A mess is a lot of something -- a mess a' children, a mess a' greens, a mess a' dumplings -- a colloquialism of the south and still heard there in relaxed conversation. It also helps to be 'of an age.'
A frozen dumpling is a dumpling that has been frozen.
A dumpling is lump of bread or biscuit dough that is steamed or boiled, usually to accompany a savory dish, a braise or a stew or soup. Humans have been making dumplings of some sort since they discovered that a cooked paste of pounded grain tasted better and was easier to eat than whole corns. At a guess at least 5000 years. Most cultures have some version or other, simple and rustic or highly refined. The only difference between flat breads and dumplings is the cooking method -- spread your mashed grain on a hot rock and you get a flat bread, cook a lump in liquid and you get a dumpling.
A nutirtional anthopologist could make a better explanation, but that's the short version.
I would also assume the writer to know what he's talking about. He wasn't fresh off the boat after all.
Dan Clinton / Executive Library / Patent & Trademark Office / Washington DC
>...The American Indian Cookbook...includes a recipe for "Indian Dumplings" (ingredients=flour, baking powder, salt pork)....
>One thing to consider is that the description of this food fight came from the European-rooted settler, and he was interpreting the food, trying to describe it based on something he was used to.