, add the sour cream, and stir with a whisk until completely smooth. If using vanilla extract, stir it in at this point. Let cool slightly, then discard the vanilla bean and refrigerate the mixture until completely chilled.

Put a bit of the sour cream mixture into each of your molds, to a height of about 1 inch. Freeze until the mixture begins to set, about 30 minutes. Divide the drained cherries among the molds, then pour in the remaining sour cream mixture, dividing it evenly among the molds.

Freeze until solid.

Buzz some fruit into a sweet slurry, freeze and lick, with our support:

What would you say to a frosty, fruity drink thick enough to eat with a spoon, but even more fun slurped up through a big fat colourful straw? And, freckled with chewy and chubby tapioca pearls, this concoction also has a whole lot of texture to tickle your palate. Loosely labeled Bubble Tea, my version is based on the fun drinks found at Asian eateries. After some inspection and questioning, I discovered that the Bubble Tea purveyors often use questionable sucrose syrups as liquid, heavily laden with artificial colorants, inspiring me to go home and do better.

I throw this together in a blender with all fruit and no tea, using combinations of fruits and fruit juices for maximum nutrition and taste. Any liquid will do, so cold green tea or herbal tea is a fine idea too. As for the bubbles, Asian grocers sell a product that seems to be a tapioca derivative, starchy globs of pleasantly gummy balls that alternatively float and sink throughout the drink. All the writing on the package is foreign to me, so I am not entirely sure what these bubbles are. Cooking time is also a mystery, but a couple of minutes of boiling seem to soften them up enough to make them palatable. These tapioca pearls firm up quickly once cooked and drained, so they sometimes benefit from a quick rinse in cold water to bring them back to their cute chewiness. Of course, you may forgo them altogether, if experimentation with nameless carbohydrates doesn't appeal to you. I find the bubbles add lots of personality and charm to what is essentially a smoothie, and I like to drink my own version of Bubble Tea with a light lunch, spicy supper, or, simply, as breakfast.

You will need a blender and some frozen fruit. Lots of mixing and matching is possible, but I like to use colour as my guide. For an almost neon orange hue and brilliantly fresh flavour, buzz some frozen mango and peach chunks with orange juice and a few drops of pure vanilla extract. A spoonful of plain yogurt is a nice touch here. Sweeten according to your taste. I like to use orange or apple juice concentrate to sweeten my smoothies. Honey or agave syrup are lovely options. Proportions of fruit to liquid are difficult to measure. Add enough liquid to the frozen fruit in the blender to enable the blades to swirl freely and easily. As a guideline, here are some tips:

Use any frozen fruit you like, as long as the pieces are smallish and easily blendable, no larger than 1-inch thick. Flash freeze your own fruit on a waxpaper-lined baking sheet and then store the pieces in zip-style freezer bags. The fruit will remain individually frozen and you can take from the freezer the amount you need. I always include a banana in my smoothies because it yields a thick velvety quality and tropical taste. To make enough smoothies for 4 people, I use about 4 cups of frozen fruit, 1 banana, about 3 - 4 cups of fruit juice, 2 tbsp. of plain yogurt and 2-3 tbsp. of frozen pure orange or apple juice concentrate. Juice concentrate is a natural, unsweetened product in an intense format, adding deep flavour and sweetness without the need for refined sugar.

Exploit the innate redness of strawberries by blending them with cranberry juice. Blend grape juice with frozen blueberries for a dazzling violet smoothie loaded with antioxidants. You do not have to limit yourself to frozen fruit. Fresh blended fruit is also perfectly acceptable as the basis for a smoothie, though frozen fruit will buzz into a frothier, icier finished product. Make your smoothies as thick or as thin as you like. There is no right or wrong here, just your own preferences.

Buzz yourself silly with these titles: