Making Broth

 

 

On a regular basis I make soup broth. Currently I have a pot simmering on my 1960′s countertop with a couple quarts in the fridge from last weekend waiting to be made of. We are a soup family regardless of the time of day or season.  I wrote a post about making broth back in 2010 but since then the topic has been brought up time and time again with friends. I am often surprised at how many people have never considered making this simple concoction.  With that said along with my passion for home cooking I felt the need to write about it once again.

 

 

 

 

I make chicken broth more often then any other type of broth.  Beef & vegetable broth I make occasionally. There is no need to follow a recipe.  I usually cook it in a crock pot  anywhere from 7 to 24 hours on low depending on my mood needs.

 

Anytime we eat meat with a bone, mostly chicken I throw the carcass in a bag into the freezer.  Same goes for any extra veggies you may have. You can even go as far as saving carrot peelings, celery ends, and potato peels.

This will take like 5 minutes to whip up and then the crock will do the rest of the work….

• Place chicken carcass in crock pot
• Fill with water leaving a little space for veggies/herbs
• Splash (1/4 – 1/2 cup) of vinegar, I have also heard white wine, lemon or anything acidic.  It helps to sap the nutrients and minerals out of the bones.
• Add an onion, couple carrots, couple celery stalks, garlic if your feeling adventurous
• Couple bay leaves, several peppercorns, sprinkle of kosher salt, and if desired whatever herbs are handy (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary).  I usually throw in 1 or two herbs, whatever is in season or dried.
• Cook, cool, strain, use for soups, gravies, whatever your heart desires or store for future use.  It also freezes well.

*Modifications…for beef broth use beef bone, for vegetable broth I don’t use vinegar and I use a wider variety of vegetables, whatever left overs I have  fresh or frozen including but not limited to potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes.

It’s a fairly simple process.  I encourage everyone to try it at least once and compare it side by to store- bought stock.  Pretty sure you’ll be done with buying broth other then for back up stash in your cupboards.  That’s all it took to covert me a few years back.
 

Scenes from the Green House

All Maine Man's hard work is paying off.

These pictures were taken over a week ago.

This week we ate our first greens of the season, 2 weeks later then last year.

The kids and I only planted 2 flats and MM has done the rest.

He's the green thumb in this family! You grow it and I'll cook it is my motto ;)
SO thankful for all the fresh greens. All winter I have been buying them at the local natural food store and it is not cheap.....something like $9.99 a pound....yikes!
Bok Choy is one of MM's favorite. The best way I like it is in an Asian Salad but we do eat it often is toss salads.
Would love to hear your favorite way of eating it!

Peas

Garlic....notice the chicken is on the outside of the fence. They've been free ranging since last fall but they are soon to be cooped up. They are VERY destructive to the gardens. MM has a a small garden started so far but he has it fenced in.

Liquid Gold

As asked by a few readers to share the entire process of collecting sap and making syrup here goes...I first posted back in March when we tapped our Maple trees. There are a couple ways to boil down sap which we've experimented with in previous years, gas and/or wood. The method we currently use seems to be the most cost effective and least labor intensive. To boil down exclusively by gas is very expensive and cooking over an open fire is a lot of work! This year we only tapped 3 trees. 2 taps in the two big trees and 1 in the small one so we had 5 buckets to empty every day.

In the old summer kitchen in our farmhouse we have an ancient Ashley wood stove. We simply remove the cover and boil down the sap in a shallow pan directly atop the wood stove. We add to the sap as it boils down throughout the day and towards night we stop adding to it. Most every evening we would boil down the remains of the pan inside on our gas range. It was just easier to tend without fear of turning it into sugar. Instead I boiled it over a few times and made a HORRENDOUS mess :/

After boiling for a few hours I tested the syrup by placing a spoonful in a cool dish to check for consistency and color. If it is to my liking I would pour into hot canning jars while filtering with cheesecloth. Cap it and turn the jars upside down for the caps to seal.

Viola....Liquid Gold!

Over 5 gallons of it. Do the math and that is approximately 200 gallons of sap.

It is currently going for $50/gallon in this area.

We've enjoyed it on homemade waffles, maple syrup shakes, over ice cream, blueberry-maple muffins and this week I hope to to make some granola with it.

Sappin' Time

If you look closely you can see the sap running down the bark.
CB helping his Dad drill some holes in the maple trees.

Couldn't help but take a picture of this. CB's friend got his outdoor gear wet so we supplied him with a stylin' attire. Camo overalls and my flowered bog boots. LOL.
I have been sworn to secrecy so I will never tell which friend it was!

