My Sunday morning calls with my mum back in Germany are always a highlight of the week and at the same time also make me wonder, which American media produced horror story was picked up by the European media this time, that my mum is eager to discuss with me. So I brace myself for a discussion of trying to detangle “fake news” and misinformation with what I think  is really going on in the US. It wasn’t very difficult to anticipate what the topic Dujour would be for this weekend – The President of the United States has Corona Virus and of course “we” are lying about his health condition and he DID receive Oxygen!

My mum was also wondering how a person who is close to 80 years old could become the next American president; I do wonder about that sometimes myself; do we not have ANY younger more contemporary/fresh political figures who want to run for office? In Germany, people typically retire around 65 years, and it’s very uncommon to find an 80-year-old person in an important position in politics or business. As challenging as these topics might be to discuss at least my mum and I can talk things out, we respect each other’s opinion even if they vastly differ, we don’t insult each other or revert to name calling; unfortunately I can’t say that this is the case for the majority of the US population.

It seems that the population who has decided to share their opinion openly, has resorted to hypocritical convenience, saying whatever fits the purpose in that moment, regardless of what was said prior when the circumstances were reversed. One day tolerance and acceptance of “other” opinions is preached and the next day insulting, name calling and bullying is perfectly fine when the opinion is not the current socially accepted one- Hypocrisy at its finest!

I have experienced it first hand – name calling, insults and “de-friending” because I didn’t agree with the mainstream media opinion. As much as tolerance and freedom of speech is supposed to be a foundational cornerstone of this country, I have never felt more”muzzled” in my freedom of speech as in recent years by my own countryman and women. So what can one do? I am practicing “diplomacy”, trying to understand each side and hoping that Covid and this election will be over soon!

Now on to a more pleasant topic – Peaches! A couple weeks ago, Mike brought some 30 pounds of peaches back from his trip to Lake Chelan and we spent a Saturday afternoon canning those, so that we have fresh peaches this winter. I am incredibly curious if these peaches will taste as good or even better than store bought ones and if it was worth spending all this time on canning our own peaches.

But for now these peaches have to sit in their juices and syrup for the next 4 months before I can do a taste test. While browsing for peach canning recipes, I also stumbled upon the below peach tartlet recipe. The tartlets look and taste fantastic, you could literally sell those in a bakery and the best – they are put together in no time. 

Easy Peach Tartlets (makes 9) (from Natasha’s Kitchen)

Ingredients:

For the Peach Tartlets

• 1 sheet (1/2 lb puff pastry)
• 1 egg, beaten well with a fork
• 2 large (1/2 lb) fresh peaches (or use canned/drained peaches)
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

For the Drizzle:

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Thaw pastry 20 minutes at room temp, or until you can unfold the pastry. Cut into 9 equal sized squares and place on parchment lined baking sheet, spacing 1-inch apart.
2. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Slice peaches into 1/3″ thick slices and place in a medium mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp flour, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp vanilla and gently fold together with a spatula.
4. Layer 3 to 4 peach slices over the center of each pastry square. Avoid getting peach juice on pastry edges. Brush pastry edges generously with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
5. Bake on the center oven rack at 400˚F for 17-19 min or until puffed and golden at the edges, turning the sheet halfway through baking. Note: Do not over-bake. It browns quickly towards the end. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan for 10 min.
6. While pastry cools, make the glaze: in a measuring cup, stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 Tbsp milk. Add more milk if needed to reach desired consistency then drizzle over your warm pastries.

Guten Appetit!