This recipe belonged to my great grandmother, Mama Reid. Because she enjoyed feeding a multitude of people, her family gathered their favorite recipes and printed a cookbook in her honor. It was presented to her on her 87th birthday, January 18, 1975. In 2009, the cookbook was reprinted for those who didn’t have a copy. If by chance you are interested in a copy, please contact me. They are $10.00 each. On to the recipe…
Boil chicken (whole or cut up) in plenty of salted water. Add a piece of bacon to the water. I usually add a stalk of celery, if I have it. If I don’t have celery, I add celery seed. Cook until chicken is tender, but not off the bone.
While the chicken is cooking, make the dumplings. (For the record, this is the original dumpling recipe doubled. We like lots of dumplings.)
4 c. self rising flour (or because I never have self rising, use 4 cups all purpose flour, 2 TBSP baking powder and 2 tsp salt)
1 cup (or more) flour, used to flour surface
1/2 cup shortening
2 tsp salt
Enough water to mix
Cut the shortening into the flour and salt mixture. Add water (about 1/4 cup at a time), mixing until it forms sticky ball of dough. Heavily flour your counter top. Add dough and roll it around in the flour. Roll out until about 1/2 inch thick (doesn’t have to be exact). Use table knife and cut into strips. Leave plenty of flour on the dumplings to thicken the broth while cooking.

Once chicken is cooked, pull it and add it to the broth. Bring broth with chicken to a rolling boil. Drop dumplings in, a couple at a time. Boil uncovered until dumplings go to the bottom of the pan. (Make sure your heat is just high enough to boil, but not any higher. Otherwise, dumplings will fall to the bottom and stick to the bottom of the pot.) DO NOT DARE STIR UNTIL DUMPLINGS ARE DONE! I use a spoon and push down the sides (see picture). That lets the dumplings on top get liquid to them, but DON’T STIR! It will turn to mush!!

Once dumplings have fallen from the top, it is ready. Serve and add pepper, to taste. And most of all….Enjoy.

Ok, so I didn’t get them posted regularly, but I did get it done!! I am very proud of myself because it made me view things through the lens of the camera. And I accomplished a goal. That is always nice. There were a few days when I didn’t get a picture taken, but most days I had many. I am telling myself it averages out to more than one a day, so all is good. (Nothing like the mind of a math teacher, right?)

Day 17

 

Day 18 Movie Night

The kids told me they were getting the tub, then after about 20 minutes I noticed I had not heard them at all (which is VERY odd). I went to check and noticed the door shut and an extension cord running into the bathroom…but there was not a light on. Not knowing what I was walking into, but knowing situations like this were usually picture worthy, I went back and grabbed the camera. Boy, I was glad I did. When I opened the door, this is what I saw (by the light of the DVD player). I immediately snapped a shot, before they started giggling uncontrollably. The pics below is the goofiness that came about once they saw I had the camera pointed at them. Gotta love their creativity, though. A movie in a warm bath, that’s great!

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24 & 25

Ok, I had done great until this point…I missed Monday and Tuesday. My time was tied up in another project. Check out www.brendahyden.com to see why I didn’t get the camera picked up for a couple of days.

Day 26

Day 27

I went in Caroline’s room and glanced at the bed. I had no other choice but to grab the camera. Couldn’t pass up showing you that my kids have been sleeping with a plastic cow head. It’s a long story….

 

 

 

Day 28

Day 29

Yes, I am cheating a little with these. We had family pics to take (I’ll blog about that later) so Heather and I both had tripods set up. She actually took these, but Caroline is precious. I am sitting here giggling as I look at them. We were talking about how we should stand and she decided how she wanted to pose. We all move a little from one picture to the next, but she stays still. Too funny. Things like this fill me with smiles.

Day 30

A full moon over City Park. I love how we watched it rise. It was beautiful. The pics really don’t do it justice.

Day 31

Edit: As I went to crawl into bed on day 31, this is what I found. Now, to me this picture is very ironic. Elise would never take a “sucky” (pacifier) or a bottle as a baby. So to find her as a 4 year old, sleeping soundly like this is something else.

I think I am going to continue this project in anticipation of spring flowers blooming. I love tulips.

Heather made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for us to enjoy Sunday afternoon and took pictures as she did it. I am blogging this, BUT HEATHER GETS ALL OF THE CREDIT! While we are being honest, I just want to say I have the best sister in law ever.

The ingredients:

2 cups Butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

6 cups Oats, uncooked

24 oz. Raisins

Into the 375 degree oven they go for 8-11 minutes, depending on how chewy or crispy you like them. Now, watch them bake. I love this. I am going to try to use this myself, but as sad as it is to admit, I have to get my oven window clean enough to clearly see through.

 

These are YUMMY!!! I think these are my favorite cookie. And if you like cookie dough…this is delicious. I like it frozen.

I am so glad the rest of these are at Heather’s because I could eat them all.