comfort food and staying busy.

all day yesterday i felt like a cloud was hanging over me.  i would be fine and then sad.  thinking of losing my uncle.  my mom and her siblings losing their brother -- i don't know how to process that.  thinking of haley losing her dad -- again, unimaginable. thinking of how grateful i am we got to spend christmas eve.  realizing i never captured a picture of haley and uncle david in front of the christmas tree. wishing i had ... 

on the drive home travis asked me what i thought sounded good for dinner.  i really didn't know.  chicken and dumplings came to mind for him.  the day was dreary and a little cold outside.  i thought chicken and dumplings sounded fitting for the day.  we stopped at reasor's for a few things we needed and then headed home. 

keeping busy was therapeutic for me.  i would still think of my family, but i was focused on happy memories and the task at hand more than anything. 

i had never made chicken & dumplings {and my mom's are pretty hard to compete with}.  i didn't feel like i could call & ask my mom with all she was dealing with, so i took to the internet.  i started with paula deen's, but her recipe sounded much more bland than my mom's.  next stop, martha stewart,  her recipe sounded closer to what i thought my mom's would likely be. 

if you've been following me for any time at all, you realize that i have trouble not manipulating recipes.  i always have to change them in some way {well for some things. i tend to stay true to the recipe on desserts because i'm always afraid they won't set up correctly}

here's my version of martha's. {i didn't include the frozen peas at all}.

chicken & dumplings:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 head of fresh garlic, diced {this is something i added}
• 5 medium carrots, sliced {i sliced mine thinner than she calls for}
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme {i used italian seasoning with thyme and oregano}
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 box reduced-sodium chicken broth {i had to use significantly more than martha's recipe}
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons more milk

 directions:

1. in a dutch oven, heat butter over medium. add onion, carrots, and italian seasoning. cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly - i started with the 14.5 oz the originally recipe calls for, but added more as the soup cooked.  it became more of a paste than a soup; season with salt and pepper. nestle chicken pieces in the pot; reduce heat to medium-low. cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. meanwhile, make dumplings: in a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup flour, dill, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  i also sprinkled enough italian seasoning to cover the top of the dough mixture because i didn't think the dill would make these taste enough like my mom's. with a fork, gradually stir in 1/2 cup milk to form a moist and soft batter. it should be just a little thicker than pancake batter and should easily drop from the tip of a spoon. i had to add the additional 2 tablespoons of milk because the dough was too thick.) 
   
   
   
   
   
4. drop batter in simmering liquid in 10 heaping tablespoonfuls, keeping them spaced apart (dumplings will swell as they cook). 
   
   
   
   
   
   cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. the dumplings bubbled up so perfectly -- i was so nervous!  not the best picture ever, and the dumplings still look a little doughy here, but i can assure you they were not.
   
   
   
   
   
   we ate dinner with the soup just like this, but i added more chicken broth {until the box was gone} and sprinkled more italian seasoning across the top for our leftovers tonight.