Hope you’re all enjoying the first week of the New Year so far. I’ve been spending a few days with my parents and family in Georgia, so thought I’d share some of my mama’s famous chicken and dumplings.
OK, so they are only famous in my family, but these are the comfort pots of goodness that I grew up with.
Doesn’t that look positively scrumptious? If you have never had homemade chicken and dumplings, I promise you are missing out on a beautiful thing in life.
Yum! Comfort food at its best. I did learn to make these, but haven’t done them myself for awhile.
But, here’s the low-down on the dumpling recipe. It’s a simple recipe made with plain flour, salt, and water. Mix that up together, into a dough ball that can be rolled out flat and cut into little strips. On a floured surface, just roll out the dough ball, nice and flat. Cut into strips and drop into a hot boiling pot of chicken broth and shredded chicken.
My mom makes her own broth by boiling chicken legs and parts and deboning, freezing it all and then getting it out when she wants to make something with it. I gave it a try and it’s really not hard, so if I can do it, so can you!
See those cute little dumplings? These are the best dumplings you can imagine, no kidding. 
Check out her cute little pineapple salad she made for us too. Isn’t that old-fashioned? I love my mama, she is just the best mama in the world. 
Fresh broccoli from their garden rounded it out.
I was over at my sis’s house and took a look at her storage areas in her basement, as well as the Christmas closets down there. Some of you had asked how she stores all her Christmas decor. Well, she has a great full-size basement that’s been outfitted with shelving and lots of storage opportunities, so take a look at these ideas IF you happen to have a basement. 
A large room with concrete floor, they added these nice steel shelving units and some plastic ones too. Great for storage for anything extra. She said to tell you this is still a work in progress and she’s planning to organize it better.
She’s got all sorts of extra stuff stored here. I have nothing like this at my house, do you? She loves entertaining, so definitely needs to have room for all of that stuff when tends to be big and take up a lot of space.
Another plastic rack holds more.
And yet another steel rack here in the corner. 
Right outside that room, is another space that my sis wants to turn into a craft room eventually. It has 2 sets of mirrored closets and this is where most of her Christmas gets stored. She said there are 4 trees standing up to the right that you can’t see. 
And here’s the 2nd mirrored closet. She definitely has more storage space than most of us do. So, that gives you some ideas on what sort of shelving you can get for storage and organization. Say hello to Buster, the Boston.
Look what my niece got me for Christmas! How funny is this and she looks sorta like me too. I love it, a Christmas ornament.
So, that’s been my weekend. Hope yours was good too. I’ve got a lot of stuff going on this month that I will be sharing with you later, so might not be blogging as much as normal, but I will be around.
Have a great week!
I love dumplins and so does my son. He is almost 17 and eats nothing but junk food. This is the one thing that he will eat that I cook. Makes me want to eat some right now:)
No better comfort food than chicken and dumplin’s. My mother and grandmother made their own dough too, but as my mother got busy with a family, she learned that he could take flour tortillas (we can get homemade ones here in Texas) , cut them into strips and throw them in the pot. They work great! I may have to make some this weeek!
It doesn’t get much better than homemade chicken & dumplings! This reminded me to get my mom’s recipe too!
Hi Rhoda,
Well, that looks simply amazing. I might even try my hand at those chicken and dumplings. I’ve never made them before, but they look like pure comfort food which is my very favorite.
Your Mama’s chicken & dumplings look divine – the ultimate southern comfort food!! Thanks for sharing her recipe. I’m writing this one down 🙂
The pineapple (or pear) salad was a weekly staple growing up! The chicken n’ dumplings – what a treat! I hope you savored every bite. 🙂
It’s cold here tonight and the dumplings look amazing! I love the way you make your dumplings and prefer them to the big puffy ones (that often disintegrate before you can actually eat them!)
Rhoda,
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I will be using it soon. Looks like the perfect thing to serve on a cold winter evening.
What a cute ornament! I don’t think I would pack it away. Instead I would give it a permanent home on my desk.
I envy your sister’s storage. If she ever downsizes she could supplement her income by renting out storage units! : )
Your Friend,
Deborah
That “I Love Garage Sales” is too too cute!!
My Grandmother Middleton who lived in SC made chicken and dumplings that looked just like this. She always said the dumplings were just flour, salt and water but I thought she must have added a little something extra when I wasn’t looking because how can those 3 ingredients taste so delicious? Now I just buy McLib’s dumplings in the grocery store and that’s as close to Grandmother Middleton’s as we’ll probably ever get.
Yeah, so my dumplings did NOT turn out like Nana’s. They were watery and rubbery. I have to try again.
In other news, I’m glad you like your ornament!
Love chicken and dumplings, I’ll have to try the recipe. Thanks!
Yummy! I make a mean pot of homemade chicken-n-dumplings, if I say so myself. Nothing like the real thing.
Oh my goodness that looks delicious!!! I am saving this one! (BTW – that ornament is just too precious! It does look like you!!!)
I have total Closet and Storage envy!!!
Another recipe that I might have to wait and make in March after I lose the 5 lbs I put on over the holidays! And…I am so jealous over your sisters storage space. I have practically none. It sucks.
I was born and raised in the South…born in SC, moved to NC when I was 13. I’m now 47 and still in NC. My grown children still think I’m nuts when I make my pear halves with mayo and cheddar cheese on top! But we grew up eating that at least once a week!! Now my chicken and dumplings they adore of course. I do my dumplings differently though. I just make my homemade biscuit dough..flour, shortening and milk. I don’t add quite as much milk…leaving the dough a little drier. I then just drop spoonfuls of that dough into the pot of boiling stock, then scrap the bowl to get all the loose flour in the pot as well. Put a lid on it and let it simmer till dumplings are done. I start off with a whole chicken too, boiling it till meat falls off the bone. Best comfort food ever!!
My Mom made the same chicken and dumplings for us when we were growing up. I tried them once, and described them as wallpaper paste. I’ve been afraid to try them again. You’ve inspired me to try once again.
I love seeing the storage area – I have a basement that has turned into a “barn” and I AM GOING to tackle it soon. Seeing the shelving, which I have some down there, gives me inspiration that even though my kitchen cabinets are full, I can shift some things downstairs on shelves that do not get daily use.