My granny's dumplings were very thin, and were served in a rich home-made broth. These will always be the best/correct dumplings to me, and the ultimate in comfort food.
My grandmother called the dumplings "slickers", and would say in a cautionary tone "These are very thin dumplings, they're really slickers". I wonder now why she felt the need to warn me, and also wondered if the origin of the recipe was within America or if they came over from somewhere. She was from German ancestry, and lived in southern Indiana, which had/has a large German immigrant influence. My grandmother was born in 1911, so granny was making them probably starting sometime in the late 1800's. Anyone know a little dumpling history?