Easiest Summer Peach Crumble

There is something about vacation that sparks my creativity. Something about the salt water or the mountain air that gets my writer spidey-sense going. I’m not sure if it’s a To-Do List that reads Null or the proximity to nature, but somehow every time I’m away from my norm, outside of my daily, I go a little crazy. Things I observe hit me a bit harder and stories flow like water. My dreams are more vivid and I begin to think bigger and write harder than normal. It’s not unusual for me to come home from a vacation with a journal nearly filled with scribbles and inspirations throughout. 

This past family vacay was no exception to this rule, maybe more so because I was also reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, which is basically a writer’s handbook and a virtual font of inspiration for anyone who likes to put pen to paper and thinks of themselves as a writer.

Yet I digress.

There was something about this trip, though, that was a little different. This trip’s inspiration was a little more personal and introspective, as I was reflecting on WHO I am and WHAT I want my next forty years to look like. I guess it’s because I hit that milestone birthday this year or maybe it’s kind of a mid-life thing, but I’m taking stock and making peace with what God gave me and how God made me.

And this taking stock and making peace unfolded differently because this time, I learned the most by observing not myself, but my children. Watching them closely, looking into their hearts and seeing bits of me in there, this was my inspiration and revelation. Watching them, really watching, was like taking a mirror and holding it up only to see an image slightly distorted, yet entirely true. It was watching myself, who I am, living out life in tiny human form.

I had one of these moments when I watched Kenzie, that tiny little ball of extroversion, quickly become the center of attention at every event. I watched it unfold, her desire to be there and to be known, right before my very eyes. She’s a kid who has never met a stranger, making friends everywhere she goes, and has been since she was old enough to talk. She’s a bundle of energy and joy and she attracts people–they want to be around her and she wants to be around them.

And as I watched her stand on the stage, with her two new Jamaican besties, dancing away with not a care in the world, in her element and literally having the time of her life, it hit me like a tidal wave.

THIS IS ME.

I am this child, just a forty year old version. I LOVE to know others–I’m fascinated by people and their stories and their hearts. More than that, though, I have an innate desire to BE KNOWN. I crave connection and desire community. I feel my best when connected and held together by the bonds of friends and family. I desire, very strongly, to be a part of something bigger than me. When the music starts, I want to be there, dancing with joy and laughing along with the people I love.

For years I felt shame for this. I was made to believe it was a fatal flaw, my Achilles heel. Damaging names have been carelessly flung my way and out of shame I stuffed this trait down and snuffed it out. I began to think that this part of me was something bad and dark and dirty. I felt like if I could just change this one thing, this desire to be known and loved, than I would be right and whole.

I cannot tell you what a watershed moment it was to watch my own daughter, all of eight years old yet more in touch with her true self than I am at 40,  on stage living, really living, her best self. Something long buried in my heart started to unfurl, and I felt proud of her for being WHO she is without shame. I realized, like a lightning bolt straight to my heart that this trait, this desire, is nothing shameful. It’s not wrong. It’s not dirty and it’s not bad.

Listening to the world tell me that I need to change, to stuff this down, to tamp it out, is akin to telling God, “Hey, thanks but no thanks.” He made me this way as sure as He made her. It’s not some miscalculation or misstep on my part. It’s not a deep dark secret sin I should cover up and blot out like a stain. And shaming myself for this is the same as shaming my daughter.

And here’s the thing, I don’t think my story is so very different from yours.  Sure, your shame might not be extreme extroversion and a desire to know and be known. In fact, yours could be the opposite and it could be an aversion to people, a deep seeded introversion that makes you shy and retreating. It could be a deeply felt need to sing or dance or write that no one can understand or it could be something about your looks–a nose too big, hair too frizzy or too limp. But we’ve all got something that we stuff down, change up and feel shame about.

But that thing, whatever it is, doesn’t have to be hidden. God made you that way. He really did. It might take watching the raw and unabridged version of you in child form to realize this, but it’s true. God made you and He doesn’t make junk. He doesn’t want you to be ashamed because you like to be in the thick of things as much as His heart breaks when you feel guilty for desiring nothing more than a hasty retreat into the shadows. He MADE you this way and He doesn’t, last time I checked, make junk.

God made YOU–delightful imperfect you–just as you are. He made you knowing the trials and the tribulations you will face. He made you knowing your faults and the worst of the worst you will throw at Him. He made you knowing all of this. And yet, He still loves you. And He wants to use that thing, the one gift you’ve been afraid of sharing for so long, for GOOD. I promise. 

Friends, I don’t know what your thing is. But I know you’ve got it. Trust me on this one, even if you aren’t conscious of it, there is something deep in your core that you’ve stuffed down or snuffed out because someone somewhere told you it wasn’t ok. Unearth it, friend. Bring it to light. Help it bloom. It might be the very thing you’re supposed to be; it just might be the missing piece of you you’ve been looking for all along. 

EASIEST SUMMER PEACH COBBLER

So today I give you a recipe that my eight year old self (and my eight year old daughter) adore. It runs a close second, if not a slight first, to our family favorite summer dessert, Blueberry Cobbler. I adore our local farmers market and in the summer, they have THE BEST peaches for this cobbler. Plump, juicy and perfectly tender, they bake up sweet and perfect as the base for this rich crumble. 

I love this Summer Peach Crumble because it’s easy and can be made ahead. Having a dinner party? Prepare the peaches in the ramekins and the crumble in a plastic bag, refrigerate until ready to cook and then quickly assemble before throwing in the oven. In no time you’ll have a restaurant worthy dessert everyone will rave over. Perfect served warm, topped with vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream, this is summer in a cup.

Peace, love and God’s gifts, 
Meg

Easiest Summer Peach Crumble

February 21, 2020

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By: Meaghan Dawson

Ingredients

• 1 quart peaches (6-8), peeled core and sliced
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (sub brown sugar if necessary)
• pinch salt
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• FOR THE CRUMBLE:
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• pinch salt
• dash cinnamon
• dash vanilla
• 1 stick of butter, melted

Directions

• Step 1 Spray ramekins (5-6) with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
• Step 2 In a medium bowl, sprinkle peaches with coconut sugar and salt. Set aside for 30-45 minutes to rest. Juices should accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.
• Step 3 Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir into peaches until combined. Add vanilla and stir.
• Step 4 Spoon peach filling into each ramekin.
• Step 5 For the crumble:
• Step 6 In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
• Step 7 Add melted butter and vanilla and combine with a fork. It should be the texture of a rough sand, big clumps are ok.
• Step 8 Spoon over peach filling generously, but leave peeks of peach showing through.
• Step 9 Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until peaches are bubbly and crumble is lightly browned.
• Step 10 Best served warm.

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