Dinner for Fourteen

We have family in town from Alabama and Wisconsin to see A dance in The Nutcracker, so everyone is coming over tonight for dinner and to decorate cookies.

Here's what we're having:

Taco Soup (I doubled this recipe)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 can RoTel tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn, rinsed
1 can diced green chiles
1 package taco mix
1 package ranch dressing mix

Brown ground beef and saute onion along with it.

Add remaining ingredients and heat through or until you are ready to eat!

Top with sour cream, tortilla chips and cheese.

Chicken & Dumplings (I doubled this, too)
4 bone-in chicken breasts
4-8 cups of water
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped

Boil chicken in water with onion and celery until cooked through. Remove chicken from bone and put back into broth.

Dumplings (I used one batch of dumplings to go with double broth & chicken)
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten together with milk

Mix dry ingredients & cut butter in.

Add egg & milk and stir with fork.

Put in gently boiling chicken broth by teaspoon quickly.

Cover immediately and turn to low.

Do NOT lift lid for 30 minutes.