The harvest of fruit comes in waves. Some years, it can be significant waves. This year is the year of peaches and plums, at least for us.

Friends, orchards, trees, all are sprouting fruit en masse in droves. What do you do with all this fruit at once?

I have one friend who dropped off dozens of amazingly just-picked plums. Perfectly ripe and ready to eat! If it were just me, it would have been overwhelming and not even possible to consume in the ideal timeline. My son, who was home for a moment, consumed them in the blink of an eye. Nice to be young!

My friend who dropped off the plums and some apples said he has more than he could ever consume from his trees and that the deer and the antelope will happily eat what's left on the trees. So he was happy nothing will go to waste.

Another friend just dropped off a couple of dozen freestone peaches! And they are awesome! Beautiful flesh color and skin! The best peaches I have had in three years!

The question is, what do I do with the peaches I picked up from the market yesterday? They are already getting too soft.

This really is a question for all fruit. What to do when the fruit you wanted to eat has gone to the soft side.

Turns out there are a lot of options. The options I want involve no prep beyond slicing up the fruit. No peeling (if possible) or any options that require excessive handling of the fruit.

I want options that are easy and not a project like making jam that takes more time and you have to wait to eat.

Freezing is the simple choice. Cut into pieces and freeze. Use later in smoothies or savory dishes or on top ice cream.

Crisps, clafoutis, cobblers, and pies. And don't be shy about mixing and matching the fruit. And if you don't have enough fruit, consider adding frozen fruit.

Add the fruit to bread and cakes. Put them inside or on top to dress up your favorite recipes.

Mash and puree and add the fruit to salad dressings.

Or, try cooking the fruit with onions and lots of butter to make a topping for chicken or pork.

Or, cook and mash and top ice cream.

There really are a zillion ways to use fruit when it reaches the unappealing look and feel that makes you not want to eat it out of hand! Experiment and try anything!

All the fruit from friends made it safely to mouth without waste. Thanks!

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This recipe is so easy, and the result is so good! Adapted from Michael Natkin's cookbook herbivoracious, which, by the way, is awesome and one I keep around always. Simple recipes with the tricks of the kitchen to make more out of less!

See the Peach and Blueberry Buckle Recipe here!

Maybe not what you expect....

See the easy Cobblers Recipe here!

The Grunt is a New England classic. Like a cobbler but cooked on top of heat and not in the oven. Perfect for camping!

The term "grunt" refers to a type of traditional American dessert that has its roots in New England. It is very similar to other fruit-based desserts such as cobblers, crisps, and slumps. Grunt is a simple and rustic dish that was popular among early American settlers, and it typically consists of stewed fruit topped with a sweet biscuit or dumpling dough.

So for this is a recipe that doesn't work, but I wanted to include a grunt recipe. For me, so far a disaster...just letting you know. If anyone has a good grunt recipe and wants to share let us know!

See the easy Blueberry and other Fruit Grunt Recipe here!

Easy to make and rewarding, filling and fun. The only ingredient that makes a noticeable difference is the tomato you choose to use.

This sauce can be dressed up with spices and herbs to your liking.

Use simply over pasta, over rice or by itself. Or try it with a big tubed pasta and cheese.

See the easy Red Sauce Recipe here!

Paccheri is a giant tube shaped pasta! It is so big that pasta recipes get named after it.

Shop now for Gentile Organic Paccheri Pasta!

So incredibly simple and easy to make. Boil water, cook the pasta, heat the oil and capers, add the pasta to the pan, toss to coat, and crumble the tuna on top. Perfect when it's just you and a good book, or at a table for two.

See the easy Pasta Tuna Capers Recipe here!

The ever-versatile Piquillo Pepper is perfect for stuffing with your favorite amazing tuna.

FYI - Piquillo peppers are very hard to get right now.

See the easy Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Tuna and Capers Recipe here!

Quick to make and always good. The Italian Artichokes in the jar are perfect for this recipe.

See the easy Pasta with Artichokes, Capers, Tomatoes and Tuna Recipe here!

On a bright, sunny day, as I look south to Mount Rainier, I wallow in self-pity because I cannot find the words to put down on paper about my hearts.

And I realize there are visual similarities between the hearts and Mount Rainier. With the bottom up and the leaves splayed out, they are indeed like Mount Rainier!

Now, I am not talking about the throbbing thing that is in your chest (and sometimes in your throat); I am, in fact, referencing the heart of the artichoke from Puglia.

Known as Romana Style, these artichoke hearts are bathed in olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, and spices.

The "chokes" you get in a jar or tin can are almost always a variation of the Roman Style. This is where the olive oil, the wine vinegar, and the chosen spices make a difference! And the artichoke itself is also an important factor in the end result.

Now, a true confession: I really do like the artichokes in a jar thing, so much that I am willing to forget that the last big jar I got from a warehouse store was not very good, and I still manage to buy a two-pack every once in a while.

The real trouble with getting those giant jars is that the chokes are mostly hard, the leaves often un-chewable, and the oil is gross and oily...good oil is not oily.

These Roman-style from Puglia are none of those things.

They are, in fact, soft, with a wonderful, interesting flavor, and a pleasure in the mouth. To the bite, they have just the right resistance and a gentle soft crunch. The leaves and the heart have their own bite and marry well together.

