Ringing in Advent with Apple Dumplings and Family Memories

There's just something magical about the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. In some ways, we rush about in the hustle and bustle of shopping and preparations, but deep down we embrace the peace that the season brings.

As I was thinking about all of these things together, I was reminded how everything really boils down to faith and family. I was reminded of dinners with my grandparents and vacations with them, and then celebrating big Thanksgiving and Christmases at my paternal grandparent's house with all my cousins, then much smaller get-togethers at my other grandparents as my mother was an only child.

Even now, my husband's family get-togethers tend to be larger than my side of the family. His family all live close and mine are more wide-spread. But large or small, all are precious and create lasting memories.

Sometimes it's the tradition of a certain food or a certain time. For instance, my mother-in-law has served a mid-morning breakfast for Christmas for the last several years. The time of day and the break from traditional foods has always been a wonderful respite on Christmas Eve. And who doesn't love biscuits, bacon, and eggs?

In keeping with this month's theme, I'm going to share a recipe, but it might not be one you'd want to serve with breakfast, but then again... lol

We had "Second" Thanksgiving at my house on Sunday since my youngest son had to work on Thanksgiving Day. I invited my in-laws and my mother-in-law came with Apple Dumplings since that's his favorite dessert. She didn't know that I also made Apple Dumplings because... well, it's my son's favorite dessert. So we had 32 apple dumplings between us!

This led to an in-depth discussion of how we made our dumplings, plus another long email discussion among the Seekers of who's made them, how, and what ingredients. I'm not sure if Apple Dumplings has ever has as much air time as they have this week.

So, without further ado, I'm going to share my mother-in-law's version of Apple Dumplings, since it's the easiest thing to remember by far.

Two-fer Apple Dumplings

(I'm calling these Two-fer, because you use TWO of everything)

2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 16 slices

2 cans of crescent rolls (8 per pack)

2 cups sugar (white or brown, or mixed works)

2 sticks of butter

10 ounces of either Sprite, orange juice, or Mountain Dew

Optional: Sprinkle of cinnamon

Spray a 9x16 glass casserole dish with Pam or a smear of butter

Wrap each apple slice in a crescent roll

Melt butter and mix with sugar and pour over the top

Pour the Sprite or orange juice around the edges

Bake on 340-350 until crescent roll tops are nice and brown. There will still be a good bit of liquid/juice, but this will soak up as the dish cools a bit. Eat warm or cold, and with vanilla ice cream if you like.

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