Peach Crisp – And Standing Up For Yourself
Today I’m sharing the first recipe I ever made, when I was three years old! Peach Crisp!
Back then, whenever Mama was in the kitchen, I was right there with her, usually underfoot. One day, Mama sat me down at the kitchen table and put all the ingredients for peach crisp in a big old bowl. She let me pour the peaches into a baking dish and then showed me how to mix up the topping before letting me “cook” on my own.
I was so proud that night at supper when Mama brought dessert to the table and declared it to be “Christy’s Peach Crisp!”.
This is a classic recipe, easily adjusted to work with whatever fruit you have on hand – fresh, canned, or frozen, and you can throw it together last minute as well. Before I get into the recipe though, I have a little tale to tell 😉
Back before old SouthernPlate.com was created, I spent my days taking care of kids, running a house, and substitute teaching in elementary school. I used to only sub at my son’s school, for convenience, and having got my fill of big bullies in high school, I also preferred to teach children that were smaller than me.
One day I’ll never forget was when I was teaching a second grade class in a small town in North Alabama. I have my own creative ways of getting my students to “sparkle” in school by building them up with positive reinforcement from the very moment I walked into the door. I used to make it a point to take the one student that caused the most problems for the teacher and see if I could turn them around by the end of the day. I realized that while the teachers had to deal with everything day in and day out, I could serve as a “fresh horse” so to speak, so I tried to use that to be helpful.
There was one student in that second grade class who began the day being disruptive and got progressively worse as the day went on. I won’t go into detail on her behavior but suffice it to say, it was real bad in a real bad way. Eventually, I was unable to teach and told her that I needed her to go sit at the back of the class while I finished the lesson. This seven year old girl stood up, put her hand on her hip, swung her neck around a bit and said “You don’t know who you’re talking to!”
Boy, was she right. To have a seven year old child with that kind of boldness and lack of respect for authority, I truly had no idea who I was talking to.
I think about that girl from time to time. She would be in high school now, in her junior or senior year, I hope things got better for her at home. I hope she got some encouragement and direction in her life, and I hope she learned the value of an education and stayed in school.
But then sometimes I think of her in a different way – which may throw some of y’all here but hang in there with me.
I think of her boldness. For a seven year old child to do something that I, in my decades upon this earth, would have a hard time doing. To stand up and say “You don’t know who you’re talking to.”
Yes, it was wrong of her then, but how many situations have I been in in my life where such behavior would be entirely appropriate and yet I’ve sat there and smiled instead?
When we are right about something – such as the way people are and are not allowed to treat us, what causes us to sit still? I know a lot of people like to pin this on the Southern upbringing but I don’t fault it in the least. Our upbringing has taught us to show grace to others, to be kind whenever possible, and to assert ourselves in ways that often get much better results than pushier methods.
I think it is because we don’t show ourselves the same protection that we show others. Think about it. If you are a parent and someone verbally attacks your kid – how fast does your Mama or Papa bear come out? But if they attack you, a lot of folks take time to weight the attack and try to decide if it is deserved or not.
Lawd chile, you know better than that. Stop letting people bully you. Stop letting folks talk down to you and treat you disrespectfully. Every human deserves respect.
I have a significant birthday coming up soon and I’m proud to say that, although it has taken me more than a few decades, today I can stand up when someone mistreats me and channel my inner rebellious seven year old when I say “You don’t know who you’re talking to.”
Hey, if a seven year old can do it, I certainly can!
Give it a try next time the need arises :).
Now lets make peach crisp.
You’ll need: Oats*, Brown Sugar*, Peaches, Butter or Margarine*, Flour*, and Cinnamon.
*Oats – Quick or old fashioned, whatever you have.
*Brown Sugar – dark or light, whichever you prefer
*Butter or Margarine – Whichever you have on hand and/or can afford. Ignore anyone who judges or complains, if they have free time for that then they have time to cook for themselves.
*Flour – All Purpose or Self Rising, either one will work just fine for our purposes here.
Drain your peaches and pour them into the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish, or a pie plate. Whatever you grab out of the cabinet first.