Often, a recipe will have you slice them up into smaller pieces or dice them, and this makes sense. If you're like me, cutting them up a little bit for visual reasons works, too. Or, just eat them whole right out of the jar when no one is looking. Like drinking from the milk carton!

The flavor is a combination of the oil and the choke itself, which is sometimes described as asparagus-like (not sure this is quite true) and with a hint of citrus.

And the oil that they come in is full of artichoke flavor (keep in mind I can't seem to describe the flavor). The oil does taste like artichoke. Perfect for a salad dressing or pasta dish.

Though I am thinking it might just be right for a hearty bowl of mixed grains of emmer and lentils topped with veggies, including these artichokes.

Shop now for Artichoke Hearts Romana Style in Olive Oil!

I want to tell you a wonderful fish story. It started with a trip out of state and ended up with me meeting a neighbor I hadn't met before. Funny how that works sometimes. Not exactly a next-door neighbor, but a neighbor to the north, about 90 minutes away by car.

I was in San Francisco at a food show and ran into an old friend, Mehdi (he makes the Harissa we all love).

We chatted about, what else, food. Then Mehdi said to me, "Did you try the wild-caught canned tuna from Lummi Island?" I was like, "No, not really interested." And he said, "Come on, you have to try this; it is really, really good."

So over we went to the Lummi booth, and I met Ian and Riley from Lummi Island who let the fish do the talking. And the fish was good, really, really good. So good I knew right then and there we were going to carry it.

The taste was special. As good as any tuna in a can I have ever had. It was surprising. We have had a lot of tuna over the years. Many cans have been recommended to us, and rarely if ever are they super special. This tuna is memorable!

This sashimi-grade young tuna is individually caught with single hook lines and is flash-frozen solid at sea right after it is caught, making it a sustainable canned tuna, as well as a tasty one! Averaging up to 50% less mercury than many common store brands, this tuna has more omega-3 fatty acids than most salmon!

All of Lummi Island's wild-caught canned tuna comes from one second-generation tuna fisherman, Paul Hill, and his crew, who care about the fish and making sustainable canned tuna. Because of the special gear they use, they get virtually no bycatch.

We had an impromptu taste test in the shop this week of all our canned tuna to refresh our memories and to welcome our tuna to the school. Everyone has their favorites and is not likely to relinquish their choice. Though everyone agreed Lummi Island tuna is quite special and worth pulling the tab!

It is a great story, a good fish story!

Shop now for Lummi Island Wild Albacore Canned Tuna!

Traditional Italian penne rigate pasta - drawn through bronze, so that the surface is rough, and ready to take whatever sauce you give it.

Penne is perhaps the best known tubular shaped pasta by name. Think of a large straw with ribs that go vertically along a tube cut diagonally, the length being about 5 times the diameter of the tube.

I would consider this an old reliable shape which works well with almost any recipe, from a simple sauce to mac 'n cheese! This is a good shape to always have on hand.

Shop now for Sgambaro Penne Rigate Pasta!

We like these. The tomatoes are whole and nestled beautifully inside the can. The taste is pure tomato, the way a canned tomato should be, with no added elements, allowing you to be in control of how they're flavored.

For almost 20 years, we have had one favorite canned tomato from Italy.

So when this can of tomatoes came into our lives one day, I was a bit stubborn and hard-pressed to find a reason we should change.

And then I used them in my basic tomato sauce and knew they would become my new favorite. These are consistently sweeter tomatoes, with a richer, fuller color, and with nice soft ends. These tomatoes work just as they should, adding to a dish without being too strong. Perfect.

They have just three ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice (juice from processing), and citric acid. No salt added, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, BPA-Free, Pesticide-Free. 100% Pomodori Sardi Tomatoes from Sardinia. Like all great ingredients, there is a difference from one brand to the next!

These are truly exceptional tomatoes.

Shop now for Posardi Sardinian Whole Tomatoes!

Harissa is not one of those condiments that has only one authentic recipe. In fact, from town to town, region to region, it can vary from a little to a lot—from texture to ingredients and from hot to not so hot. Of all the harissas we have tried, this is the very best!

Here, in this jar, is Mehdi's mom's recipe. Authentic to his family, Mehdi strives to recreate Moroccan harissa as if it were made at home in his kitchen growing up.

Villa Jerada uses the finest ingredients from around the world, freshly ground and combined to make one of the freshest products we carry. All their attention to detail and the feeling of smooth heat make this Moroccan condiment a treat!

You forget how good one product is compared to others until you use a different one. And then it is like a slap on the forehead when you remember why we chose this one. We recently did that and really missed Mehdi's harissa.

The Villa Jerada Harissa represents the story of Mehdi returning back to his Moroccan roots.

Harissa remains a staple as a Moroccan condiment, much like ketchup, Tabasco, or Sriracha is in many American homes. Though some key ingredients remain essential to every Moroccan harissa recipe, variances do exist, setting some apart from the others.

How is Villa Jerada's harissa recipe any different from what's in the market today? Well, first, though this sauce remains prevalent in Morocco, its influence on this recipe goes beyond the geography of Mehdi's native country and past the vibrant street culture that comprised his upbringing, to the center of where his love for food began.

Shop now for Villa Jerada Moroccan Harissa!

Adapted from How to Cook Everything, The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food, by Mark Bittman. This is a good cookbook to have in your library.

See the easy Classic Chicken Stew with Garlic Recipe here!