As the weather cools, my crowd loves soups, stews and old fashioned Chicken ‘n Dumplings.  This recipe is an all time family favorite at our house.   I can remember standing over the stove as a little girl, waiting for the milk to boil so the dumplings could be dropped.  Making Dumplings of any sort is an art.  Once mastered, you can make all sorts of dumplings:  Pea Dumplings, Blackberry Dumplings, not just Chicken ‘n Dumplings.  Here’s how we done it on our family farm.

Boil 4 large chicken breasts until done.  Separate chicken and broth, set broth aside. Take a mixer and shred the chicken – you’ll never hand shred chicken again….

In a pot combine shredded chicken, 1 pint chicken broth, 1 quart of milk and 1/2 stick of butter.  Bring to a boil.

This is where you can do it one of two ways:  Biscuits from a can or Biscuits by hand.

• Biscuits from a can:  Open a can of canned biscuits, such as Pillsbury Grands and cut them into squares and drop them in the boiling milk mixture.  OR….
• Biscuits by hand:  Make your own dumplings like we do.  In a bowl start out with self rising flour, a heaping serving spoon of Crisco and splash of milk.  Mix with your hand, yes your hand….this is a texture recipe so you’ve got to use your hands.

Mix until it sticks to the spoon.  If the texture is too “soupy” add more flour, if it’s too dry add more milk.

Spoon the dumplings in the boiling mixture of broth and milk.  The heat will cause the dumplings to cook quickly and the inside of them will become light and fluffy like a biscuit.  You can use a fork to pry one open to test.  Once the dumplings are done, salt & pepper to taste and enjoy.  These are great warmed over the following day.