Sweet Dreams Are Made of Brie: Part 2 of a "What I Ate for Christmas" Series

Life gets busy this time of year. I watched a version of A Christmas Carol yesterday and couldn't help but laugh over the emphasis that Dickens put on not working on Christmas day. I shook my head and thought, "Nope. 8:15 to 5."

We are lucky enough, though, to live in an area where everyone seems to be away from their proper families. Somehow everyone ends up with a place to go at one of the "Heartwarming Orphan" holiday parties. Normally, Josh and I host one. This year, we were both a little too homesick to try distracting ourselves with hosting duties. Our friends Derek and Jess opened their apartment to us, and anyone else who needed to feel a sense of belonging. It was perfect.

I was asked to bring an appetizer, and with a 20 minute drive ahead of me, I wanted to make sure it was a fuss-free food. I made baked brie for the festivities. If the idea of baked brie intimidates you, don't let it. Think of it as oven-baked grilled cheese.

Ingredients:
-1 can of crescent roll dough
-1 or 2 Tbs of your favorite fruit preserves. I use apricot or blackberry (blackberry in this case).
-1 circle (that's a unit of measurement?) of brie cheese

Yep. That's all you need to make this. You may want to grease your baking sheet, but only a little.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lay half of the crescent roll dough on your baking sheet or pan. Pinch together the rips and tears in the dough. Then place the brie on top of the dough.

Put your spoonful of preserves on top of the brie, and spread it around. Have fun with this step.

Fold the corners of the dough up towards the top of the brie. If you're like me and end up with extra dough, cover up any open spaces where the preserves may leak out. And of course, make crescent rolls out of the extra dough. Waste not, want not, and all that fun stuff. The crescent rolls will also help you gauge when the dough around the brie is ready. The crescents should look golden brown on top when you're finished.

Bake for 12 minutes, then check how the crescents look. If they're golden brown, your brie is ready. If not, wait another 2 minutes or so.

It looks like a super-charged dinner roll or biscuit. Considering it takes about 20 minutes total to make and only has three ingredients, it's a really simple appetizer. It's been a hit every time I've brought it to parties, so have fun with this one!

The finished product. It went really fast once we got to the party, too. It's a simple, vegetarian-friendly recipe that looks and tastes like a lot more effort than it really is. It's become something that my friends look forward to, and maybe it'll become a staple at your own festivities.