Mary B’s Open Kettle Dumplings Are Like Noodles

I have lived in the South and in the North. I appreciate that depending on where you live, you can order a hoagie, grinder or sub, and still end up with a very similar sandwich. I also realize that people in different regions, eat and drink things to the taste palette of the region. Sweet tea in Georgia is vastly sweeter than sweet tea up north. I like to think that I have a pretty good handle on the regional flair of most of the basic dishes you find.

For example, I appreciate the nuances between noodles and dumplings. Dumplings are big, usually square and rectangle and hearty. Noodles are exactly the same dough cut into long thin strips. Both items are typically served in some sort of broth with complimentary meat and vegetables. They’re very basic and in many households a basis around which holiday meals are built (outside of the turkey, ham or whatever you have).

So it was with a lot of confidence that we brought Mary B’s Open Kettle Dumplings into the house. We are usually a noodle family, since I have been brought up in a family where Grandma’s turkey or chicken with noodles was a big deal. We decided to branch out. We wondered, “What about dumplings instead?”

Mary B’s are so unlike any dumpling I’ve ever seen, that I question even marketing them this way. What they are like is homemade noodles you haven’t finished cutting - provided you were cutting them by hand. Or maybe if you wanted to make homemade chicken noodle soup and serve someone the biggest noodles on the Earth as a joke, these might fit the bill.

Otherwise, they were a complete disappointment. I’m not sure what region of the country calls these dumplings. It must be the same area that wads up bread and calls it a biscuit.

Written by Gidge, who is a mother of a 5 year old boy and 3 year old twin boys. A transplanted Hoosier, die-hard Colts fan and professional call center manager, she likes long walks on the beach, penguins and playing ping-pong. Her turn-ons include sleep and silence. Read all about her life here.