As American As Apple Pie

One of my favorite things to do on Monday's is cook or bake... Especially since our low sodium diet has taken effect - I have found that I enjoy the culinary creativity that takes place in our kitchen... Now - I still dust, vacuum, and take our weekly trip to Lowe's with my son - but I enjoy making something out of nothing in the kitchen, as well...

Today's venture - thanks to a children's program singing songs about a Samurai pie maker - I opted to bake a pie... FROM SCRATCH!!! And what better pie to start out on then the all-American classic - Apple Pie... And yes - it had the crumb topping on it... My son and I went to the store and bought our Granny Smith Apples and began the process... We started out making our pie crust out of flour, shortening, 'no-salt' salt, and ice water... We wrapped it up and put it in the fridge for a few hours and started on the apples... First I combined the sugar, cinnamon, and flour for the filling and then the brown sugar, flour and butter for the crumb topping... Just one task left - chopping the apples...

Now - being the avid Food Network watcher that I am - I knew I had to do something a little unique with this pie... It couldn't be like EVERYONE ELSE'S pie! What to do? Then it hit me - leave the peel on! "It won't taste bad," I thought to myself... "It might even make the texture more interesting..." So I went for it... And you know what - it wasn't too bad! It tasted good to me, at least (my wife and small group also said they enjoyed it - but that's their job!) and I succeeded in that it was a little bit different... Even though it was pretty good - I still plan on adapting my recipe and technique as I make more in the future... Oh yes - there will be more!

Sometimes we're like apple pie to our Heavenly Father... We may be doing pretty well and living inside of His Will - but it doesn't mean He will use the same techniques every time... He may try some different flavors in the recipe of our lives from time to time... Sometimes we may need to bake a little longer or maybe have a little less sweetness in our circumstances... At times He may cover us in the tinfoil of His love so we don't get burnt around the edges - and other times we may just get dropped in the deep fryer so we are ready faster! He's the Chef (or in other analogies, "The Potter") and He has the divine, unfathomable ability and forth sight to prepare our hearts and lives in gourmet fashions... His recipe book is endless and full of delicious possibilities - and He never tires of whipping us up into a 5-Star course...

So maybe tomorrow won't taste the same as it did today - but that doesn't mean it won't be delicious!!!