One Small Apricot

After all our work to save the apricots, the squirrels overran the orchard and got almost all of them. 

All save one:

This is the one small apricot that was left, the one that we swaddled in netting to try to save. 

It worked, and today it shouted out bright orange on the tree, and was a little soft under pressure when we gave it a squeeze. It smelled good, too.

As you can see by the pale greenish-yellow bands, it's a little underripe. We picked it anyway, though, because we were worried that it would be overripe — or worse, missing — by the time we get back from vacation next week.

It's hard to split an apricot the size of a silver dollar four ways, so we sliced it up into a tart:

So we're a little obsessed with the puff pastry + everything from our garden + cheese = delicious goodness formula right now. It's hard to argue with that kind of sure-fire success in the kitchen.

Anyway, it's super easy. Slice up your teeny tiny apricot thinly and spread it over a square of puff pastry. Drizzle with honey or sprinkle with sugar of your apricot isn't quite ripe. Crumble the last of your goat cheese on top. Let one of your kids paint some melted butter around the edge.

Oh, a note from Kirk: You get the crust to happen by pricking all over the shape you want in the center with a fork, which makes the center collapse while the edge stays high like a crust.

Bake, eat, and chat about what to name the barn cat you will adopt to eat the squirrels that ate the rest of your yummy apricots.