Summer's bounty of fresh fruits perfect reason to turn oven back on By NADINE FOWNES | Comfort Food | 6:41 AM

IN THE HEAT of July and August, I try to keep our house cool by leaving the oven turned off and cooking as many meals as possible outside on the grill.

But then along comes the peak of the local summer fruit season, and all these rules fly out the windows.

While slurping my way through baskets of ripe peaches and plums, all I can think of is: I bet these would taste great in a pie (or cobbler, tart, a cake, or a crumble).

So much for keeping the house cool.

Most times, there's really no choice but to get baking.Here's how to handle  this beautiful but all-too-brief summer bounty:

.Ripe and ready: For best results use fruit that is perfectly ripe and sweet. Tart, underripe fruit won't get any better in a pie.

.Perfection is fleeting. In just a day or two, a basket of fruit can go from ripe to rotten. Keep ripe fruit in the fridge and it will last a little longer, usually up to three or four days.

.Of course, stone fruits taste best at room temperature, so every day, set out several pieces of fruit for eating and keep the rest in the fridge. If you're using the fruit for baking, the temperature doesn't matter so much.

.Ripen stone fruits like peaches and plums by popping a few in a paper bag, rolling up the top and setting the bag aside on the countertop for a day or two. Placing a few pieces in your fruit bowl next to the bananas and avocados will do the trick, too.

.Some stone fruits, like peaches, may have to be peeled. To peel, quickly plunge fruit in pot of boiling water; the skins should slip right off.

.Freestone and clingstone refer to how the fruit grows around the inner pit or stone. Clingstone fruit will be attached to the pit; freestone varieties will release freely and easily from the pit.

.When making pie pastry, everything needs to be cold - butter, water, hands and countertop. So, if it's a hot day and you're baking pie, chill everything before you start, right down to the flour and the bowl you're going to mix your pastry in. If possible, make your pastry in the morning before the kitchen gets too warm.

.If you don't want to deal with making pastry, you can still get that warm, deep, saucy fruit flavour of pie by baking fruit sans crust.

Butter a casserole dish, halve and pit six peaches or a dozen plums and arrange in the dish. Sprinkle with sugar, tuck a little orange zest, maybe a vanilla bean or some mint and rosemary sprigs in amongst the fruit. Dot with butter and splash in a little water or white wine to keep everything moist.

Bake for a half-hour or so at 190 C (375 F), basting every now and then, until the fruit is soft but hasn't lost its shape. Serve warm or at room temperature any way you like, with ice cream or yogurt or a drizzle of extra-heavy cream.