Chicken and Dumplings

We had a great Thanksgiving and have so much to be thankful for. My Dad was able to come visit for a couple of days which is always special.

Uncle Allen at his 80th birthday celebration, before Honey and I married!

The day before Thanksgiving we received a call that Steve's uncle had passed away. This is not just any uncle because he is the one responsible for getting us together. You see my friends, who are more like parents, were also Allen's friends in Pensacola, Florida. After my divorce I visited them often and one Sunday in particular I was at church with Fred and Marion and we set behind Allen and his family and talked to them several times. After I left Florida to return to Mississippi Allen told Fred that he had a nephew that he wanted me to meet. Fred tried telling him that I was not ready for that but when Uncle Allen made up his mind there was nothing going to change it and he had his mind set. That Christmas Fred and Marion asked me to come down to Florida and visit them during Christmas. Ashia was gone and I was home alone and bored so I decided to go to Pensacola for a few days. I had only been there a short time when Allen found out and called his nephew. Steve who farms for Allen always had business to conduct so he drove from Mississippi to Florida a couple of days after Christmas to meet with Allen. We all ate supper together that night and Fred and Marion had Steve and I over to visited a little then he left to return to MS. This was the VERY beginning of a new friendship, that I knew deep down was something special but never thought it would end up in marriage. Steve swears that night when I walked into the restaurant he knew that one day he was going to marry me. So here we are 6-years and 11 months later and we just attended the funeral of Uncle Allen. He was a man full of mischief and lots of fun and he sure will be missed.
In memory of Uncle Allen 1923-2009

The  day of the funeral I made Chicken and Dumplings for our family and Fred and Marion. Fred and Marion also brought Allen's long time pastor and friend Mike with them who helped with the service. I cheated on this recipe because there was not much time I bought the dumplings pre-made. This IS NOT a gluten-free recipe. I've tried making it gluten-free in the past but my dumplings never turn out just right. Sorry!


Chicken and Dumplings
Servings: 8
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 chicken; cooked and deboned
2 quarts broth; from cooked chicken
3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup water
2/3 cup Crisco shortening
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
½ cup milk; to taste optional
1 stick butter' optional

Instructions:
Cut Crisco into flour, add water and mix. Roll out thin onto floured pastry sheet, cut into strips and small squares. Drip into hot boiling broth, stir gently as needed. Cooks quick! Cook about 3 minutes, then gently stir in butter, milk and deboned chicken. Let simmer until all ingredients are hot. Serve immediately!

Have a Happy Gluten-Free Thanksgiving!!!

To God Alone by Aaron Shust

Old Fashioned Egg Custard

Servings: 8

Category: Dessert

Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Cuisine: American

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Mix well and pour in 9-in. uncooked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until set.

Gluten-Free Life as a Grandmother,

Steve's been out of town the last few days, he's trying to wrap up his work in the Delta. Thursday night we used Steve's ticket for Austin and went to the basketball game. Can you believe that she has to have a ticket? I mean really all she does is lay in our lap and sleep! Everyone gets a kick out of her being able to sleep through my screaming over her head. I try to hold it back and not scream too loud I mean I don't want her to have hearing problems! We are excited about this year and our adventure with basketball! GO DAWGS

Does life ever slow down? I guess only when you are dead! We have been in the road everyday for weeks now. I honestly can't remember a day when I have had no where to go. Since Steve has been gone I've been spending the night with Ben and Ashia. I feel like such an intruder but last night Ashia bribed me to stay so I guess I'm a wanted intruder. I help with Austin in the mornings but they take care of her all night. She is becoming such a big girl and is sleeping much better at night although she has not been wanting to sleep during the day!

I just talked to Mary, her last appointment the Doctor said that we would have a baby around the second week of December. She is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable and is thinking a baby sooner than that would be ok. We'll see what the Doctor says next week. If nothing changes the  baby will be named, drum roll please, Joshua William!!!!!

I've been taking request from the family on what they want to eat for Thanksgiving. Here is the latest request.....

Chocolate Pie
Servings: 8 Category: Dessert
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cuisine: American
Preparation Time: 20 minutes Rating:

Ingredients:
2 eggs; separated and save the whites
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cups cream or milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter

Instructions:
In a sauce pan, combine egg yolks, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and cream. Stir well. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Add vanilla and butter. Stir until butter is melted and mixed well. Pour into baked pie crust.
Meringue:
2 egg whites, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, beat until well blended. Pour on top of pie and brown under oven broiler.

To make gluten-free I always use Gluten-Free Pantry's "Perfect Pie Crust Mix". This mix can be bought in your local Kroger!

Gluten-Free Chicken and Dressing Recipe

On Sunday afternoon sitting and talking with family and friends how was I to know what was happening in the world around me? My daughter Ashia received a phone call and all I heard was, "oh, no, you are kidding. How did you hear? Are you sure?"

Of course I was sitting there, "what Ashia, what" to now avail. After she hung up the phone she said, "Momma, Isaac Taylor killed himself".

