Fruits

Move over maraschino cherries, there's a serious new upgrade in town—and with this recipe, you can save money by making your own instead of buying the pricey ones from the store. Cook a batch when cherries are in season, or any time of year; frozen cherries work well here. Be sure to cook the cherries for only 2 minutes; it's just enough to infuse them yet keep them firm and whole instead of turning them to jam. These cherries are the perfect garnish for your next Manhattan, a bowl of vanilla ice cream, or a cake. Or keep a few jars on-hand for an elegant hostess gift.

Learn how to store oranges properly with step-by-step instructions. 

This recipe takes the flavors of banana bread and turns them into a super-moist sheet cake. The crunchy, nutty streusel topping balances out the sweet cake, which gets finished with a boozy rum glaze for even more flavor. To make it in advance, prepare the cake up until step 4 and then glaze it day-of. The cooled cake can be covered loosely with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Languedoc and Mediterranean France make beautifully aromatic, sweet Muscat dessert wines that soak into these poached pears. This recipe, which writer Steve Hoffman tasted in the town of Autignac, replaces the usual sugar with honey and counters the sweetness and floral notes of the reduced wine with some of the resinous and earthy aromas of the area's famous wild scrubland, namely bay, thyme, and fennel. A knife inserted into a poached pear should encounter about the same resistance as room-temperature butter. 

Pork and pineapple are a dream combination in this homemade salty-sweet pizza. Miriam Weiskind's twist on pineapple-topped pie uses Genoa salami in place of ham, and paired with creamy mozzarella and an oregano-scented uncooked tomato sauce, it is sure to convert any pineapple pizza skeptics.

For her jackfruit tacos recipe, Jocelyn Ramirez, cookbook author and chef at Todo Verde in Los Angeles, uses cumin, chile flakes, and salt to capitalize on the pulled-pork texture of jackfruit, transforming it into a plant-based taco filling that tastes like carnitas. Don't turn the jackfruit too often while it cooks; give it time to develop a golden brown crust for the best texture and flavor. Served with tart, creamy avocado salsa and lemon wedges, the spicy, crispy seared jackfruit tacos are a satisfying vegetarian meal.