Mary Beth Johnson is a wife and mum to four schooners, as she’s dubbed her children. On a normal afternoon, you would find her in moccasins, skinny jeans and a comfortable tee, camera in hand. Recently moving to the suburbs of Atlanta, Mary Beth spends her days homeschooling, sneaking away to the bookstore, trying to act the part of a southerner, and sifting through recipes in The Vegetarian Times. Food is her love language.

I was sitting in our church home group listening to someone read a Psalm and thinking about God’s promises and answered prayer and years that are bitter and years that are sweet. This time last year I was giving birth to our fourth baby and moving further south after a year of upheaval and uncertainty and sometimes I think things hit you unexpectedly and in a whole new way. Seasons change, people change, but God. He is the same.

I look around me this fall and feel grateful for this place I am in. For our health and our happiness and our babies that make us smile. For answered prayer that long went unanswered and for hard things that make us beautiful. I remember my friend telling me over a long-distance phone call that we need to stack answered prayer up like stones on a mountaintop and I’ve never let that picture out of my mind. It is important to make apple cake for friends and sit around the table counting our blessings.Stacking our dishes like promises kept and prayers answered.

 from Date Night In by Ashley Rodriguez

Makes one 8″

 Unsalted butter, for the pan

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

 3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup canola oil

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 medium-sized tart apples such as granny smith, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes.

 Preheat the oven to 350.Butter or spray an 8″ round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in a medium bowl. In another bowl whisk together the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, along with the apples. Use a rubber spatula to fold all the ingredients together until combined. (The batter will be very thick.) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spread until level, and place in the middle of the oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before inverting and then cooling completely. This cake is best the day after it’s been baked. Wrap well in plastic wrap and leave on the counter overnight.