Peach crisp

The grandparents luncheon at Piñon Hills Elementary School was a huge success. I wasn't last in line, but I had to eat outside because the multipurpose room was full. They served your choice of cheese pizza, corn dogs or bean burritos. Then there was a fruit salad and green salad, cookies and milk or orange or grape juice. Thank you for all the parents and grandparents who supported our school. It was wonderful to see you all.

My neighbor caught me at the bus stop the other day and said his peach tree was overflowing, would I like to come pick some? Twist my arm, that's hard enough. I brought a bag home and this is what I did with them:

First I boiled a pan of water; I put one or two peaches in at a time for a minute or so. Then I put the peaches in a bowl of cold water. This allowed me to skin them with not much effort. Then I sliced the peaches into a lasagna-sized pan (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray). I covered the bottom of the pan with the sliced peaches. Then in a bowl I mixed one cup of margarine (I used real butter) 1 cup of quick oats, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. You cut in the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs, sprinkle it on top of the sliced peaches and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. If you don't have peaches, use apples, cherries, and almost any fruit. I made one for our family get-together and they all thought it was the best peach crisp they ever had. I'm sure the fresh picked peaches were the trick.

Have you heard the coyotes lately? Boy, we sure have. You know they howl, and when they kill they yip so the others will know where the food is. I hope it's not my chickens, they do know to go in their house at night. Be coyote aware. Don't let your cats out at night and watch your small dogs when they go out to go potty after dark.

I'm heading out for a road trip to Quincy for the weekend and can't wait to write my next article about the lava tubes in Lassen. Of course I'll write about the BMW Rally we're going to and all of the beautiful scenery and the great cooking we'll be doing while camping out in Quincy.

If you have had an interesting summer vacation, let me know, I'd like to write about it. You know, I can always write about my trips, but how about yours?

n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.