Not all dumplings are created equal!

Chicken and dumplings were not my favorite meal growing up even though my grandmother made the best there ever was.  I can still smell the hen boiling to make the stock and my grandmother making the milk whistle when the hot bones would burn her fingers.  She could roll out the dough and cut it into squares so fast if you blinked you'd miss all the action.  And you have to be fast because the stock has to be boiling when you add the dumplings and you can't take too long or they will sink to the bottom of the pot and stick (not the same thing as pot stickers).  As soon as you add the last one you turn off the fire and put a lid on it until its time to dig in.  

Our family uses a flour and milk mixture and rolls them out paper thin the way Jesus intended, some people use biscuit dough or canned biscuits - this is a sin.  I did make the mistake of telling a childhood friend's mother that I like this dish and she made them for me when I spent the night.  Unfortunately, she made her in the form of one big dumpling in a 9x13 pan and you just cut out a square for your serving.  I thought I would die.  It was so nasty.  At their house, what you didn't eat for dinner you ate for breakfast the next morning.  I think I did die that morning.

A couple of times a year I want to have a big bowl of piping hot dumplings and a big piece of buttered cornbread and it's usually when it's so cold outside - last week I wanted some so badly I almost couldn't stand it but I couldn't get a hen to even start.  Last night all that changed.  I got my 4lb chicken (best for being tender) and went to work.  I don't make these often enough to be proficient like my grandmother or her sisters but I can make them just as good - even if I do make a huge mess.  I can only eat one bowl and one piece of cornbread because I'm not used to eating this type of food anymore but I did manage to have TWO pieces of cornbread.  I almost died because I was so full but this was a good thing this time.

I look forward to making this for a crowd of folks again soon, I hope.  The smell, the taste, the slurps; it all reminds me of a big meal meant for a family.  A family wether you're kin or the family of your own choosing.