Fruit

Budino is Italian for "pudding."

Garcia likes making this bread pudding because "we buy wonderful rustic Italian loaves for the restaurant that are just too good to waste," she says.

Tasha Garcia and Julie Taras of Little Giant serve these peaches with their Lemon-Spice Bread Pudding . They would also taste great as a topping for pancakes or waffles.

Crushed pretzels make a better-than-breadcrumb crust.

Serve the carnitas with mashed sweet potatoes, mixed baby greens, or rolled up in warm tortillas with salsa, chopped onions, and cilantro. Berkshire pork lends the best flavor, but a regular pork butt or shoulder is also delicious. Be sure to keep the oil at moderate heat, which will cook the pork perfectly without overbrowning.

Meyer lemons add a floral note, but if you can't find them, regular lemons work just fine.

In Big Timber, a town of seventeen hundred people just northeast of us, lives Susan Pauli, a great gal and wonderful cook who is in great demand as a caterer. She makes this unusual summer creation as soon as the local watermelons have ripened. The pink color is gorgeous, and the salad travels well. Who would have thought that feta cheese and black pepper together would enhance the taste of watermelon?

Nothing melts in the mouth like baked bananas. Served with any kind of cream topping, it is a simple, unsurpassed dessert. Adjust the ingredients and flavors to your personal taste.

**Improv:**Fresh or frozen thawed raspberries would also be great alongside the panna cotta.

Reproduce our handsome cover in your home to add a note of distinction to your entertaining during the warm summer evenings. This is "Watermelon" a creation of the Bourbon Institute. The colors and styling are most appropriate for summer entertaining. And the novelty will appeal to your guests.

Baby bananas are sweeter than regular bananas. Choose ones that are ripe but firm. They can be found at many supermarkets or online at melissas.com.

What to drink: Serve a splurge-worthy aged rum in a snifter, to sip like brandy.

Virtually every island has some kind of coconut industry, since there's a use for every part of the coconut, from soap to cooking oil to mattress stuffing. Here, the fresh "meat" is used in a classic candy. There are many variations on this tasty treat, which is sold on the street and in grocery stores, where it's usually homemade.