Fantastic Foods

See, I think everyone has certain kinds of comfort foods. Some like mac and cheese, others like pickle loaf. For me, one of my personal faves is chicken and dumplings. The canned stuff has never tasted right to me. I don't know if it's the extra salt added during canning, the texture of the dumplings, or what... it simply never tasted right unless homemade.  My mum makes some serious chicken and dumplings. She got her recipe for dumplings from my Grandma West, who, while she was not fond of my mother, could cook like a fiend. Today, I successfully made my mother's chicken and dumplings. I have made chicken and dumplings before, but they never tasted quite this fabulous. Thus, I share with you a piece of my heart, as well as happiness from my tummy to yours. Chicken and Dumplings 1 whole medium-sized chicken. 10-12 cubes chicken bouillon, or to taste 2  1/2 tbsp dried minced onion Handful of celery leaves. (Yes, the LEAVES!) Pepper to taste Co...

I hated squash as a kid. Heck, I am picky about my consumption of any gourd to this day, except for pumpkin. However, my Grandma West had within her grasp the sole means I would eat squash happily. Delectable, bread-and-butter pickled squash. I completely forgot this stuff was squash. I remember making myself sick on them a time or two, even, before I recalled that they were, indeed, slices of stuff I normally shrunk away from. All that said, here's my Grandma West's pickled squash recipe. I hope you enjoy it. :) Pickled Squash 8c. sliced squash 4 onions, chopped 2 bell peppers, chopped ½ c. canning salt 3c. sugar 3c. vinegar 1 tsp. celery seed 1 tsp. mustard seed Put vegetables in sink and sprinkle salt over. Cover with ice cubes and let stand 3 hrs. or overnight. Drain well. Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard seed and celery seed. Bring to boil and boil 1 minute. Put vegetables in and boil for 2 minutes. Put in jars and seal.