Fall has always meant one thing to me: Apples.

Apple picking, apple cider, apple pie. Of course, without the picking, the cider and the pie usually don't happen, so it was with trepidation that I entered into my first September here on the West Coast. With the workload that comes with being a 1L, I wondered, would I have the time to get out to an orchard? For that matter, are there apple orchards in Southern California?

At long last, things have settled in here a little bit. The Pasta Burner and I have finally gotten our kitchen in order, and with it, there's a chance to really start exploring the California bounty at our fingertips.

I've been inching to make a pie for a while now. Yes, yes, I know, there have been more tarts on this page than in the wives' seats at the World Cup, but there's just something different, something luscious, indulgent, and summery about pie that other pastries -- including my beloved tarts -- just can't touch. In short, think of it this way: If Tarte au Citron is Grace Kelly, Blueberry Pie is Jayne Mansfield.

The Pasta Burner loves to make biscuits.

And why not? There are few things more delicious right out of the oven than those buttery, flaky, still-steaming-hot buns. The first one is delicious. As is the next one. And the one after that.

The key to great biscuits, of course, is a cup or two of buttermilk; the tangy (and wonderful) side effect of whipping heavy cream into oblivion adds a lovely, pleasant lightness for which there really is no other substitute.

The only problem with biscuit making is that it's nearly impossible to just buy a cup of buttermilk; if you're lucky, a quart is about the smallest container you'll find. So what to do with the leftovers?

The answer is found in today's recipe; the combination of a classic southern dessert and the summer's last bounty of stone fruit. Let's get to it.