Heaven on a plate

When I'm stressed, I bake. It's what I've always done, or at least what I've done since college when I had a kitchen of my own to cook in. I don't usually eat what I've cooked, because when I'm stressed I stop eating. My neighbors often reap the benefit of my stress-induced baking fits. It's an odd combination of compulsions, I know, but I am what I am.

Given my dying grandmother, B's neck problems, and overwhelming work schedules, not to mention a house filled with kids, I've been baking a lot. Notice I say baking, not cooking. I have no interest in cooking; it took me until I was 35 to admit and accept that I don't like to cook. But I do like to bake.

Last night I made this recipe, from Pioneer Woman Cooks, and OH MY GOD it's good. I had showed PW's post to my friend H and told her I'd be making the dumplings at some point. When I put the dumplings in the oven, I called and left a message with H's husband for her that dessert would be ready in 45 minutes. And exactly 45 minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Basically, you wrap slices of apples in refrigerator crescent roll dough, douse it in a sauce of sugar, butter and vanilla, pour Mountain Dew around the edges (I used Sprite because of my whole no-caffeine thing) and bake it for 45 minutes.

H and I both ate 1 1/2 dumplings with ice cream. We drizzled the butter/sugar/vanilla sauce from the bottom of the baking dish over everything. I think we both may have gone into some sort of dessert trance at some point. I can't account for 15 minutes of the evening.

I sent a plate of the dessert home for H's husband, who was suitably impressed. She said he raved about how good the pastry was, but she chose not to enlighten him as to what it really was. So now E thinks I'm a pastry chef. I can live with that.

It turns out the dumplings are just as good reheated for breakfast, minus the ice cream, as they are fresh out of the oven. I really love baked goods that can be both dessert and breakfast.