Beautiful, freezing and all white!!!

Well, I had to do it. yep..   make a snow angel.. 61 or not..  it's just who I am.  Raised in Western Pennsylvania, winters were always snowy.  I swear the snow stayed on the ground from November to March.  I played in the snow all the time, making snowmen, throwing snowballs, making snow angels..  and even in one of our 18 inch snowfalls----digging tunnels.  I LOVE SNOW!!  What can I say!!

Hope you're all keeping nice and warm. 

Here's a recipe for you to help on these cold winter days.

These dumplings can sink a ship..  but oh, are they delicious. 

OLD WORLD CHICKEN VEGETABLE SOUP (with dumplings)

Soup Ingredients:

               
1 whole chicken fryer              
1# carrots, peeled and sliced    
1/2 stalk celery (top half        
with leaves, chopped)   
1/2 # frozen corn                  
1 can green beans, drained
7 med. potatoes, peeled and cubed
Garlic Salt
Coarse black pepper

Dumpling Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt

Dash black pepper

4 eggs
Water as needed.

 Clean chicken throughly and remove all gizzards, heart, etc. and put into an 8 quart stock pot filled 3/4 full of cold water.  Cook chicken until tender.  Remove from broth, cool, and bone it into bite-sized pieces.  Return chicken to pot. Add all vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned).  Start with approximately 2 Tbsp. of garlic salt and l Tbsp. coarse black pepper.  As it cooks, taste occasionally, and add garlic salt and pepper as needed.

          Cook on medium high until all the vegetables are tender.  Keep the pot uncovered until they are tender and skim the foam off the top and discard.  Put lid on and let cook at medium low heat for an additional hour. (This would be a good time to taste and use additional salt and pepper..As the soup cooks, the salt will absorb into the vegetables).  The key to good-tasting soup is.......to let it cook slow and long and allow the flavors of chicken, veggies, and seasoning to blend. Your broth will look rich and have some fat on top.  If there is too much fat, skim and discard.  It has a somewhat yellowish color when it's rich.

          The dumplings should be added no more than an hour before you serve it.  In a medium bowl, put flour in and make a well in the middle.  Add to this, the salt and pepper and all four eggs.  With a fork, begin breaking up the eggs and mixing it into the flour. Start with 1/2 cup of water and slowly add and stir into  flour mixture. The consistency will be somewhat lumpy, thick, and gooey.  So add more water until it looks this way.  If it's too thin, add a little more flour.

          Remove lid from soup, and turn heat to medium high ( so it comes to a low boil). With a teaspoon, dip into the hot broth and then get a spoonful of batter and drop it into the soup.  Continue process until all the batter is gone. DO NOT  mix the dumplings....because they will break up.  Put lid back on and let boil slowly for about 5 - 10 minutes.  Remove the lid.  Turn
down the heat to simmer and then mix the dumplings carefully. Put lid back on and let simmer for an hour or so before serving.

        HAVE A SICK FRIEND?????.....This can cure anything....and it's so yummy, too......