Last night was cool and today was a beautiful day filled
with sunshine.

I'm sure the buckets are filling right up.

Tonight we will begin the boiling down process on top of the wood stove. This weekend we may boil some down over an open fire. The wood stove is our preferred lazy-man method. But, there truly is nothing like the taste of maple syrup boiled down over a fire.

Random Rambling

(Almost) Always willing to do a project....Flower Girl was cutting up old towels into rags.

She cut them a little smaller then planned. So instead of using them as rags I've been keeping a basket of them in the kitchen and we've been using them as we would use paper towels. Since we spend a good amount of time in the kitchen we seem to use lots of them. Maine Man thinks I'm insane. I like to keep it that way ;) Keeps life interesting!

Me fooling around when we went to New Hampshire for my procedure. The morning of the vertebroplasty we took the kids to a REALLY cool place called Montshire Musuem of Science. It is actually in Vermont, about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying in NH. When I returned home my best friend said "only you would make a something like this into a field trip for your kids". We both had a good laugh! There were moments of the trip I laid there wondering whatever possessed me to take them along. Like after the 350th time they asked to go to the pool or when they jumped on the bed the night I had the procedure..... Yikes! But overall I was glad they were with me, especially the day of the procedure. If they had not been there to support me I would have been very emotional. Don't let me kid you, the night before I did do a little bargaining with God. However, I was very calm and at peace with the choices I had made when it came to that day. It helps that I really trusted & respected the doctor that was about to screw a large needle through my shoulder into by neck and fill the vertebrae with cement right next to my spinal cord. The procedure went very well and it was a good experience for the kids to be involved in.

Unfortunately, my medical dilemma continues with quite an interesting twist. I will share the story when I get some more definite answers. I feel that if one person can benefit from my story it will make sharing it worth while.

I am out of work for one more week. Next week is already filled with 3 physical therapy appointments and yet another trip to the doctors. I am fortunate in that we have FINALLY figured out where the true source of my pain is coming from. I am able to get relief although the situation is not always ideal. Both mentally & physically I am in a MUCH better place but I still have some things to work through. Little vague, sorry...I will tell more when I know more.

Making Treats for our Feathered Friends

Last year for the first time I made some tasty treats for the birds. I posted recipes here.

The other night my girl & I made some without following a recipe.

*We cooked up some pig fat in the oven in my cast iron kettle, the remaining was liquid fat and crackles, I believe that is what they are called. (little pieces of fat)

*Threw the crackles in the processor.*Dug deep into my fridge to find the bacon grease and such I had been saving for the last year or so, against Maine Man's will. Melted it down. He's a bit of a throw away kinda guy and I am a save it kinda gal. I just know I will find a use for it someday! Hence why I do the recycling, as painful as it can be.

*Threw in some bird seed, a bit of cracked corn, a few tablespoons of peanut butter. Mixed it all together and dished it out into pans and plastic containers of all sizes.

I was wishing I had saved a bunch of those plastic containers you get when you buy suet blocks in the store. I only had 1 and it was perfect for this project. Maybe I will put something on Facebook and see if my bird feeding friends will save some for me.

*Set the containers in the barn overnight

*Perfectly hardened! Popped the suet blocks out of the containers. Placed one outside for the birds and the rest in the freezer.

Little Messy but FUN!

I can see the light.....

It's been a long time coming! After getting a few opinions on what to do about my neck I have finally decided to have a procedure called a vertebroplasy. Basically the doctor will place a needle in my vertebrae and fill it will cement . I am praying this will relieve my symptoms! I am SO ready to get off this roller-coaster ride and have things back to normal again. Oh...the things we take for granted! This will be my final post before we go on a long road trip at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. I have yet to be nervous about the procedure just hopeful that all goes as planned. The kids are just plain old excited to be staying at a hotel that has not only a pool but a hot tub....lol. They too will be happy to have their Momma back....not the one that has to lay down every couple hours to relieve the pain because every medication out there seems to make her sick.

I will end this part of my post with a quote I read last night in Oprah's magazine. I thought it was perfect for my circumstance.

