The Burnt Offering

One of our more dramatic family stories was the sudden demise of our dream car - the beautiful blue Audi. We had shopped long for that special car ( a sort of compromise between a Porsche and a big family car ). However it was not long before it started having some mechanical problems, not to mention that I had to get used to a stick shift again. It still seemed like a good car, though, until that fateful Sunday afternoon as we were rounding the curve on the north side of Magnolia, Arkansas, headed home, and smoke started blowing out of the air conditioner vents. Gerry pulled onto the shoulder, and we got David and Jonathan out as the smoke intensified. He quickly got a fire extinguisher out of the trunk and opened the firey hood to find out that the extinguisher did not work. Upon opening the car door to grab some things (like his billfold), he discovered flames spreading so quickly that he shut that door. He motioned for us to walk down the highway some and then quickly threw some things out of the trunk (all my baby clothes were in there as we were getting them back as Daniel was on the way). I'll never forget how sad it was to see that car sink to the ground as the tires blew, flash its lights and then wave its windshield wipers as a parting gesture. The flames were leaping pretty high as a fire engine showed up.  After putting out the fire, they gave us a ride to the fire station, where we called Mamaw and Papaw for rescue. They came with Uncle David. We drove back to the scene and Papaw picked up a bible that was mostly burned on the side of the road. It was open to Leviticus to a portion describing how to do the burnt sacrifices. I remember noticing the part about burning the fat.

It did amaze us how God blessed the recovery from the fire. The only real upsetting thing was the loss of David's blanket, Gerry's glasses (he had on prescription sunglasses) and some time involved. Half of Gerry's billfold survived, so the bank in ElDorado replaced the money. My dear brother took us home and the insurance replaced almost everything in the car in new condition (the library said not to worry about the books). Then we did end up getting our first van. It was that cute short blue one with the curtains on the windows. I like to think that was the car we really needed.

Chicken and Dumplings

I suppose the most requested dish that we had for birthdays was chicken and dumplings. It was a recipe that sort of evolved through the years. It may have been popular due to the fact that I never cooked two chickens, no matter how many people we had. If it was a bigger crowd I would just multiply the biscuit recipe that we used for dumplings. It took a while to put in and cook many dumplings, so the smell tantalized for a good while. I think the scramble to get "enough" and some chicken on top of that made it seem as good as the "Turkish Delight" seemed to Edmond.

Since we followed no recipe for the whole process, I never knew if it was going to turn out like soup (requiring a bowl) or if plates would do. It was probably my most prayed over dish. I am much more comfortable using recipes. Also I never "salted to taste". They always added more at the table so I gave up. This all probably sounds involved and hard to make, but it is really straightforward. So here goes a try at a recipe:

Cook one chicken (skin removed) with two or more cups water, depending on the size of your pot.
     I like to use a pressure cooker as it takes only 20 minutes under pressure.

Mix 4 cups whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut in 2/3 cup butter until it is like coarse cornmeal. Add 1 1/3 cup milk, stirring quickly to form a soft dough.

Lift cooked chicken from pot and get the broth boiling. You will probably need to add water to have a total of about three quarts. Drop balls of dough into boiling broth. I tried to get the new ones to sink under the others. Cook on medium low heat with lid propped on for 30 minutes or so. You can tell when the dumplings look sort of fluffy and done and the broth has thickened.   Take the chicken of the bone and cut it in pieces and gently push into the dumplings (without breaking them all up). Enjoy. It is a great dish for cold weather.

Tips: Mine always stuck on the bottom of the pan.
        You could half the biscuit recipe and use less broth and get lots of chicken pieces in your bowl!