These were a treat our Grandmother would prepare especially at the start of peach season each June. It would be a huge Sunday dinner for the whole family served on picnic tables outside under the old maple tree. Although the ingredients in this recipe are measured, the technique for preparation are described as learned in Grandma's kitchen.

This recipe calls for peaches but they can also be made with plums or cherries.

Mix ingredients as for potato dumplings, below

12 Peaches, firm and just barely ripe, not too soft

6 Qts. boiling water

WARNING! REMOVE ALL JEWELRY FROM YOUR HANDS BEFORE WORKING THE DOUGH!

You can lightly flour your hands but too much flour will toughen the dough.

Prepare potatoes dumpling recipe, as below, but shape the mixed dough into a long roll, about 2-1/2 in. diameter. Cut into 2-inch slices. Dip each end of the dough slice into flour and flatten into a "pancake" in the plam of your hand. Place 1 tsp. sugar and a peach atop the "pancake". Curl your fingers around the peach, work the dough around the peach and pinch seams to close, it's important to close the seams securely. Finish the dumpling by rolling each one as you would roll a meatball. This evens the dough over the peach and makes sure the seams are closed.

Drop each dumpling into the BIG pot of boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes. Peaches are done when a cake tester (a long thin wirelike probe) pierces the fruit easily right down to the pit. Remove each dumpling with a large skimmer or slotted spoon. Serve dumplings steaming hot in a large bowl.

An individual serving is 1 or 2 (or 3) dumplings. Cut the dumplings up on your dinner plate, garnish with your choice of melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and pot cheese or dry curd cottage or farmer's cheese.

Leftover dumplings can be reheated by sauteing cut up dumplings in melted butter. Top with garnishes as above.

Makes 12-14 peach dumplings.

My mom cooked these dumplings (without the peaches!) to go with beef pot roasts and pork roasts (with lots of gravy, yum). I have seen suggestions that the peach dumplings be served with pork roast.

6 medium potatoes, boiled until soft, pressed through a ricer or food mill
2 cups unsifted flour
1/3 cup farina
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs

Boil, peel, and rice potatoes. Place riced potatoes on a floured board.

Add the flour, farina, and salt to the potatoes and mix.

Form a well in the center of the potatoes and add the eggs. Knead until thoroughly mixed. the dough should be firm and stiff.

Roll into fist sized balls. Drop into large pot of boiling salted water.

Cook 12 minutes.

Halved recipe: 3 potatos, 1 cup flour, 2-1/2 Tbls. farina, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 egg.

Only Grandma could make these dumplings. The rest of us didn't quite have the technique to make them as light as hers. They would usually be served with chicken and dumplings. I don't have Grandma's recipe (perhaps it was never wriiten down), but here is one from a cookbook from St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Bohemia, NY.

Dissolve 1 Tbsp. yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.

Add 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. Wondra flour. Blend well and set aside 10 minutes.

Stir in 3 eggs, well beaten.

Gradually beat in 1 tsp. Salt, 2 cups Wondra flour. Beat vigorously, using large upward strokes to let air into batter.

After thoroughly mixed add 1/2 cup more Wondra flour. Continue beating at least 15 minutes, scraping bowl often, until dough is smooth and satiny and makes air blisters.

Cover bowl with dampened tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Taste for salt, adding if needed, and turn out onto board floured with 1/2 cup Wondra four.

Knead until dough no longer sticks, adding as little additional flour as possible.

Form into 2 large or 4 small ovals and let rise in a warm place 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Drop into a large kettle of boiling, salted water filled 2/3 full; cook at medium boil 30 minutes for large, 20 minutes for small dumplings.

Turn once and test with toothpick before removing with slotted spoon.

Place on platter and immediately prick in several places to release steam.

Here's the same neat trick that Grandma used: Working quickly, cut into 1/2-inch slices; to do so without crushing slip thread under dumpling, cross thread ends and pull upward in a quick crisscross action.

Serve immediately with entree of choice, or cool and fry slices. Can be reheated wrapped in foil (350 degree foil).

Serves 8 to 10.

Prepare dough for yeast dumplings as above.

Saute' 5 slices bread, cubed, in 2 Tbsp. butter until lightly toasted.

Add to dumpling dough after first rising and proceed according to basic dumpling recipe.