My girls and I met some friends at the McMinnville Farmer’s Market this past week, and we purchased a box of  juicy peaches and nectarines from Baird Family Orchards. We wait all year for stone fruit season, and Baird Family grows some of the best fruit I have ever tasted.

The Baird family takes tremendous pride in their produce, educates their new customers, and remembers their customers year after year greeting everyone like they are friends. It is a lovely experience all around. My girls each gobble up their offered samples, and then ask me as nicely as possible for their, almost as big as their head, peach. They eat their peach walking around the market, and they are a sight to see, peach juice dripping down their chins, streaking their shirts. I always say, if they are not messy by the end of the day, then they have not really played as hard, and had as much fun as they should have. Sufficed to say, everyday they need a bath.

By Sunday morning we had seven peaches remaining, from our box, and I decided to make a crisp for a cookout we were invited to that afternoon. I tested a couple pans by putting the whole peaches in the pan and making sure they fit snugly. As you can see, when cut up, these luscious, juicy peaches are piled high the way they should be, as they will cook down a bit.

I recently purchased a twenty five pound bag of organic rolled oats, and a one pound bag of almond meal from Azure Standard. I am using up the oats like crazy, and am learning how to use the almond meal. I like to ask friends questions who have cooked, or baked with almond meal before, as well as going online and doing lots of research. My friend writes a blog, Cassidy’s Kitchen. She has been grain free for years, but has recently become gluten free and cooks/bakes a  lot with almond flour/meal. I know she was making a gluten free peach and blueberry crisp the same day I was making my crisp,  so definitely check out her delicious version. To make my peach crisp gluten free, be sure to use gluten free oats.

I usually just use rolled oats, butter, kosher salt and brown sugar in my crisp recipe, and then hand mix the topping. I thought I would try to put  a little almond meal, to impart some extra protein, and a little more succulence to the topping this time. Instead of hand mixing, I put all the crisp topping ingredients into the food processor and just pulsed, as I was going for a uniform crumb topping.

That afternoon, conversations flowed beautifully over the shared delicious food, and drink provided by our wonderful hosts and other friends. Our girls ate quickly, so they could resume play, as they always do. All the kids had fun, laughing and running around together happily in our host’s lovely backyard, blowing and chasing big bubbles. As soon as we found out that water was an option,  my girls were drenched. They had a blast walking in and out of a baby pool with friends, and ran joyfully through a handheld nozzle sprinkler, one of  their friends was thrilled to provide.   The sun was shining, with a lovely mild breeze blowing through the trees, and there was not a bug in sight. What a perfect day for a cookout.

Toward the end of the evening, people started tasting desserts, and winding down. I am happy to report that everyone who tried my crisp seemed to really enjoy it. My girls really loved the watermelon slices and the M&M cookies provided. What is your favorite cookout dessert?

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