Mountain Apple Dumpling Recipe

 

 

Do you still have any apples left?  As promised, I’d like to share with you our Mountain Apple Dumplings.  Now, I’d like to tell you some wonderful, woodland tale about backpacking deep into the Cascades and stumbling across a story book cottage of a sweet, elderly, mountain lady who kindly shared with us her treasured family recipe.  That’s the fable that plays in my head when I hear the name but, no, not quite so romantic.  The name comes from the secret ingredient: Mountain Dew.

Is this healthy?  Eh, “healthy” is a continuum, right?  It’s better than some, has real fruit in it and is amazingly delicious!  This recipe is quick and easy and always ends up being a hit at get-togethers.  I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been asked for this recipe!  And the funny thing is that, though I got this recipe from my Mom ages ago, she and I have both evolved it to our own tastes, and now we would write it out completely differently.  So take this recipe as a general guide and have fun with it!  I’ll include some comments about different ways you could tweak it. 

 

Mountain Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

2-4 apples

2 refrigerated crescent dough (or pie dough)

1 c. butter (she uses 1/2 cup)

½ c. sugar (or 1 cup for tart apples)

1 can Mountain Dew (I don't usually have soda in the house and have used orange juice in a pinch.  I works, but changes the flavor)

1-2 TBSP Cinnamon (I like to add nutmeg, cloves or allspice, too!)

See!?  Every ingredient is adjustable!  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Core and slice apples into 16 pieces.  You may peal them if you desire, but I usually leave the skins on. 

 

Wrap each slice in a triangle of dough (it’s okay if it’s not completely covered) and place in greased 9x13” pan. 

 

They will probably all be touching.  Pour sugar evenly over dumplings, then spices over the sugar. 

 

 Gently (so as not to wash all the sugar off dumplings) pour butter, then Mountain Dew evenly over dumplings. 

 

Cook for one hour, then enjoy!  These taste amazing warm with a little ice cream!

 

Can I just share the story of this plate while I have it in a photo.  I know it’s not much, but I think it’s beautiful: emerald on the top and cobalt underside.  My kinda colors!  So, we were on our daily walk down our dirt/ice road last breakup (spring) in Fairbanks.  As the snow had just begun to melt it revealed this beautiful plate, surprisingly unbroken, on the side of the road.  Though I immediately wanted to take it home (is that gross?  I sanitize!) I figured it belonged to someone farther down, so I set it upright in a snowbank so any one passing would be sure to see it.  I let a week pass and it remained, so I brought it home and thought of it as my lovely scavenger’s treasure.  Not long after before we were having a meal on our porch because it was finally ABOVE FREEZING!!! And the baby pushed the plate off the table and it shattered into a million pieces.  Aw man, sad!  Oh well.  I threw it away.



Does he remind anyone else of a tiny Kristoff?

My walking buddies

 

 

The next day on our walk, I found the exact same plate in the exact same spot!!!!  What?  Wow, thanks, God!  Hee hee!  Now my little miracle plate makes me happy every time I see it.  And who said God doesn’t care about the little things! =)

Learning to Hike with the Littles

Can you believe October is almost over!?  I know I do this every month, but WOW!  We have just been enjoying every moment to the max and I think that makes time move at a quicker clip.  One of the highlights of this week was doing an apple u-pick across the road and getting a TON more apples!  Such a great time made even better by sharing the experience with friends (a few more photos on my Instagram growwildmychild).  I bring this up to let you know I’ve added (and will likely soon add more) recipes to my apple round up post from earlier this season including apple scones and apple sauce!

 

Our second great adventure happened this week when my beloved got an extra day off work and took us to the mountains!!!  Oh man, the mountains are my place.  Do you have somewhere that, just by being there, you can literally feel yourself recharging and being inspired!  I think it’s different for everyone, but for me it comes from the majesty of the mountains. 

And I think this little one and I are like minded

 

I think it’s important to get to these places as often as possible (maybe through mental imagery if not physically?) and that we need these moments of getting away to refocus and remember the Almighty Creator.  He knew we would need these wild spaces to discover!  I love how several times in the Bible (Matthew 5:8, 14:23, 15:29, 17:1) it mentions how even Jesus took time to go out into the wilderness alone or just with his closest friends.  Of all the things Jesus exemplified to us, I don’t think this seemingly small act should be overlooked.  Nature proclaims the glory of God!

 

Now, hiking with little wildlings may not always be such a rejuvenating experience.  What I’m about to write is mostly my learned-the-hard-way lessons!   But when we started having children, I began to wonder if our bush-whacking, mountain climbing, woods-wandering days were on hold until they were much older.  And to be honest, we did cut back for a bit (partially because of the Alaskan winters), but I’ve learned some ways to get out with the little ones in ways that everyone can have a wonderful time, do some exploring, soak up the grandeur, learn so many new things that we might not at home, and make memories together.

