Mee-Maw's Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

For chicken soup:
2.5 - 3 lb "fryer" chicken
2 quarts of water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Bone chicken if desired.  (The instructions Mee-Maw gave Jeff say "bone chicken," but the instructions Mee-Maw gave Stacey do not.)  Cook chicken in 2 quarts of water.  Add salt to taste (1 tsp).  Cook until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken, retaining broth, and let cool.  If desired, let sit in ice box overnight and skim off fat the next day. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Add pepper to broth.

Mee-Maw gave Jeff 2 different recipes for the dumplings, and she gave Stacey another one.  Here they all are:

Dumplings 1

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBSP shortning
3/4 cup buttermilk

Roll dough to 1/4 thick.  Cut in squares, drop in boiling broth, and gently stir.

Dumplings 2

Mix:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Add:
1/2 cup oil or Margarine
1/2 cup milk

Mix and roll out thinly. Cut in strips or squares and drop into boiling broth.  Cook uncovered 10-15 minutes.  They will be a little tough but taste delicious.

Dumplings 3 (as given to Stacey):

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 stick Oleo

Cut Oleo into flour.  Add ice water to make a stiff dough.  Roll thin on floured surface and drop in hot broth.