A fruit crumble for pudding ..

My no.2.son.12yrs advised me this week we will be enjoying a "fruit crumble" in his latest cookery class for "pudding"
hurrah! I thought! (I love fruit crumble! which will it be? rhubarb? apple? ..)
Good job I didn't get as far as writing "custard AND ice cream" down on the shopping list - the WHOLE idea, one would think, OF a cookery class is to COOK!? right?
well. no. apparently not. NOT today. today the cookery classes are rather more what can we do in 55mins that doesn't involve a lot of effort or mess and minimises the whole thing into a complete allocated session OF 55mins .. ah! TINS! and preparing it all at home!

Yes. my son informs me that he's to bring in a container of tinned fruit eg pineapple .. (you'd think they'd have the grace to at least teach them to USE a tin opener at the school class if they HAVE to use tinned fruit? but no! the contents to be placed into a container!).
well, I've never heard of a "tinned pineapple crumble", and I'm not sure that either custard OR icecream will be right to accompany this huge I mean tiny offering!

Of course I'm going to get all riled again!
But REALLY! in MY day when we did cookery we made proper steak and kidney puddings! we baked blind! we didn't use processors! and we DIDN'T use tinned fruit! we cooked proper foods that were taken home and eaten as a meal.

First we had "fruit salad" - this involved peeling/chopping assorted fresh fruits and putting into a container and adding way too much "juice" into another container, for our children to mix and prepare into a "fruit salad" to slop about and drip into their bags and shoes on the way home ..
then we had "pasta or rice salad" - THIS involved sending in COOKED pasta/rice in a container, along with various salady stuff into another container for the mixing and preparing into a "pasta or rice salad" .. THIS isn't COOKING!?

and NOW! (stamps foot and thumps on table!) TINNED FRUIT CRUMBLE!? you can't HAVE a tinned fruit crumble! its supposed to be stewed rhubarb! or apple! or better still, apple AND blackcurrant!

Upon threatening to send a note in with my son with 2lbs of cooking apples, my poor son crumpled and begged me not to! apparently some other of his friend's mother had done this with the last group and the poor soul had to spend his whole lunch break in the cookery room on his own stewing apples and as he pointed out he doesn't even LIKE cooked apple puddings anyway!!

Well. its parents evening on Wednesday! GUESS what teacher I will be making a bee line for!
It doesn't, actually, do you any good cornering a teacher and pinning them down.
But it does make you feel just a BIT better anyway!!!

(TINNED fruit crumble! I ask you! ...)