 

1.       Getting there:  before I had children, I just thought that all little ones would just fall asleep in the car.  Boy, was I wrong!  Both our children HATED car rides and would often scream. The.  Entire.  Drive…  Needless to say, this is quite stressful and does not make for  a refreshing day for anyone.  Honestly, we did everything to keep our car rides to a minimum those first years (life got better with forward facing car seats).  So, I’m just going to be real and let you know that we tried to find things that were as close as possible and went just because we knew we needed to!   There are many great resources to keep little ones entertained in the car (several in this list), but I think a CD of silly songs we put together was the best remedy for our babies.  And any snacks or drinks possible, especially if you’re doing any elevation change and ear-popping needs to happen.  I kept thinking they must get car sick and now I wonder if there’s any way to diffuse peppermint or something that might help with that?  Hm, just a thought.

 

2.       Tiny Legs:  we’ve been trying to keep to the trails that are pretty short (less than 3 miles) partially for their little legs trying to keep up and also just knowing ahead of time that we’re probably going to be carrying them for portions, depending on their ages.  If you go in expecting that, you can be better prepared.  Think about what shoes they wear, if they can ride in a back pack or carrier or just your arms?

 

3.       Realistic Hikes: you know your kids and what they’re going to be capable of.  Or if you’re not sure, start with shorter paths and work your way up.  Trail heads should all have a sign that the start that will give you an idea of the trail’s length and difficulty.  Or check out everytrail.com  It lists all the trails in your area and gives these details as well. 

 

4.       Permit Rests:  Depending on the age of your little ones, frequent rest (or just distraction) breaks should be expected.  When hiking alone, I tend to want to see the sights on the way, but basically keep moving and get to where I’m going.  I think this is where it is beneficial to have children with you because they make you stop and notice things differently.  Give yourself permission to take breaks with them and really observe things that they find interesting.  This is where so much spontaneous education can occur!  We found a bouncing branch and a tree root slide that never would have caught our attention had we been walking alone! =)

 

5.       Bare necessities: exploring can be hard work, especially if your legs are barely a foot long!  Don’t forget to pack a few snacks (for sustenance and incentive!) and plenty of water.  Dress in (or pack in) layers.  Even if it feels fine at the trailhead, some areas can be windy or cooler (near flowing water or ice?)  And a couple band-aids (yeah, wish I had brought those!)

 

6.       If cries happen, it’s okay.  It keeps the bears away.  We ended up reaching our first hike right about nap time and our little one had about 15 minutes of bellowing.  I figured she’d either fall asleep or get over it (it was one  of those cries) and she decided to keep on trucking and see one more waterfall!

 

Then just soak it all in and enjoy your time together!  Actually, on our way home, the kids were crashed in the back seat as the sun was setting and we came upon a waterfall just off the road.  Josh and I took turns running down the hill to experience it while the other waited with the tuckered tykes.  For all the joys of hiking with the littles, I must say, if you get a moment to yourself among a sight like this, TAKE IT!   There’s something powerful and calming about being alone in nature, even just for a minute.  Then go back to enjoying those with you and treasure the moments in your heart!

 

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”  Isaiah 55:12

Happy adventuring!

Happy Hiker!

 

Water Doodles

Good morning!  We had such a lovely weekend with my parents here and now Josh’s folks are coming down tomorrow!  This is one of the biggest reasons why we moved down from Alaska: more family time.  I love seeing my children loving on and being loved by their grandparents!  We’re having some fun adventures that I’m sure to share with you later, but in the busy week I wanted to offer you my water doodles (quick water color paintings).

My dearest friend in Fairbanks was always so good about putting verses to paper and sharing them.  I continue to have these handwritten notes around the house as reminders as I pass through the room.  Life gets crazy sometimes and you might glance at something like this when you wouldn’t sit down in the moment to read your Bible.  They can be a quick scrawl or a work of art, but it’s been proven that writing things out helps you to remember them, so I wanted to give it a try, too, then share with you!  Feel free to print them out and tack them up where you’ll see them through the day, or I’ve saved similar verse art to my phone and use them as my lock screen background so I’m reminded every time I turn it on. 

Now that I’ve talked about verses, I have to admit that I didn’t actually write any full verses into these pieces.  Think of them more like reminder cards, or write out the verse to the side (it will help you remember! =)  The first says “Be Still” at the bottom.  This is to reference Psalm 46:10.  The whole verse says, “Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  There are (many) times that we get way too busy, so much so that we sort of become dazed and confused.  Refocus and prioritize.  The exalted God is first.  This verse comes at the end of the chapter that begins, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Don’t put Him on the back burner! Note that I am preaching to myself here! =)

The second is from an old song that you can find in an old recording on youtube.  And the lyrics go like this:

"Life is easy, when you're up on the mountain
And you've got peace of mind, like you've never known.
But things change, when you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith, for you're never alone.

For the God on the mountain, is the God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

We talk of faith way up on the mountain.
Talk comes so easy when life's at its best.
Now down in the valleys, of trials and temptations
That's where your faith, is really put to the test."

Can you relate?  Is it easy to say you believe when life is fine and everyone around you is a believer?  What happens when it’s not?  God doesn’t change and He never leaves.  Malachi 3:6a says, “For I the LORD do not change”.  Pretty comforting, really.  And good to know that though the hard times will come, even if we cannot handle what we face, HE is the same, HE is with us to allow us to handle anything when we put our trust in Him. 

I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend and that these simple reminders can help you rest and refocus during this time!  And maybe squeeze in an adventure or two!  What’s going on in your lives during this break?