Dumplings

As a child, the combination of dumplings and dressing meant Thanksgiving dinner.  I do not merely like dumplings.  I completely adore them.  Growing up, we did not have dumplings outside of Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I like dumplings so much that I will make them at other points in the year in the form of Chicken and Dumplings.  (When making Chicken and Dumplings, I would add some celery and carrots to cook in the broth.  Then add the dumplings.  Once done, add some leftover pieces of boneless, skinless chicken.)  From what I understand, this recipe was passed down from Grandma Dora's great-grandmother who likely got it from her great-grandmother. 

It starts simple: Flour, egg, and pepper.

Place a few (4-6) cups of all-purpose flour into a bowl.  Use the egg to make a well into the flour.  Add a lot of pepper - perhaps a scant teaspoon - and the egg into the well.

Mixing the egg and pepper.

Use fingers to blend the egg and pepper.  Start to work in the flour.

Egg, pepper, and flour.

Work in as much flour as possible.  Then add three-fourths of a cup of warm turkey broth.  (The broth should not be so hot it would cook the egg.)  Now, mix in more flour removing the egg and flour goop from fingers as much as possible.

Keep mixing in flour.

The flour and egg goop is sticky.  Keep mixing in more flour, scraping the sides of the bowl with fingers. 

Use flour-covered spoons or spatula to attempt to clean fingers.

Add more flour if needed!

Flour mixture starting to form a "ball."

"Add flour" is the answer whenever the dough starts to stick.  Eventually, the dough will form a ball as it is kneaded.  Once this happens, fold it on itself and let it rest for 10 minutes in the bowl.  Pull excess flour from hands with a paper towel and wash them well at this point.

Cut the ball into even pieces.

Cut the ball so that each piece will fit on the surface as it is rolled out.

Floured surface and rolling pin.

Ensure the work surface and rolling pin are heavily floured.  Pat the dough piece until it is flattened.  Then roll out the dough until it is very thin.

Keep pieces floured.

Roll out the other pieces quickly.

Cut into desired shapes.

Uneven edges do not matter.

Once rolled, cut into desired shapes and sizes.  Don't worry about the ends.  They won't matter.

Turkey broth

We do not stuff the turkey with stuffing, so we use the broth from the turkey.  If the bird is stuffed or if there is not enough broth, pre-purchased stock can be used.  Add salt, if needed.

Once the broth boils, start dropping dumplings.

The broth needs to be at a rolling boil before dumplings are dropped one at a time.  Seriously, ONE at a time.

Dumplings will float when done.

Even though some dumplings will be done before all are dropped, keep adding them to the pot.  When the surface is covered, broth will bubble up through dumplings.  Drop the new dumplings on the bubbles and give a stir once in a while.

All done!

Dumplings are pretty forgiving, so they can cook a bit longer if needed.  They will reheat in the microwave well too.  Honestly, dumplings look/seam harder to make than they are.  I've wanted to post about dumplings for a while, but I needed clean hands to snap pictures.

Middle-Niece Laura

This year, Laura did the hard work while I snapped pictures.  She is a natural cook in her own right!

Deviled Eggs

Over time, I have seen many ugly conversations among friends about who can conjure the best deviled eggs.  In fact, I once found myself in a contest with others over this very topic.  The result was that the other party-goers (aka judges) decided that MY deviled eggs were "something else" and could not be compared with the other deviled eggs.  Fine, fine.  By mid-evening, my deviled egg tray was the only tray completely void of eggs.  I think we know who won here.

The key to our family's deviled eggs is a salad dressing that pre-dates Grandma Dora.  It's really delicious but I cannot remember Mom or Granny using it in anything other than deviled eggs.  I used it once in a cabbage slaw, and it was good, but I kept craving deviled eggs.  According to Mom, Grandma Dora would drizzle the dressing on lettuce in the summertime.

Momma's handwriting.  Be ready to "stir & stir."

Growing up, we always had deviled eggs with ham.  We had them on Christmas Eve this year because my very Catholic sister opted to have ham for dinner that night rather than the fish or seafood that I generally have.  This year was very in line with what we had growing up as my mother held no Christmas eve dinner traditions - generally because she was still rushing to ensure she was ready for Christmas!  Since ham was on the menu, deviled eggs were a "must."

Not quite traditional method of making the dressing.

As the recipe shows, there is usually a lot of stirring between each step.  Also, a hunk on butter was added at the end.  (When Granny made it, the butter was melted and added.)  As you can see, my sister and I just dumped everything in and stirred. 

With apple cider vinegar added.

When we felt the egg and sugar were somewhat mixed, we added the vinegar, salt, and dried mustard.  And we stirred it a bit as we placed it on the double boiler.

It's really helpful to have a whisk.

  My father has given away about every useful cooking utensil in the house, so we stirred and stirred.  Still, it was hard to bust up the mustard lumps.

Stir, stir, stir.

We used the side of the pan to break up the mustard clumps.  The egg, sugar, and vinegar are starting to congeal a bit.  The butter is softening.  When I first made this dressing, this was the point where I was questioning whether it will turn out.

All smooth!

Suddenly, the dressing gets smooth as the butter mixes in and takes on a pretty lemony color.  Keep stirring until the consistency is uniformly thickened.  My sister hard-boiled the eggs.  (I do mine a different way but, since she peeled them, I did not complain!)  It was at this point we were giggling.  Both of us use beaters on the hard-cooked egg yolks and dressing to make the filling for the deviled eggs fluffy.

Fluffy filling!

The reason for the giggles was she was regaling a conversation with Mom that went something like this.

Mom: I just stir the dressing in with a fork. 
Sandy: I use beaters on mine.
Mom: I think a fork works fine. 
Sandy: I like using the beaters.
Mom (a bit later): How did you get your filling so fluffy?
Sandy: I use beaters.

Okay, I'm giggling again.  You would just have to know our mother.  (Well-played, Sandy.  Well-played.) 

Use a fork and fingers to fill.

There is no magical ratio on the yolks verses dressing.  We both add enough until the filling is creamy with a fair bit of stiffness and the flavor tastes right to us.  Then we fill the eggs with filling that is SO GOOD that it disqualifies you from a deviled egg contest by your egg-devouring friends!  There is no such thing as leftover filling.  Find eggs that need more and fill them.

All ready for dinner!

Sprinkle lightly with paprika to give a bit of color.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until dinner.  These last several days in the refrigerator.  The dressing can last a month of more in a tightly sealed jar.

When using the rest of the dressing, it is tempting to use more dressing as it will be very thick but go cautiously.  The dressing thins out a bit as it warms. 

While I know that Grandma Dora made this, I would wager the recipe goes back to her mother or grandmother.  Everyone had chickens so eggs were often on the table in those days back when.  If my homeowner's association would let me have chickens, I'd likely have them more often too!