Meals With Marge 10-23

October 27, 2009 Send your favorite recipes to reply @plymouth-review.com

If I ever really needed chicken soup at any time in my life it was last week. After undergoing eye surgery, there was nothing that would have made me feel better than a nice bowl of hot chicken soup.

Because the eye surgery week was busy with two trips to Milwaukee – one for the surgery and the second to take off the bandages – it wasn’t until the end of the week that I got my soup; but as usual it was worth the wait. Luckily, I didn’t have to do the cooking. It’s stressful to do much of anything with the use of one eye, unless you are forced to get used to it. The condition I had was treatable, which means within the next couple of months my eyesight should return to close-to-normal. For that I will be forever thankful.

I will also feel a great deal more sympathy and kindness towards anyone who has had eye surgery. Our eyes are the most sensitive part of our body; but fortunately they also heal the quickest. That is what I look forward to the most – complete recovery.

So on the evening following my surgery I begin this column with one eye; and hopefully will complete it later this week with two eyes. This column is as important to me as it is to our readers. So as not to disappoint anyone, I will proofread it several times, just to make sure!

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Chicken ‘n’ Dumpling Soup
makes 20 servings
Ingredients:
Soup:
1 3-to-3-1/2-pound broiler/fryer chicken
3 quarts water
1/4 cup chicken bouillon granules
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
6 cups wide noodles, uncooked
4 cups sliced carrots
1 10-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables
3/4 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Dumplings:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions: In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, combine the first six ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours. Remove chicken, allow to cool. Strain broth, discard bay leaf and peppercorns. Skim fat. Debone chicken and cut into chunks, return chicken and broth to pan. Add noodles, vegetables, rice and parsley. Bring to a simmer.

For dumplings, combine flour, baking powder, thyme and salt in a bowl. Combine milk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto simmering soup. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean. Do not lift cover while simmering. Left-over soup can be frozen

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Last year, Judith Perl of Sheboygan Falls suggested that she’d like to see a recipe for pumpkin cookies. Here it is, Judith!

• • •
Rich Golden Pumpkin Cookies
makes approximately 6 dozen

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 cup raisins, chopped
1/3 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions: Sift together the first seven ingredients. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin and flavoring; blend. Next add dry ingredients, raisins and nuts. Mix well. Drop by teaspoons onto well-greased baking sheet. Flatten with fork dipped in water.

For the topping, mix together the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle on each cookie. Bake in 400-degree oven about 10 minutes.

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Send your recipes to include in this column for the upcoming holidays – could be main dishes, vegetables, casseroles or desserts.

Send to The Review, P.O. Box 317, Plymouth, WI 53073. I can be reached on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 893-6411, ext. 32.