Crisp

To help this crisp live up to its name, we devised a little trick: Squeeze the topping by handfuls to compact it, then crumble chunks of it over the filling. The chunks rest on top of the fruit instead of sinking into it.

Terrific with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt.

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.

There's extra crunch in the topping from lots of sliced almonds. Vanilla ice cream is good with this.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

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