I love Fall. Spring and Summer - Meh. Winter? Wake me in September.

Well, it is September... but it's still in the 90's during the day. I want football, chili, and hoodies. In lieu of that, I'm going to console myself with some crockpot chicken and dumplings.

Chop up some carrots and celery (onion if your miscreants "allow" it)

Grab some chicken from freezer - boneless breasts, thighs, or bone in work. I prefer bone in as they add more flavor to the overall dish, increasing it's "food of love" quotient.

Layer in crockpot, chicken on the bottom

 Then veggies

Then a drizzle of olive oil and seasonings. I like an herb blend, you could also use poultry seasoning, or thyme and a few bay leaves. Because the miscreants are mortally offended by chunks of onion and garlic, I sprinkle in granulated onion and garlic.

 Pour enough chicken broth (or water) to completely cover chicken and veggies

I set mine to cook on "high" for 4 hours, it will "kick over" to "warm" for another 4 or 5 as I hit the office for the day.

As I walk back in the door, I set it back up to "high". Need heat to cook the dumplings.

 I pulled the chicken thighs from the crockpot and replace the lid. While it is heating back up to "high".

 I gently shred the meat off the bone. This takes maybe 10 mins and is easy - the meat is fall off the bone tender. I set aside the skin for the dog, another resident miscreant. She will not leave my side for 3 days after this bounty of chicken goodness.

 I put the meat back into crockpot and mix up the dumplings. You could use biquick, if you have it. I have flour and such on hand, I prefer to make my own. The miscreants don't fall far from the persnickety tree.

 For fun, I stir in about 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar. Why? Because cheese is yummy.

 Drop little blobs of dough into the mixture in the crockpot. Put lid back on and walk away for half an hour. In my case, probably to gripe at my darling children over incomplete chores, homework, and to take away a bag of Doritos they filtched from the pantry because they are STARVING.

 After 30 minutes, lift the lid and give dumplings a poke. They should float and be puffy, no longer raw dough. Give pot a gentle stir- this will thicken up the broth into a gravy.

I'm so ready for bowls of this and bowls of that...

Let the journey into fall comfort foods begin...