Please welcome Passionate Cook Adrienne Davenport to the Cafe!
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Ten years ago now, back when I was only fifteen, I was sitting on a bench at a local football game, listening to the crowd cheering loudly. Beside me sat my best friend, Amanda. For awhile we talked sports, not how good looking the football players were, but actual sports talk. Eventually the conversation circled around to how she would like to try out for cross country running. “Is that the coach I hear behind us?” she cheerfully inquired.
“Well yes, I believe it is.” I told her. Just to make certain, I glanced up behind me.
“Could you turn around and ask when the next cross country practice is?”
I was a little surprised but shrugged. “Sure,” I said, smiling, ready to help my friend out. A split second later I turned, looking up. “Pardon me,” I asked “could you please tell me when the next practice is?”
“Tomorrow, after school,” he offered. “Did you want to join?”
For a second I hesitated. “She did.” I narrowed my gaze at my friend.
“But I’ll need someone to run with me,” she explained. You see, Amanda was fully blind. Both turned to me.
“Will you do it?” the coach asked.
I didn’t stop for a second. “Sure, love to!” I announced.
That year I was awarded the sportsmanship award of the year by the school. As a result I received an invitation to attend the Down Under Games in Australia. While in Sydney I ran along the beachside every morning for practice. At the end of that time I would visit a little café down on one corner, not very far off. There I would drink a cup of coffee and have my favorite breakfast, a passion fruit muffin. I fell in love with that recipe, but could never find it once I returned to the U.S.A. I searched for ten years. At last, not too long ago, I combined two recipes together.
Finally I found it, the near perfect representation of that recipe. I couldn’t wait to share this with someone! That night, I made a special journey down to the local grocery store. That night I tried out the recipe, I knew if I got the combination right it would be the perfect recipe for a certain invitation I had received — an invitation to enter it into the “Passionate Cooks Cookbook.”
For awhile I held my breath, watching the clock as they baked. Finally it was time to pull them out. Sure enough, the recipe had worked out! With my little five-year-old boy bouncing in and out of the house cheering me on, I tasted one and smiled.
“Julian,” I said to my son, “this is perfect! I can’t wait to see the result!”
Only a short time later I sent in the recipe. As you can see, it turned out great!