This article appeared first on Forward. Reposted with permission.

I have a confession to make: I haven’t turned on my oven in weeks.

We have had ice cream for dessert every Shabbat. It’s hot in D.C., it’s been a long year, and this Mom has been too tired to bake. It’s been weeks of making your own sundaes, gelato, and homemade sorbet. Now that it’s stone fruit season, my oven is calling. Peaches, plums, pluots, nectarines all abound at the farmer’s market. Cobblers, crisps, and pies demand to be baked. Summer is coming to an end soon. Enjoy it while you can.

This summer has been so strange. From the exuberant joy of warm weather, hugging our family for the first time in a year and reveling in being together again, to the cold hard reality of the Delta Variant.

The vaccine we waited for and prayed for doesn’t actually inoculate against all of our ills, and those that remain—division, disinformation and delusional thinking —are showing that our fellow Americans can be just as cruel as the virus itself. The brazen selfishness of our fellow citizens is both shocking and banal. Our hopes were so high for a return to normalcy, and now they are crashing down as we once again are forced to face the unknown. Speaking of faces, mask up please.

With so much uncertainty, the only way to preserve our mental health is to remain in the present. For now, the sun is shining, we can be with the (vaccinated) people we love, and if we need to keep the activities outside, we can turn on the sprinkler and pour some frozen drinks. I cannot tell you what the fall will hold, but for now it’s summer and there are beautiful plums to eat.

How was your week? How are you spending Shabbat? Let us know at #tweetyourshabbat! Everyone is welcome at this table! Come hungry.

Easy Plum Tart

This tart is easy and breezy, perfect for lazy summertime baking. Premade puff pastry can be bought either pareve or dairy and makes quick work of this excellent pie. Sweet and tart and full of fruit and jam, it’s an easy and elegant summer treat. Nice enough for company, but quick enough to still take an afternoon swim before Shabbat.

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry or homemade pie crust
8-10 small black plums, cut into thin slices
4-5 tablespoons good quality apricot jam
1 tablespoon best quality cinnamon
Olive oil or butter ( for the cookie sheet)

Defrost the puff pastry. Once it’s defrosted, roll it out thin. It should be the size of a small cookie sheet. Prick all over with a fork.

Cut the black plums into thin slices, season with cinnamon. Take two tablespoons of apricot jam and smear evenly around the puff pastry. Place the sliced plums on the puff pastry – I like to only use even circles, reserving the scraps for making cocktails or tossing in salad. Leave a border and pinch up the sides of the puff pastry to make a crust.

Using a pastry brush (or a brush from the BBQ you’ve cleaned off first!) spread remaining apricot jam evenly all over the fruit, the spaces between the fruit, and the crust. Use a little extra if necessary.

Gently place the plum tart back in the fridge for 10 minutes. Pour a glass of wine. Preheat the oven to 400. I want that pastry crust to be cold when you put it in the oven.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden brown and puffed up, and the plums are cooked through. Cool and slice with a sharp wet knife. Enjoy! Shabbat Shalom.