More comfort food...... pie!

I had planned to make this peach pie for the 4th of July, but after visiting the Fredericksburg fruit stand my peaches weren't quite ripe, so they spent a couple of days in a brown sack. But today the house is filled with the aroma of my Grandma Davis' Peaches and Cream Pie. Fredericksburg peaches are wonderful on their own, but I have to make at least one pie with this recipe each season.  Wish my sister Judy was here to enjoy a slice with me.

Anna Davis' Peaches and Cream Pie

9" unbaked pastry shell     Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 cup sugar

5 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups (I used 4!) fresh sliced peaches

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and nutmeg.  Mix carefully into peaches.  Pour cream over all and mix carefully again until coated.

Bake 35-45 minutes until center no longer jiggles.  Cover edges of crust if they brown too fast.

Best of all..... enjoy warm or cold!!

Anna Davis  Grant, Iowa via my mom  Billie Davis Koplin  both resting in heaven.

Holidays are not always "happy days"

The 4th of July weekend begins!  All around us we are bombarded with pictures of perfect family BBQs, extravagant decor and fun community events.  I was blessed to grow up in a quintessential small town that had the best Independence Day celebration ever. The local Lions Club in Jackson, CA really knew how to put on a party, and it continues today. Virtually the entire town would gather at the local high school football field for great BBQ, lots of kid games (watermelon eating contest, 3 legged race, sack races and more).  Then later everyone would spread out their blankets and we would settle in for the best fireworks show ever.  I now live in another small town that also has fantastic holiday celebrations, just like many other places all around America.

Often, like during the Christmas holiday season, I am reminded as I look at all of the picture perfect ads and posts on social media that for many these holidays are anything but "happy".  Not everyone has pleasant family gatherings.  Sometimes our wonderful childhood experiences and memories get shoved aside in adulthood as heartache and dysfunction take over.  To observe all around us what seems like everyone else celebrating the holiday in grand style makes the grieving one's circumstances seem even more isolating.  Whether the grief is for actual loved ones that are no longer with us, or grief over times and memories that seem gone forever - never to be recreated, the sadness is real and deep.

For those that are having those 'picture perfect' family and friend get-togethers, my prayer is that a moment is taken to pause and think about/pray for those who are not.  Realize that holidays, while for many are happy joyous times, for just as many they are a time of depression, sadness and darkness.  Be a little kinder, show some compassion and never forget that things can change in any family in an instant.