Pear

Hélène Wagner-Popoff writes, "My husband, Ivan, and I moved to Corsica from Madagascar eleven years ago on a whim. We restored an abandoned convent and saved the thousand-year-old olive grove surrounding it. The fact that I live in the country — with the luxury of having a garden full of wonderful ingredients — makes it easy for me to love cooking. I strive to teach my three little girls how to take pleasure in the simple, good things in life."

An added pleasure of this salad lunch is that you can mix your own. Take a large tray and line it with grape leaves or large flat leaves of leaf lettuce. In the center place a shallow dish piled high with heart leaves of lettuce, watercress and spikes of French endive. Around this dish, on the grape leaves, arrange fruits according to your liking, such as:

A traditional French cake, the financier is usually made from ground almonds blended with butter and egg whites. Individual rectangular financiers are popular in France's pastry shop.

Serve the crisp warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Maple syrup is one of New England's unique gifts to the culinary world. The natural sweetener is a wonderful complement to all kinds of ingredients but is especially good when teamed with pears, which are plentiful in fall. Here they're partnered in a cobbler, an old-fashioned dessert of fruit baked with a biscuit topping. Make sure to pass whipped cream flavored with the delicate syrup.

Pears and walnuts are often seen growing side by side in wine-country orchards. They make ideal partners in this delicate, old-fashioned dessert.

Honey and dried currants add sweetness.

The chef bakes individual tarts in small cast-iron pans, but he suggests that the home cook make one large tart. He serves each tart with a scoop of his own vanilla-bean ice cream and a "barber pole" of dark and white chocolates.

The creamy soup would be great with large sesame-coated breadsticks and a spinach salad with marinated mushrooms. Baked apples and oatmeal-raisin cookies are nice after. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Served with poppy seed scones at Sarabeth's Restaurant in New York.

An impressive but easy dessert that's like a custard with fruit baked in it. In the summertime, make it with fresh peaches or plums instead of the pears.

Many dessert menus include a colorful sorbet plate-light and refreshing after a rich meal. Offer elegant cookies alongside. For the pink grapefruit sorbet recipe, we prefer Essencia, a dessert wine with the unique flavor of orange muscat grapes. It's made by Quady Vineyards in central California. If you cannot find it, use a Sauternes or a late-harvest Riesling.

This spice-scented compote makes a great accompaniment to the New York cheesecake.