Wow, how could that happen, what happened, some of the questions that may never be answered.

Immediately I called my Dad who lives next door to this precious family, "Dad have you heard, it's not true is it?" Well, Dad didn't know anything about it but told me he'd check and call me later. Deep down I knew that it was true so I began to make preparations to go to Harrisville, my home town and be with the family during this awful time.

Isaac's mom and I grew up together we had one of those relationships where we practically lived together. We joined the church together, attended ALL movies together, went to the state fair together, went to each other's famlies for all holidays together, in other words anything one of us did we did together. Kandi's parents were my parents, Kandi's uncles were my uncles, Kandi's aunts were my aunts and so on. Then I moved away in 1997 to Guatemala, Isaac was 8 years old then. I returned to H'ville in 2001 and after this time was privileged to teach Isaac in Sunday school and attend various activities with him. I'll never forget the smile on his face and the kindness he portrayed.

His passing away was a very sad and hard time for many people. I saw people during this time that I had not seen for 20 or 30 years. I was able to reconnect with Kandi and our friend Leslie and we are planning a girls weekend soon; I look forward to that! Thank you Lord for bringing good in a bad situation and for the years that you blessed us with Isaac.
I'll Praise You In This Storm
In Memory of Isaac Taylor 1989-2009


After getting on the road to H'ville I thought about I really had nothing to eat with me. I stopped by the local Kroger and picked up a few gluten-free items just to make it a couple of days. One of the things that I decide to try were "Enjoy Life Foods" Soft Bake Snickerdoodle Cookies. They are really good, they still have the gluten-free texture that most bought foods do but they taste great. These are allergen friendly cookies meaning that they are free from all of the most common allergies caused by foods.

Now it's time to change gears and think about Thanksgiving! What will I cook? What recipes do I want to share with you?

Here's one of my all time favorites! I can make it anytime but choose to save it for the holidays, it just makes them even more special.

Chicken and Dressing
Servings: 15
Cooking Time: 45 minutes Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Preparation Time: 1 hour Rating:

Ingredients :
2 or 3 chicken breast, cooked and deboned
1 ½ sticks butter
2 makings of favorite cornbread (I use "My Favorite Cornbread" Recipe that I featured in an earlier blog "101 Questions and Hot Buttered Cornbread")
chicken broth
1 bunch green onions
2 or 3 eggs
2 pkgs. Lipton Cup a Soup cream of chicken

Instructions :
Cover chicken breast in water and boil until done. Remove chicken from Broth (save broth) and set aside to cool. While cooling, sauté onions In 1/2, stick butter and set aside to cool. Remove chicken from bone. In a bowl beat the eggs and milk together. Add 1 stick of melted butter and Soup to chicken broth. Mix corn bread, meat and vegetables together. Add broth and egg mixture. Make sure it is juicy if not add more milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top.
ENJOY!!!!

Family, Entertainment, and Gluten-Free living

I have finely found the time to set down and work on a blog. I want to recap some of our latest events. Here is our oldest daughter Mary holding her new niece Austin.

We enjoyed our time together and look forward to seeing Mary and her family soon. I talked to Mary recently and it appears Joshua will be born anytime after Thanksgiving, I'll try to keep you posted on that. In the meantime I need to start planning to go to Indiana! :)

Last weekend we took Austin to her first college men's basketball game. It was a scrimmage game and we went to see how she would do before we try getting her a ticket to the other games. Can you believe that a baby has to have a ticket to go to MSU ballgames? Well, she did GREAT, she slept practically the whole time. Needless to say we are looking forward to the basketball season as we can all go as a family.

  Steve and Austin, good bed! Pepaw!!











 Ben, Ashia and Austin after the game! She didn't like the way they held her.

Our baby girl. MSU FAN

 YEAH our season tickets are here. Let the season begin!!! GO DAWGS!!!






Mama Marion!

We just had a visit from Fred and Marion. Ashia and I worked with Fred and Marion in Guatemala for years and while there they became my parents and Ashia's grand-parents. It sure was fun having them visit and meet our little Austin. Thank you Fred and Marion and we look forward to seeing you again soon. We love you!

I received this in the mail today. Kroger is offering exclusive savings for living gluten free! WOW






















While I had company and did a lot of cooking it was many of the same things that I cook a lot. Here is one of the recipes that we love. This time I used "Pamela's Baking Mix" instead of the first five dry ingredients. They were wonderful and didn't last long at all!

Banana Nut Muffins
Servings: 12

Combine in Large Bowl
3 bananas; very ripe, peeled & mashed
¼ c. oil
1 c. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 egg
Whisk together in separate bowl
1 ½ c. GF all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ c. mini chocolate chips optional
½ c. nuts; chopped optional
½ c. dried fruit optional

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
Add the dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir until well blended.
Mix in your choice of add-ins. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for about 20 or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.. Cool muffins on wire rack. Wrap leftover muffins; bag and freeze for easy on the go treats. Reheat briefly in microwave, if you wish.