Yesterday I told you we were going to have chicken casserole with cheesy herb dumplings for dinner, which we did, but, as is often the case, I altered the recipe slightly. Okay, very slightly. Okay, hardly at all really… As I suffer from pain and weakness in my hands and arms, I am not able to cut a whole chicken into pieces, so we got a tray of drumsticks. In stead of buying just enough for last night, we got fourteen of them. Therefore, we will be having more of this delicious casserole for dinner tonight. Also, in stead of scattering the cheese over the top as the recipe suggests (if you have followed the above link you will need to click on Recipes and then October 2009 to find the recipe I used), I combined the grated cheese into the dumplings themselves, so they really are cheesy dumplings, and used mixed dried herbs in stead of fresh thyme. I cooked cauliflower to have with the casserole, as chicken, bacon, onions, carrots and dumplings with chicken stock seemed a bit measly, but I really needn’t have bothered. Photos? Of course! But only the one:
I photographed my plate before I started eating. I know it doesn’t look like much, but I’m certainly glad I didn’t put any more on my plate, because I couldn’t finish what is pictured here! It is the first time I have made dumplings, and I can’t understand why I haven’t done it before! They really were delicious, and I would certainly recommend all of you use Rachel Allen’s recipe to make your own 
I assure you that your family (if you are meat eaters, that is) will adore you for it. Even the kittens were impressed when I gave them a little of the chicken that was leftover because none of us could finish!
As (almost) promised yesterday, I actually remembered to take a photo of a slice of Millionaire’s Chocolate Tart:
I’m sorry it’s not a better photo, as this one really doesn’t do the dessert justice. I am, admittedly, not very good and cutting slices of pies or tarts, but I think you can kind of see how temptingly delicious this is, with its pastry, then Nestlé Carnation Caramel and then the chocolate on top, which has crusted on the outside. This isn’t as rich as it looks, and is absolutely delicious. If you decide to make it, don’t expect it to hang around for too long; ours is almost finished!
So tonight we are having leftover casserole for dinner (yum) and tomorrow I am going to attempt to make some orange crème caramel cheesecakes for dessert. I have never been particularly successful at making crème caramel, and hope that my recent success with the mousses is going to hold so that these will turn out well too.
In other news, I have sewn up several crobots now, and really must find the enthusiasm to pick up the cross stitch again. The kittens are usually quite sleepy during the day, so this really is the perfect time to pick up the needle and do some cross stitch, but I just can’t seem to find the inclination to do it. I seem to be tired all the time lately (yes, I know it’s the fibromyalgia) and just don’t really feel like doing very much at all. Maybe this will change soon. I hope so!
Mmm, those dumplings sound good! I’ll definitely have to give them a try. I’m feeling the need for more ‘solid’ foods now, like stews and chilli and curries rather than salads and soups now the weather’s getting colder!
Thank you Jennie – and yes, you should try the recipe
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did 