Peach crisp

The peaches I picked up from a fruit stand by the BP where University Dr. turns into Lakewood were small, soft, sweet, and almost too good to cook. My idea of heaven is to eat a peach so perfect that I don't even notice or mind the juice running down my arm and dripping off my elbows.

I ate two for lunch, then peeled and cut the rest for a peach crisp. I like fruit crisps better than cobblers. Something about the crunchy topping and the soft, sweet fruit makes me happy.

Basically this crisp recipe works w/ any fruit. I made it w/ apples too. When I was doing some apple experiments, this was my favorite recipe. I thought I would see how it worked with peaches. Success! The only difference is that I like toasted almonds as the nut in the topping for peaches. With apples, I like toasted pecans. Walnuts are good too, but this is the South. We eat pecans.

Peach (or any fruit) crisp:

Preheat oven to 375F.

2lbs peaches, peeled and sliced
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 T lemon juice

Combine the fruit, sugar, and lemon in a bowl. Set aside.

In a food processor combine the following until it looks like sand:

6 T white, all purpose flour
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt

Add 5 T cold butter cut into 1/2 pieces. Pulse in the food processor until it resembles coarse corn meal.

Add 3/4 c. chopped almonds (or other nuts, toasted or not) and pulse five or six times. Don't let the mixture stick together. It should still look like crumbs. Chill for 15 minutes.

Put the fruit in a deep dish pie plate. Add the crumbs on top. Cook for 40 minutes. Then turn up the heat to 400F and cook another 10 or 15 minutes until the crisp is browned.

Serve w/ ice cream.