Top 10 Favorite Winter Foods

Jennie over at Trim and Fashionable had a good-lookin' soup recipe on her blog and it got me to thinking about food. I shouldn't even be writing this since I'm supposed to be going to Weight Watchers (They sent me a card recently that said--"If you've gained weight you need your meeting. If you've lost weight, your meeting needs you" with a coupon for a free session. I'll let you guess which "if" category I'm falling into these days.) But all the recent depressing politcal mess makes me feel like blogging about something more fun. SO.....

10- Ro-Tel cheese dip and tortilla chips. Staple of my church youth group fellowships, and not so infrequent meal around here.

9- Tie: Homemade chocolate pudding or homemade chocolate cake with a glass of milk. The milk is best with two ice cubes, enough to keep it cold, but not enough to make it watery.

8- Homemade vegetable soup and my mom's cornbread. Mom always puts a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes in her soup and it makes it really good.

7- John's grandmother's beef and noodles. Big here in the midwest. I don't know that many of my southern friends will have had this, but I know you would like it. It is something like chicken and dumplings, but with shredded beef. I love it and John's 94 year-old grandmother's is so good it makes me do a little dance.

6- Sushi. Any kind really. Bistro Chopstix here in Indy has a good roll called "Crunch and Munch." It is kind of sweet and it is indeed crunchy. Very fun.

5- John's chili. I grew up on chili made with Wicke-Fowler's chili starter and I still like it. But John's chili is an event. He goes up to the nearby Mexican grocery store to get dried chilis, grinds them and cooks them with big chunks of beef, like the kind you roast, not ground. I don't know what all he puts in it, and I don't need to know. But when I'm through, I know I done et me some chili.

4- John's spaghetti and meatballs- We never ate meatballs growing up, but John whipped some up the other day and I can't stop thinking about them. They were so fun and tasty!

3- Homemade banana pudding. We do not eat enough of banana pudding these days. I like the kind you cook and then bake with a meringue on top. Our friend Brad says he likes banana pudding in the middle of the night after its cold and has turned kind of brownish.


2- Mexican Chicken Casserole. Doritoes, chicken, Ro-Tel tomatoes, cheddar cheese, onion, and Cream of Mushroom Soup. I realize this is the third recipe on this list with Ro-Tel tomatoes in it. I didn't know how dependent I am on them. I found this graphic on the web. I didn't put the cross-out bar on the "Italiano" can, but I totally agree. Can't imagine having a use for those.

1- Chicken and Dumplings. I never get tired of eating chicken and dumplings. I think I could eat it every day. Viginia Kirk and Jane Purtle, who went to my church in Batesville and were editors of the Arkansas Baptist Monthly for awhile, published the best recipe I've had. Here it is:

Chicken and Dumplings

Boil one large whole fryer chicken with 2 stalks of celery and 1/2 of a large onion and three chicken flavored bouillon cubes and 1/2 tsp salt in 2 quarts water until very tender and falling off the bones. Cool, lift chicken out, debone and set aside. Save broth.

Dumplings

Bring broth to a boil over medium heat.

Mix in a separate bowl
4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Cut in 1 scant cup of shortening

Add
1/2 cup broth
1/2 cup milk

Mix well.

Roll out VERY THIN (1/4 inch) on a lightly floured surface. Cut in small strips or squares (pizza cutter works well for this) and drop into boiling broth (don't worry if they don't all drop all the way down into the broth). After last dumpling has been dropped, put lid on pot and boil for 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook for five minutes more to reheat.