Plums

We moved to this cul de sac about five years ago. I'd never lived in a cul de sac, but I've found there's a great sense of neighborhood in such an arrangement. We all tend to watch out for each other and some of us actually interact from time to time.

Ours is a microcosm of "diversity" that over-hyped, rarely achieved corporate goal. But it doesn't matter. In fact, if anything, the only people we as a group look down on is renters -- there's one house that's rented out in the enclave. Renters don't tend to care as much about the property as homeowners do, so the house always looks a little rundown.

One of our favorite neighbors is firefighter Dan and his family. One of his boys is interested in cooking and he will have me try some of his efforts. I offer him tips. I try to keep my tips positive and in the area of general knowledge. And Dan comes over from time to time with some of the fruit from his fruit trees. We get oranges, peaches and plums at various times of the year.

We had a late spring this year because it was wet and cold. As a result, the plums were late. But they were worth the wait. They were sweet and juicy. I decided to make a plum pastry after perusing some online recipes. I wasn't so much in the mood for a sauce and a pastry seemed like a nice idea.

This recipe is super easy and preserves the taste of the plums with little added. Just make sure you have a sharp knife to cut the pastry. This is great served with vanilla ice cream.

Plum tart

12 to 16 plums, seeded and sliced
1 sheet puff pastry
Canola spray
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon good-quality Indonesian cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch cakepan with canola oil. Roll out thawed puff pastry sheet and lay it in the cake pan, pushing the pastry up the sides of the pan. Place sliced plums in the middle. Using your fingers, mix the sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon together until it is is a coarse mixture of pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle mixture over the plums. Fold four corners of puff pastry over the plums. Brush exposed puff pastry with beaten egg. Cook for 30 minutes or until the pastry has browned.