Apricot

Delicately apricotty, this easy spritz can be made with or without Aperol. 

This wonderfully moist cake comes together quickly in the food processor, with some apricots puréed and some folded into the batter, infusing their summery flavor throughout.

This flavorful sweet bread is packed with dried fruit and nuts and has a very moist crumb. The recipe makes one large loaf or three small loaves that you can give for holiday gifts.

Sweet-tart apples, pungent blue cheese and crunchy pistachios make an irresistible combination in this fall salad.

This chicken takes about 10 minutes to pull together and then about a half hour of mostly hands-off time in the oven. In theory, you could time things so the chicken is ready as soon as the kids go to sleep. But if you can't for the life of you figure out a way to steal the few minutes needed for prep while the kids are awake, then just take care of step 1: Preheat the oven.

A pandowdy is a homey American dessert of cooked fruit covered with a piecrust or biscuit crust that is often cut up halfway through baking and pushed into the fruit. We leave the crust whole here for a quicker and easier version.

If you don't want to heat up your house with the oven, you can bake any muffins on the grill but the lightly smoky flavor that the grill imparts is especially nice with corn-based ones. Because keeping the grill at a steady temperature can be tricky, the baking time can vary, so keep an eye on the muffins. For the best muffins, be sure that the entire pan is not set over direct heat (otherwise, the bottoms will burn).

Parve Ellen: These filled pastries, tri-cornered to mimic Haman's hat and served during Purim celebrations, were a source of conflict in the Kassoff family growing up. Mom didn't give in to her children's entreaties not to buy any filled with prunes or poppy seeds, so a grabfest would occur amongst my brothers and me to see who could get to the apricot-filled ones first.

With the neo-eco-bio-cool. We'll pick our own apricots, cut some rosemary from the garden, a little organic honey…

Apricots and almonds have an affinity for each other, as you'll discover in this marriage of the stone fruit and a cool semifreddo dotted with crushed almond praline.

This recipe works with most fruit. For extra yum, add mini chocolate chips.

In a twist on the classic Italian combination of peaches and Amaretto, Ferrigno pairs fresh apricots with a seriously over-the-top syrup, made with amaretti and the liqueur, that plays up the complexity of the sweet-and-tart fruit.

Offering a good dose of calcium, zinc, and vitamins A and C, this Middle Eastern-inspired combination makes a healthy handheld breakfast or snack. Topped with honey, nuts, and yogurt as thick as ice cream, it might even pass for dessert.