Sweet Endings

Have you ever seen the crescent roll apple dumplings recipe online? I have had them bookmarked for quite a while. They have been favorable reviewed on several food blogs as well. Some calling them, "to die for". Quite frankly, unless you are on death row, I don't think ANY food is good enough to die for, especially one made with canned crescent rolls and soda. A few weeks ago I was planning a nice dinner and wanted a fast and easy dessert to end the meal. I don't remember what all happened but what DIDN'T happen was dessert so the ingredients I had bought ended up just hanging around my kitchen. Yesterday, I noticed the apple I had bought was starting to show signs of it's age and, rather than waste it, I made the darn dessert. It was tasty, especially served with vanilla ice cream, and it was super fast and easy to make. I would recommend buying the largest apple you can find for this recipe because the smaller slices seemed to get lost in the dough. I would even go so far as to recommend getting 6 slices out of your apple instead of 8, as specified in the recipe, to ensure that you get a good dose of apple flavor. I also read that you can use splenda and diet soda int he recipe if you want to trim some calories. I used diet soda and real sugar in my preparation and it tasted just fine to me. It didn't knock my socks off, nor was it remotely, "to die for" but it was good. Would I make it again? Sure, I would. Fast, easy, and tasty always works for me!

Pillsbury Crescent Roll Apple Dumplings (Click title to be magically transported to the original recipe)

Ingredients

2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls

2 green apples (Granny Smith or Golden Delicious)

1 1/2 cups butter, melted

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup (6 oz) lemon-lime carbonated beverage (Sprite, 7-Up, Mountain Dew)

Heat oven to 350° F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray

Separate 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls at perforations to make 16 triangles.

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices.

Place 1 apple slice on shortest side of each dough triangle. Starting with shortest side of triangle, roll to opposite point enclosing apple slice; arrange in pan.

In medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups melted butter, 1 cup packed light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Pour mixture evenly over dumplings.

Pour 3/4 cup (6 oz) lemon-lime carbonated beverage in center and along edges of pan. (Do not pour on top of dumplings.)

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and thoroughly baked. Remove from oven to cooling rack. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Thank Heavens it's Over!

The holidays that is. Every year seems to be more and more stressful. Money is tighter, the (step) kids are impossible to shop for, and we can never agree on the dinner menu. Somehow, we managed to pull it all together and survive another Christmas. If I had my way (and tons of money), I would spend Christmas someplace warm and remote just to escape the frenzy of it all. But since I can't afford Christmas travel, here I sit in the awful cold of the northeast U.S.. Actually I exaggerate a bit. I do enjoy having the family together and watching the kids open their gifts. It's just really exhausting. I cooked for two days straight to prep everything for this years holiday meal. Since we were trying out some new things, I even did some test runs in the weeks leading up to the holiday to be sure the new recipes didn't suck (they didn't). It all started when the hubs proclaimed that he did not want prime rib for dinner this year. He wanted ham instead. Here is the thing. I don't really care for ham. I don't hate it but I don't really love it either. Hubs doesn't like it nearly as much as he claims to either. He will eat it for dinner. Make a few sandwiches out of the leftovers and then never touch it again, leaving me with all sorts of leftover ham to contend with. Anything I make out of the leftovers, like ham salad or pea soup, he won't eat so it either end up giving it or throwing it away. Ridiculous, right? So, as a compromise, I made a stuffed pork loin this year. I was inspired by a crown roast of pork I saw being prepared on the Chew while in the waiting room at my doctors office. I figured that I could do something similar, albeit less dramatic, with the huge ass pork loin I had in my freezer. I mean, it is basically the same cut of meat, just without the bones and far less expensive. Preparing the actual roast is pretty straight forward - Just butterfly, stuff, roll, tie and bake. It was the stuffing and the sauce that made the meal special. Everyone was surprised at how well all of the flavors came together. Who knows, maybe I will make it again next year. If I do maybe I will remember to take a picture.....or not, lol.

Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing for Pork

1 roll sausage (not hot)
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
1/2 onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bag cranberries, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs Bells poultry seasoning
2 Tbs parsley
1/2 Tbs ground sage
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 bag dry cornbread stuffing
2-3 Cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

In a large pot brown sausage with celery and onions until cooked. Add garlic and cook another minute.
Add cranberries and sugar and continue to cook over med-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add cornbread stuffing and seasonings. Stir to combine.
Add broth to desired consistency.
Adjust seasonings if needed and salt and pepper to taste

Creamy Mustard Sage Sauce
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs flour
1/2 Cup apple cider
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 tsp ground sage
 2 Cups cream
salt and pepper

Over low heat melt butter and flour to create a roux
Add apple cider, mustard and sage to a sauce pan and whisk together until fully blended.
Add cream
Slowly heat mixture, stirring frequently until it reaches desired consistency.
Adjust seasonings to taste
Remove from heat and serve