Women's History Month - #7

Here comes a yummy challenge for today!

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

Mom was an excellent cook, as well as her mother.  She wrote down recipes, but more often than not, she cooked by "feel" and by "sight".  When I was cooking along right beside her, I'd ask her if I was doing it right.  She would take the spoon or the dough and say, "Here, let me feel it."  She could just tell.

By far, my favorite of her dishes was chicken and dumplings, one that I try to fix today.  But, it never quite tastes like hers.

This is a photo I found on a Google search that is as close-looking to hers as I could find.

Chicken and Dumplings

1 whole chicken, cut up

Stick it in a pot of water and boil it till it's done.

Take it out, let it cool.  Tear it off the bone.

To the broth, add:

Some cut up carrots

Some cut up celery

One big old onion cut up

Salt and pepper

Start making the dumplings:  

Flour  (I think about 2 cups)

Crisco  (I think about 1/2 cup)

Salt

Cold water

Start mixing up the dumplings, but add the water just a spoonful at a time till it feels right.  Roll it out on the counter with some flour on it.  Cut the dumplings out with a can smaller than a Pet milk can.  Or you can leave the dough in a ball and drop them in by the spoonful.

Add the torn up chicken back in.  Let it boil.

Start dropping the dumplings in.  Cover them up and cook them till they're done.  (About 20 minutes).  

Sit down and eat.

In her later years, she often just used Bisquick or a can of biscuits that she cut up.  But, I liked the homemade ones the best.

Today, I fix them a little differently.  I add frozen peas, a can of light chicken broth, sometimes a can of light cream of chicken soup, parsley, and I trim off any fat and skin.  But, each bite makes me think of mom.