This is another one of those times when I have to stop and be amazed by the hand of God in action....

On Sunday, September 13 (2009), St. John's was fortunate enough to be blessed with 2 performances from the group Sheltered Reality; one during our regular service time, and one for the community in the afternoon. Worrying that there might not be enough food to fuel this dynamic group of kids [of all ages], I opted to miss the morning's service in order to make a quick dessert for the potluck we'd planned to follow service. I'd started out making a large "up-side-down" apple dump cake, to use up the remainder of the apples we'd picked the previous weekend. But one-box-of-yellow-cake-mix-dumped-into-the-pan-later, I realized that was all I had...and the pan was still pretty empty looking. So, I checked through supplies on hand, and decided I'd Take a Chance on using a box of Red Velvet cake mix. A little further in the assembly process, I was horrified to discover there was no brown sugar in the cabinet for my usual topping. Well, as I'm ususally one to Never Give Up, I decided I'd Do Whatever it Takes to get the thing finished and brought up to the church in time. So, while it was baking, I again scouted through the cabinets and came across a container of caramel apple dip. When the "apple thing" (as I was starting to call it), came out of the oven I covered it in melted carmel dip and headed for the church.

Not long after arriving at the church, a familiar looking, yet unfamiliar man came up to me to compliment me on the "apple thing" and ask for the recipe. This guy turned out to be none other than Steve Schlosser, the founder and Executive Director of the group (he looked familiar, because I'd seen his face so often when looking for videos to use as our promo stuff for the event). Well, given the whole episode outlined above, I was a little shocked anyone would want the, ummm, recipe (what recipe???); but it did kind of give me a little boost in confidence and helped me Believe in Myself  and my oft-questioned (at least by my family) culinary skills.

Well, to make an already long story just a bit shorter, to my surprise even more folks asked for this recipe...many of whom I'd like to consider new friends made through this wonderful SR experience.

Now as I sit here reflecting on the whole adventure, I realize it has somehow managed to encompass all 6 of the Steps for Success outlined by SR in their presentation. As a result, I no longer think "apple thing" is an appropriate name for this creation, and instead I'd like to Be a Friend and dedicate this recipe by renaming it, SR Apple Delight-- in honor of Steve, Jordan, and the rest of the SR gang and the mission and message they represent.