August LTP :)

Angie - sending you a PM right now.  

How do you make your dumplings? I do them the way my grandma did - roll out the thin pastry dough and cut the strips to drop in the water. Chicken and dumplings is an all day thing. If I want to do that during the week, I found a secret box in the frozen food section of the grocery store.  They are Anne's Old Fashioned flat dumplings. They now come in a wheat variety. These are the only ones DH's mom uses so he had never had the real country ones before I made them. The Anne's are very close to my grandma's and they are produced in NC.  

Oh, poor Julia! My DD went through a really hard time when her grandparents and aunt died all a few years apart.

I don't use the crockpot for mine - I have a 8qt stockpot and a 12qt stockpot that I use. If I think I want a larger batch, I pull out the 16qt pressure cooker/canner.  When I 'm rushed, I only use skinless/boneless chicken breasts and lots of chicken broth and those seasoning packets from ramen noodles. DH eats those noodles all the time but he uses 1 packet of seasoning for 2 packs of noodles. So I keep the leftovers and use as a substitute for chicken broth.

I don't like chicken skin either so I understand completely. I only like breasts and thighs - DH likes breasts and wings but will occasionally eat a leg. Most of the time it is a waste for me to cook a whole chicken.

Ruth, that sounds like a wonderful day!