Thanksgiving Day 3: Ham Dumpling Hangover

By the Saturday of Thanksgiving we had eaten a lot of food, but the holiday wouldn't have been complete without ham dumplings, a.k.a grey clouds. They are a great "food hangover food" [ i.e., a hangover from eating too much, not from drinking] because they are relatively simple. They consist only of flour, potato and a ham bone, which conveniently is usually hanging around after a big holiday dinner. It starts off by pealing and chopping up 12 potatoes. Luckily we had some ringers come in and help out.

The boys helping out with the peeling and chopping

Next you puree all the potatoes. This step always takes a lot longer than I expect, and it produces this awful looking gunge that you are later expected to eat. I believe that it's the pureeing that speeds up oxidization and adds the unappetizing red/brown color to the potato mush. It's always at this point that I wonder if grey clouds are worth it. But, then I remember how good it tastes in the end and dive ahead, adding about 2 TBS of salt to the gunge.

yummy!

Next you take about 3-4 pounds of flour and mix it in slowly. This is also an arduous process and requires a lot of arm power. Gena started off with it then passed it on to Carina who finished it off like a champ. You can do it either with a big wooden spoon, or just stick your hands right in there and kneed it. It doesn't really matter which you do, but kneading is messier, so obviously my preferred method. It depends on how large the potatoes are as to how much flour, but the goal is to get it to a beige color and a consistency that is no longer sticky.

I think carrying the baby so much has added to
Carina's arm strength

Lastly, you put large spoonfuls of the dough into boiling water with the hambone already in it. The ham adds a nice flavor and some grease to the water to keep things from sticking together. Also it's where the name comes from. You boil it for at least 15 minutes, but it can be left in there for however long you want, as long as you don't boil out the water. I think we waited about an hour before we got to actually eating it.

There are different methods of how to dress up your ham dumpling once cooked, depending on whether you are a sweet or savory person. My favorite is just pouring on melted butter, but my cousins swear by about a TBS of honey per dumpling. I've also heard of adding some spices like basil to it, or just eating it plain.

We don't add ham chunks s shown in this picture
5 out of 5 on yum scale

Unfortunately, I was too interested in eating the dumplings and forgot to take a picture of the final product. I got an image off the web, though, that appears to have the same consistency as our family recipe. It is always a great meal that stays well as a leftovers - I was just sad that I couldn't take some on the plane back with me.

After 4 intense days of cooking, eating, and board game playing, it turned out to be a fantastic thanksgiving with tons of great food. It's no wonder that I now write a cooking blog with these genes. I can't wait for the next holiday get-together in less than a month!