Wow - I haven't thought about those violet candies in YEARS! I don't think these are exactly the same, but they might be similar enough to make do.... Alexa Here is a link that might be useful: Violet Mints

I made these, they're great. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dumplings Ingredients: 2 C Flour 2 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 1 C whole Milk 4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil Preparation: Mix above ingredients, blend them well and turn out on to a floured surface. Knead 4 or five times and divide dough into two parts. Roll out one piece of dough to 1/8" thick and cut into 1"x1 1/2" strips. Place into a large sauce pan that you have place 8 cups of water and 3 chicken bouillon cubes that has been brought to boil and the bouillon cubes have been dissolved. Cook 1 half of dumplings until just about done and strain and set aside. Next finish the other half of the dumplings in the same way. While cooking the dumplings you can prepare the sauce. Dumpling Sauce 3 Tbsp Butter 4 Tbsp Flour 1/4 tsp Salt 1 C Whole Milk 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes (crumbled) 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 -3/4 C Dumpling Cooking Liquid (after dumplings have been cooked) Place butter in medium sauce pan and melt, add salt and flour, stir until thick. Mix sugar with milk, and add to flour mixture a little at a time and stir constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth. Remove from heat. Place cooked dumplings in dumpling sauce and add 1/2 cups of cooking liquid in which the crumbled chicken bouillon cubes have been added and stir gently, Simmer dumplings until blended on low heat. More cooking liquid may be added if needed.

Thanks Gardenlad: The antipasto platter sounds like a great suggestion. Think I'll consider coming up w/ something along that line. Happy holidays!

This is for gran2oo. You can occasionaly use potatoes provided you chop and soak them for 6-8 hours and disgard water afterward. Then you can prepare them anyway you like. My mother recently started dialysis due to kidney failure as a result of her diabetes. I have also moved her in with me to take care of her. So I am faced with the challenge of preparing special meals. I just focus on all the things she CAN eat and that's it! I replace the tomatoes with the small green tomatillos and I also use red or green hot sauces choosing the labels with the least amount of salt. Good luck!