Fruit Crisp

"My mother always let me help out in the kitchen when I was a girl, and the first thing I ever remember making was peach crisp. I was about three years old at the time. Mama would pour the peaches out into a baking dish and mix up the crisp topping, then let me be the one who sprinkled it over the peaches. At supper that night everyone would go on and on about how Christy made the best peach crisp they'd ever had! I was so proud. So of course when I had my own children, it was the first recipe I taught them as well." - Christy Jordan

Since it is so dear to all of us for this reason, we love to package the topping mix up and give it as gifts so that others can enjoy special baking time with their families. I like to let my kids make it up as gifts for their teachers. To make it even more fun, we make our own labels for store-bought canned fruit "Brady's Yummy Peaches" or "Katy’s Rose Pears." I let the kids color them in and tape them around the can. We all form an assembly line and make up batches of fruit crisp mix, placing it in resealable food-storage plastic bags, then we cut pieces of cloth with pinking shears and wrap it around to tie with ribbons. This makes a pretty basket. For package ideas and personalized gift tags visit www.southernplate.com

Package the topping mix in a resealable food-storage bag and give as a gift with two cans of pie filling. This is a great way to teach children how good it feels to give from their heart and their own two hands, plus it allows the receiver some special baking time with their family.