Crochet Me Crazy

Yay! Okay, I know it's not really Friday but it feels like it to me. Since I'm taking off from the visitor's center, I don't have to work until next Thursday! WOW! Today was a really busy day at the stables today! We were pretty much full rides one after the other all day long. Plus the phone ringing with people trying to book. Three of our horses we normally use are out because of being bit by another horse. The biter is actually one of my favorite horses but he's a bit territorial and he bites. They have bites on their backs and can't be saddled. It makes us short on the horses they normally use for kids. I finally just blocked out the 2 o'clock ride because the wrangler needed to eat at some point. It may stay busy like this from here on out. They said business would pick up mid-June. Well, at least I'm not bored!

Jeff's cabinet job is going smoothly and he may have another couple of jobs lined up after this and the stair job. He's found that their well house roof has completely caved in. She also asked if I thought Jeff could fix a broken water pipe at the stables. The guy that was supposed to fix that took $240 and then disappeared. I guess it pays to be trust-worthy and dependable around here.

By request from a reader, I'm posting the recipe for my Chicken and Dumplings.

Wash a whole chicken. Place in large pot and cover with water. Add a chicken bullion cube. I don't generally measure my spices but I usually add celery salt or maybe a little poultry seasoning. Bring water to boil and continue cooking until chicken is very tender. I usually have to keep adding water as the water boils down. My chicken is generally falling off the bones by the time I'm done. I then removed the chicken and bones from the broth and put it on a plate to cool. Then I removed all the bones cut or shred chicken into bite sized pieces. Add chicken back to your broth and bring the broth to boiling again.

Now for the Dumplings:

Combine 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tsp of baking soda, and 1 tsp of salt. Cut in 1/3 cup shortening and add 1/2 cup of milk. Combine until it forms a stiff dough. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into approx 1" wide strips. You can make them however long you want them. I usually make them about 4 or 5 inches long. Now, the important part for my family is to have LOTS OF DUMPLINGS so I triple...yes, triple...the dumplings when I make them! Drop the strips in to the boiling broth. Cover tightly and boil gently, stirring ocassionally, for 8 to 10 minutes or until the dumplings sink.

I used to make this with one dumpling recipe and they would eat the dumplings out and I'd have just chicken left...so I doubled it...still the dumplings disappeared...so finally, I tripled the dumplings and it's impossible for them to eat the dumplings out before its completely gone. That was voted the best chicken and dumplings EVER so I do it like that every time now. Also note, this is a very cheap meal to make.