Dumplings or "doughboys" 2 tbsp shortening 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 cup milk Rub shortening into the dry ingredients..Gradually add milk and mix lightly with a fork until it forms a soft dough...Drop by spoonfuls on top of stew being careful not to have the liquid higher than the veggies or meat....Cover tightly and do not peak for 12 to 15 min. I put a sprinkling of dried parsley in mine before adding the liquid...it is optional. These come out light and fluffy. one note* make sure your baking powder is fairly new as there is nothing more disheartening to make something this easy only to be a flop, or in other words gooey and chewy....not good lol. This goes for biscuits as well, most other things you won't notice that it doesn't act properly.

The Southwest Seasoning is a blend I get from Penzey's but you can also get blends from your regular grocery store. Penzey's is: salt, sweet ancho pepper, onion, garlic, Tellicherry black pepper,Mexican oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, chipotle and cilantro. The seasoning is good but you could substitute black pepper and a kick like cayenne. Or, you could just leave it out and the soup is still very good. I like the tumeric mostly for the color...and it's good for you:) Sharon, thank you! We had the fresh salmon cakes last week for the first time since Spring. They are one of our Fall and Winter dishes. During warmer months we usually grill all our fish. (BTW, I've missed your pictures too...always beautiful!!!) Marilyn

I learned to make a spaetzle thingy my dad always called a dumpling. Much the same as Linda's recipe only a bit more simple. Beat eggs like you would for scrambled eggs. A large pinch of parsley. Add flour until it forms a stiff dough... it should not run off the spoon. Must be exact in proportion... okay maybe not. About two eggs per person or three eggs per teenager. A splash of milk will make them more fluffy but I seldom have milk around. I like them thick and heavy. Extras keep in the fridge for a few days just fine... warm in a microwave or by putting hot soup on them. Unlike the other I never boil them in the soup... yucky slimey starchy things I don't like. I boil them like a noodle. Drop them from a wet teaspoon into boiling water. While spooning them into the boiling pot keep a small bowl of plain water... dip the spoon in the water between each scoop of dough and the dough won't stick to the spoon. We push them off the spoon with a finger. They are done when they float... fish them out with a slotted spoon. You will get all sizes and some fines. If making a large batch drain the whole pot into a collander. About half the size of an egg is the perfect size but the tiny fines eat well. Large ones may have to be cut with a knife to eat. This makes an all purpose "dumpling". At soup time put some in a bowl and ladle hot soup over top. A family favorite is to put chicken gravy over them. My youngest sister likes butter and parmeasan cheese on them. They are simple, filling, inexpensive. With chicken gravy they are the #1 family favorite and we always make them for my middle sister when she comes back to Michigan. We so enjoy them the chicken we cook to make gravy gets pushed aside and is eaten later. Lots of protein in the eggs so with a side of veggies this makes a complete hearty meal that will stick with you out in the cold. A common soup we make other then chicken is beef bones, a can/few tomatoes, celery sticks, carrot sticks, and some black pepper. Boil it all until it smells good and ladle over a bowl of dumplings. Being homemade it will take lots of salt... I seldom salt while cooking but pour it on at the table. : ) lyra

Sorry, I don't really have a recipe and every time I use a different amount. I made them the other day and this is what I did. Just make whatever kind of chicken broth you choose to make. I was in a hurry, so I used "Better than Bouillon", water, celery, thyme, and the carcass from a grocery store roasted chicken, and just cooked it for a little while. Sometimes I add shredded carrots for color. For the dumplings I use salt (or seasoned salt), white pepper, and lots of flour. Then I mix buttermilk with some of the broth (about a 4:1 ratio of milk to broth). I then mix this in with the flour until I get it to the thickness that I like it. Sometimes I will drop a dumpling into the broth to test and see if I need to make it drier or more wet, then adjust it with more flour or buttermilk. I think my dough was about the consistency of moist biscuits, but then I put quite a bit of flour down on the counter to roll them out, so that dries it out a bit more. When the dough is how I like it, I roll it out thin, cut it into strips with the pizza cutter, tear off the dumpling size pieces and drop into the broth. I added the deboned chicken to the broth when I added the dumplings. We like the broth a bit thicker and not completely watery, so I make a paste of flour and buttermilk (about 1/2 cup) and pour it into the broth to thicken it a bit.