Pie

Washington pears and California raisins complement each other deliciously. This is perfect with vanilla ice cream.

More pastry chefs are using spices typically associated with savories in their sweets. Here, Chinese five-spice powder, a blend of warm spices and aromatic flavorings, adds allure to a fruit filling.

When ripe, fresh apricots have a velvety-soft deep golden skin with a faint blush and the most delicate flavor. When picked before maturity, the flavor is less than exciting but baking surprisingly intensifies the flavor even of the pallid ones, bringing them more toward the piquancy of dried apricots. Since baked aprictos are so vivid, I always bake them entirely open-faced in a pie. Glazing them with strained apricot preserves adds extra flavor and makes them glisten.

Apple orchards of all kinds can be found throughout the middle of the United States. Interestingly, Red Delicious apples are a heartland original, first discovered in 1872 in Peru, Iowa. They are celebrated here (with their sweeter yellow cousin, the Golden Delicious) in a double-crust pie that's truly a "Delicious" closing to the Thanksgiving feast.

Adding sour cream to the filling richens the custard and makes it a bit less sweet, allowing the flavor of the pumpkin to come through in this dessert. Any extra pie dough can be cut into pumpkin shapes for a festive garnish on top.

Using orange juice instead of water in the crust enhances the fruit flavors in the filling. To prevent the dough from sticking, lightly flour the work surface and the dough, sprinkling with more flour as needed; also, roll just to the edges of the dough, not over them, rotating the dough often.

A western twist on the old-fashioned pecan pie . California walnuts, dates and brandy give this pie its candy-bar flavor.

The delicious macadamia nut crust is an innovative twist on a favorite dessert.

This is my recipe for a straightforward apple pie. It reflects not only my preferences but also countless influences. It is intentionally imprecise because there are so many variables to consider. To get it right, you pretty much have to taste as you go along or trust your instincts.

This recipe for the classic Greek dessert called galaktoboureko is from Romeo, a delightful place in Old Town.