Place all of your other ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Mix ’em up really well with a long tined fork or pastry blender if you’re fancy.
(It’s just as okay to be fancy as it is to be plain)
Sprinkle that over the top of your peaches.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Serve warm, with ice cream if you like. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 29 ounce can sliced peaches drained
- 1/2 cup flour all purpose or self rising
- 3/4 cup brown sugar dark or light
- 1/2 cup oats quick or old fashioned
- 1/2 cup margarine or butter softened
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Pour peaches into 8x8 baking dish.
- In large bowl, place all other ingredients. Mix will with a long tined fork or pastry cutter. Sprinkle over peaches.
- Bake at 400 until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.
- Excellent with ice cream.
Nutrition
“Never measure wealth by money.”
~Unknown.
Submitted by Sandy Kipple. Click here to submit your own or read more.
Loved that story Christy…..but what did you say to the little girl when she said that to you ? Did you notify her parents ? Did you send her to the principal’s office? You probably couldn’t send her, she would have run out the door…..but I would have called the principal and had him/her come to your room take her to his/her office and deal with it…..
When she said you don’t know who you are talking to !!!! maybe it was the principal’s daughter……and she thought no one could touch her…..I want to know more about this story 🙂 very interesting…….can you fill us in more ?
A great and easy recipe today and I love Peach anything…..for sure I will be making this one…..
Fellow Kentuckian, that was a cry for help from a child who had experienced nothing good in her life. Punishment is never the answer, unless she is a danger to herself or to others. Kindness will win the battle and the war time and again.
Interesting questions, Kentucky Lady. Time to answer them might take us away from the point of the example, but it does seem that the girl had a bad case of what today is being called “entitlement.” Someone seems to have led this girl to believe she is entitled to anything she wants. A sad way to go through life.
I believe I’ll make this delicious peach crisp and think about it. I know that my family thinks it is entitled to something delicious regularly. =-)
Wow you hit home today! I worked at a school many years as an aide and it was a poor district, we had many students that couldn’t wait to get to school and come up to you for a hug then made sure they got as many hugs as they could throughout the day then made sure they got one on their way out to last them through the night. Also many of these students knew their last meal until the next morning was their lunch and they licked their plate clean. We always tried to keep a few packages of crackers in our pocket to slip them on their way out. So Christy you are so right we never know what is happening at home. I love how you make all of us that read your blog think about ways to be a better person. i loved the recipe too.
I think I taught that girl when she reached high school. Ha!
Looks quick and easy. Can’t wait to make it. Thank you Christy.
Thank you Christy for the good story. I taught school for forty-two years and am thankful to say that I never had a child talk to me like that. I detest that kind of behavior. It all goes back to the home. Parents must teach their children to respect adults and each other. I am very worried about children of today. I pray young parents will wake up and start teaching respect at home. But what frightens me is that a lot of young parents do not respect older adults. I started seeing this before I retired almost four years ago. It is going to be one of the downfalls of our society.
I love your peach crisp and make it a lot. It is an easy, quick and delicious dessert. Thank you for sharing your good recipes and words of wisdom.
Vicky, thank you for your forty two years of teaching. I volunteer two days a week in my grandsons first grade class. It is an eye opener to see just how much true dedication goes into teaching. A good teacher is like a calling to the ministry! Thanks again!
Enjoyed your story and the peach crisp recipe!
Thank you, Christy, for both the recipe and the story. After you set up the story as an illustration in getting people to “sparkle,” I read the recipe instructions incorrectly – substituting “sparkle” for “sprinkle.” Or maybe that is the right way… it is how my son has been referring to adding extra shredded cheese on anything (Mom, did you sparkle it with cheese?)!
Often when I recall a particularly troubling time in my life, I realize that I started to get better when I started to stand up for myself. Right now, I am standing up for myself in a friendship and am hopeful that the friendship will remain while leaving behind some hurtful behavior. We’ll see if “sparkling” succeeds! Probably best to balance my sparkle & sass with a good dose of respect for this friend, though!