Bride of Magazine Challenge: Rustic Plum Tart

So.
I am happy to announce that this is the first month that I have completed 6 recipes from the corresponding Everyday Food issue since I started the Magazine Challenge!  Mind you, this is a 2 month issue, but by the same token it's exciting to think that 18 months into the project I've managed to complete my goal.
My mother has been here for a few days, and needed to make a dessert to take with her to a cousin reunion.  I was excited to suggest this, seeing as J isn't a big fan of plums and I thought it looked pretty.  I had another reason to suggest making this with my mother:  she is the queen of pastry.
When my parents got married, my mother said she would make a pie on the 7th of each month - their anniversary.  She's made a pie on the 7th of the month for more than 40 years.  As opposed to my own pastry, hers is flaky and tender.  While this isn't the pastry from the box like my mom makes, or even a traditional lard pastry, I figured she'd know what she was doing.  Plus, with the rustic look of this we couldn't screw it up too much.
Or so I thought.
I present to you now from the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food Rustic Plum Tart:

Ingredients:
1 c flour
1/4 c cornmeal
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cold water
1/2 c cold butter, cut into small pieces
1-1/2 lbs plums
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbsp flour

Method:
1.  Make the Crust:  In a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt.  Then add butter, pulsing to combine until  pea-sized pieces are in the bowl.  Add water, pulsing just to combine.  The dough should just hold together when squeezed.  Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour.
2.  Preheat oven to 375F.  On a sheet of foil, roll dough out into a circle as wide as the foil (mine was 12").  Center on a rimmed baking sheet.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour and sugar.  Pit and slice the plums.  Add to the bowl, and toss to coat.
3.  Pour plums into the centre of the pastry circle, leaving a border all the way around.  Fold pastry up to partially cover the plums, pleating as needed.  Bake tart at 375F for 40-45 minutes, until filling is bubbling.

From Everyday Food, July/August 2006

So an hour in the fridge with a butter-based dough?  Rock hard.  We finally discovered that the best way to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin was to roll it out under a sheet of waxed paper.  The pastry was very short.  Maybe a little more flour would have been nice.

We used a thin metal spatula to help coax the pastry off the foil and over the plums.  What was good about this was the transferring it from one place to another:  Just pick up the foil and go.

Ready for the oven!  The juices did leak, and were dark when I pulled it out of the oven, but didn't taste burnt.

So pretty, and it smelled really good.  I was kind of sorry that it was going out the door and I wouldn't get to find out how it tasted.

But mom was good enough to tell me that it was really good - and that she had an extra piece to take home at the end.  Too bad she wasn't coming back here.