Rustic Plum Tart

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It must be plum season because we got a whole bunch of them this month in our food co-op order*.

Only one problem... No one in the family is a big plum fan. The kids won't touch them. Katie doesn't care for them, and I'll eat them if there's nothing else around. However, I didn't want them to go to waste, so I decided to try baking with them.

During my time living in Germany, I often had Pflaumkuchen and quite liked it. I even tried making it once when Katie and I were newlyweds. I didn't think it was that bad. However, Katie didn't care for it, and I haven't made it again in the twenty years since.

I needed to try something new. I decided to wing it and combine a few things I'd seen on TV and make a rustic tart. I love the idea of "rustic" because no matter how your crust turns out, you can always say it's supposed to be that way.

The tart was incredibly easy to throw together, and I was very pleased with the result. I loved the plums, but I must say that the crust with the almond paste was my favorite part. Katie even liked the tart and said it was one of the best fruit tarts she's had. The kids, however, showed no interest or expressed their disgust. But, that was OK, it just meant more for Mom and Dad. For a couple evenings in a row after the kids had gone to bed,  Katie and I each enjoyed a warm slice of tart served with scoop of vanilla ice cream while watching British comedies on PBS.

This tart has made us fans of the plum. If you're not already a fan, give this tart a try, and see if it doesn't win you over.

I also love the deep purple and shades of orange the plums
turned as they were baked.

*We also received a bunch of nectarines I thought would be good in a recipe. But, alas... Katie likes nectarines, and I didn't get to them quick enough.

Blackberry Apple Pie

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Wow, I can't believe this blog is already six months old.

My original goal was to post one recipe each week. Since this is post number 32, I'm actually a little ahead of schedule. I'm slowly learning the ins and outs of food blogging, and I finally moved up in the world and got a decent camera. As I browse around through other food blogs, I see I have much to learn about baking, writing, and taking good photos. But, I'm pleased with my progress so far.

For most of this past half year, I could count on one hand the people who looked at this blog. Then, it suddenly happened. Boom! Almost overnight, I had ten followers. And, I don't even know half of them. I'm still slightly bewildered that anyone would take an interest. However, I'm also very pleased, and I thank all ten of you. If I'm not living up to your expectations, let me know, and I'll get it in gear.

Now all this leads up to why I'm posting a pie recipe. One of my followers, Ms. Humble, has one of my favorite food blogs. She is seriously the queen of food blogging. She's entertaining, posts great recipes, and takes beautiful photos. Plus, it has happened more than once that I have been sitting in front of the computer with my jaw dropped in amazement at her absolute precision in cutting cakes, pies, and brownies. Seriously, it's like she's performing delicate surgery on the food. I must say I was quite honored to one day see her photo in the followers box.

Well, Ms. Humble is holding a pie contest, and I thought I'd give it a shot. I've never entered a baking contest, and I don't really have the best track record of winning anything. But hey, you never know.

But, what to make? I searched through all my cookbooks looking for inspiration and not finding anything that screamed, "Bake me!" It wasn't until I was walking through Costco, the only store in my area of the country where you can purchase fruits and vegetables that rival those found in the produce markets of Europe, that I spotted some of the most beautiful blackberries. So big. So plump. Yum. I knew I had to make a pie with blackberries.

I think I'll eat blackberries till I'm purple.

One of my favorite autumn pies is a cranberry apple. (Look for that post around Thanksgiving.) This is a version of that pie. Give it a try yourself, or wish me luck. But really, thanks for reading. I appreciate it.

Right out of the oven. If only you could smell this through 

the computer.

One final note: From Ms. Humble's blog, I learned the word "nom". She uses it quite often, and I finally googled it. Urbandictionary.com defines the word as "the sound made when someone is eating or chewing something and really enjoying it". Totally fitting for her blog and for this recipe.

You should let the pie cool completely if you want your piece of 
pie to hold its triangular shape. If you just can't wait, realize 

it will be more like cobbler. As you can see, we couldn't wait.

Nom, nom, nom, nom!