Apple Dumplings

I joined a new recipe swap a couple of weeks ago. It is really neat the way it works. You are paired up with another blogger and the two of you get to choose a recipe from each others website and make it. Then you get to post about it on your website! This idea comes from the Taste and Create site, which I have grown quite fond of lately!

My partner is Jen from The Misadventures of Mrs. B! I am totally in love with her website! She has some really yummy recipes on there, not to mention some funny posts as well.

Anyway, the recipe of hers that I chose to create was Apple Dumplings. After reading the post, I found out that this recipe originated from the Pioneer Woman so I already knew I was going to love it!

I cannot begin to tell you how absolutely and sinfully delicious this is! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples
• 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• 1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Preparation Instructions

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.
Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Blackberry Pie

Since I have been trying my hand at cooking from scratch, I decided to try making a fresh fruit pie. I love Apple Pie, and Peach Pie, but didn't have any of those fruits on hand. I love blackberries, so I purchased some and brought them home! It's a wonder I had any left to fix a pie with because my blackberry bandit (aka Kayla) kept on eating them!

Anyway I got on the internet and found a pastry crust recipe and a blackberry pie recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com/ . I was quite pleased with the way it turned out! And I was even more pleased when I cut into it and it looked like this! (Ignore the potato chip crumbles on my plate!)

It turned out delicious, so I thought I would share the recipe with you! Hope you enjoy!

Pastry For Double Crust Pie

2 cups of All Purpose Flour

3/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

6 tablespoons cold water

1. In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half so that one ball is slightly larger than the other. Roll out larger ball to fit in a 9 or 10 in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry even with edge.

2. Pour desired filling into crust. Roll out second ball. Position over filling; cut slits into pastry. Trim pastry to 1" beyond edge of pie plate. Fold top crust over bottom crust. Flute edges. Bake according to recipe instructions.

Blackberry Pie

1 recipe for a Double Crust pastry dough

4 cups of fresh blackberries

3 tablespoons of All Purpose Flour

1 cup White sugar

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tbsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Line a 9 inch pie pan with half of pastry. Save remaining pastry for top crust. Chill both while preparing the blackberries.

3. Combine berries, flour, sugar, and lemon juice. Spoon into pie shell and dot with butter or margarine. Cover with top crust and slash in several places.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes or until browned.

( I made an egg wash of 1 egg and 2 tbsp of water mixed together and brushed the top of my pie crust after the 15 minutes at 450 so that it would be shiny brown.)

Hope you all enjoy!