Before I got my speedy cherry pitter with its spring-loaded plunger, there was a dark side to the juicy glee of cherry season.

The problem was the pitting.

I’d begin the summer with grand plans of cherry pastries, cherry preserves, cherry cakes and cherry lemonade. Then, after the laborious, fingernail-reddening business of pitting a couple of pounds of fruit, I’d end up with one glorious pie — and a whole lot of cherries eaten out of hand when I finally admitted that pitting them between my teeth was just the easiest way to go.

Buying the cherry pitter, which cost less than one cherry pie at a fancy bakery, changed all that. Now, I can pit a pound of cherries in approximately five minutes. If you adore cherries, consider investing in one.

But even if you’re relying on a hairpin or a paper clip for pitting, fresh sweet cherries can still be part of your summer cooking. The key is to choose a recipe that calls for a cup or two of fruit, rather than a quart or two. Then use your cherries where they will have maximum effect.

For example, cherries are brilliant as the foundation of a pan sauce to serve with rich meats like duck breasts. But pork chops work equally well, and they are better suited to weeknight cooking: easier to find, a little less finicky to prepare. Besides, pork and fruit are classic together, and brawny chops are as delightful with cherries as they are with more typical apples.

As with any other pan sauce, the way to get the most flavor is by searing the meat until it’s well bronzed all over. The browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan give the sauce depth. The next step is deglazing the pan with some kind of liquid to help dissolve those browned bits into your sauce. Here, I use brandy along with the juicy fresh cherries themselves to do the job.

You can use either sour or sweet cherries here, as long as you balance the sweetness and the acidity. Sour cherries will need a bit of honey to finish the sauce, while sweet ones benefit from a touch of vinegar.

Then for dessert, you can still make cherry pie. But a pile of raw cherries (with a nearby bowl for the pits) is just as fitting a way to celebrate the glories of the season.