"I know for sure that in every challenging experience there's an opportunity to grow, enhance your life, or learn something invaluable about yourself. Every challenge can make you stronger if you allow it."~Oprah

Flower Girl was home sick all week with a fever. By Friday she was a little antsy so I taught her to sew by hand. It took her about 5 minutes and she was sewing better then I. It kept her busy for a while and she loved it. I have a few more projects lined up for her. Since I did not pay much attention to Home Ec I'd like to learn really sew again right along with her. I may ask my neighbor's sister to give us some mini lessons after I pull out my dusty old sewing machine. She has been mentoring me through crocheting. That has been an entertaining experience. I am on my second dishcloth, my first came out the shape of a triangle...lol. If all works out with my circumstance I have even considered homeschooling in the future. It is something I have always been interested in and FG recently asked if she could do it next year. Country Boy says he wants no part of it....lol. I am sure it would not take long before he changed his mind but maybe not. I believe it is important for the child to want to do it rather than be forced into it. I have time to reconsider but for now I am educating myself of the possibilities. A few questions for the homeschooling folks that follow my blog.... do you follow a curriculum, if so what one do you use? I am interested in a nature based curriculum, potentially one you could correspond with sending in papers to be graded and such. Any thoughts on this? Hoping to go to a conference in the next month or two before committing to this crazy endeavor.

Less is More

I've never been much of a decorator
Not much of a shopper either


Year after year we pull out a same tote of Christmas decorations that we've had for years.
Many of the ornaments were made by the kids. Some we've acquired from friends & family.

Maine Maine with his brew....lol

We chuckled when my Mother gave us this ornament 15 years ago. Now each year when I place it on a branch I am thankful for yet another year with such an amazing man.

Made by Flower Girl a couple years back.

.

Each ornament tells a story ........

.......of our simple life.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

Tomorrow we will be making a special delivery.....stay tuned!

Cooking & Clara

Have you ever watched any of the You Tube videos about about Clara, a 94 year old great grandmother that recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from that era? Maine Man and I laid in bed the other night with smiles on our face as we watched one video or her after another on my lap top. Love her stories, some which remind me of my own grandparents whom lived through those rough times. Here are a few links to some of her recipes I'd like to try....

• Egg drop soup.... having difficulty linking this for some reason but you can google search it.
• Dandelion salad
• Baked Apples

Check her out! I am sure you will enjoy!

Easiest Bread I've Ever Made

For quite some time I have aspired to bake bread on a regular basis. I like my morning toast and in general my family LOVES bread. A quick peak at the ingredients on a loaf of store bought bread is enough scare you! Usually about 20 ingredients including high fructose corn syrup and stuff I've never heard of....datem, soy lecithin, azodicarbonamide. What the ......? (spell check doesn't even recognize them).
Any how I have found the SIMPLEST recipe ever and I plan to make it over, and over, again!
Here is the link I followed, definitely check it out if you plan to make because I will only write up a brief overview here.

About 20-24 hours before you want your bread mix together 3 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, and 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Add 1 5/8 cup of water. Cover bowl with saran wrap. Let dough rest for 12-18 hours at room temperature.

The picture above is what the dough looks like after it has rested... bubbly.

Next I sprinkled my cutting board w/ flour and dumped the dough out folding it in on itself a couple times. Once again cover w/ saran wrap and let sit for 15 minutes.



Then I took a cotton towel and sprinkled it with cornmeal, formed the dough into a ball and covered it with another towel dusted with cornmeal. Then I let it rise for 2 hours.

1/2 hour before rising time is complete set oven and 450 degrees and place the pan in for 30 minutes. I used a cast iron dutch oven greased with a dash of olive oil.

I baked the bread for 30 minutes covered and a couple minutes uncovered even though the recipe called for much longer. It was a hit at our family gathering last night and it sure did make for some good toast this morning.

Can you guess what I'm making again tonight?

Wordless Wednesday~2nd Annual Cider Party

Making Granola

A while back my friend Diane brought me over some of the BEST granola I have eaten.

I begged her ;) for the recipe... she e-mailed it to me, I lost it. Organization is not one of my better qualities. I begged her again and with her permission I will share her secrets with the world and forever have in my archives.

All you need is....

6 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats

2 sticks of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

dried fruit

I used dried cherries and they were DELISH but next time around I am going to try dried blueberries

Nuts

I used pecans because they are my favorite.

1 cup honey

Melt butter and honey, warm.

Mix other ingredients in separate bowl then combine the two.

Spread on a 2 cookie sheets (p.s. aluminum foil was a mistake on my part)

325 degrees for approximately 30 minutes

Stir every 10 minutes and when it starts to brown watch closely, easy to overcook.

Viola!

Can't wait to make some up for Christmas gifts. Thanks for sharing the recipe Di!