Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

So Bunny has been having a hankering for home cooked foods (after years of batchelor fare or not having someone to cook for him) so he has started requesting foods from his child hood. One of those being Chicken & Round Dumplings (Momma made pastry but evidently that wasn't quiet good enough). Tonight we are on our on for dinner so I surprised him with Homemade Chicken & Dumplings.



Soup:
2lb Chicken Thighs
6 cups water or chicken broth
2 medium carrots (diced)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 teaspoon salt

Place chicken in a large pot with celery, carrots, and salt. Cover with 6 cups of water (or use chicken broth). Simmer for one hour, until tender. Remove the chicken and cool enough to remove the meat from the bone. Return chicken meat to pot and broth. Continue simmering

Creamy Chicken Soup:
3/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon parsley
3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour

(this step could be skipped by adding cream of chicken soup instead of this homemade version)

Make the cream of chicken soup by boiling in a medium-sized saucepan: the 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1/2 of the milk, and the seasonings for about 2 minutes. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens. Add the cream of chicken soup to the chicken meat and broth in the large pot and simmer gently.

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
1 cup milk (whole milk)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt

(this step could be partially skipped by using a biscuit dough instead of the homemade version, but I am trying to spoil him a bit)

To make the dumplings mix flour, baking powder and salt. Work in the butter with fingertips. Gradually add the milk. Roll into golf ball sized balls (Bunny likes the "balls" I guess you could smash them if need be. Drop carefully into the hot broth and simmer the chicken and dumplings 10 minutes longer, making sure to ladle broth over the dumplings to submerge them as they cook.