Chicken stock and Goodwill
Why do I spend so much time making jam and canning fruit when what we go through more than any other canned food it probably chicken and vegetable stock. This was the revelation I had this afternoon.
Last night we had roast chicken(yes of course it was free range organic) for dinner so after I took all the meat off the bone to make chicken salad for tonight's dinner. I stared a pile of bones to give our dog and realized I should make stock: 5 jars are currently in the canner and 5 jars await.
I just keep asking myself why I don't do this more. We eat so many soups in the winter it's a bit out of control; from September through April not a week goes by where we don't use vegetable or chicken stock. So maybe this is actually saving us money rather than jam which costs us in fruit and sugar.
On another canning note, the first thing I canned two years ago was pickles. I forgot to add salt and overcooked them. They tasted like hell. I saved them though for well, two years. Today though, I decided I could let them go. I learned and have grown, but it is now time for those jars to be reused.
And finally, some simple delights from a trip to Goodwill this morning.
-They were tearing down the building next door. Junia and I watched for a good 15 minutes. It was cool.
-Birthday presents for someone's birthday in August all purchased today all from Goodwill. All chosen by the birthday girl herself.
-Inspiration for a children'sh Duvet cover from old sheets. Hopefully an update soon on an www.rdoll.etsy.com duvet cover for sale.
-Final delight. Something to take out to the garden for gathering greens, beans and other harvested goodness.
What projects are you doing this summer?
The linen closet.
ReplyDeleteFor weeks and weeks... months and months... the clean sheets and towels are just shoved in. Then today, I just had to stop for a little while and organize the danged closet.
There is a partial bag of Pampers -- are they left over from my now-almost-20-year-old? But how could I throw them away? What if someone stops by with a little one and NEEDS a fresh diaper??
Toilet paper, a heating pad, a couple of little fans, beach towels...
Sheets... why do we have twin sheets when we don't have a twin bed in the house? But what if we need the material for something? (Better save it!)
Old towels, one hand towel of that weird green leftover from another house. Thread bare wash clothes.
Smarty pants College Girl said to me as she passed by, "I was going to do that myself one of these days." Oh -- I thought, how nice. Then out of the other side of her mouth as she kept going: "This is how hoarders get started, you know!"
Smarty pants!!
Lovely. I love making a good stock but never thought to can. I always end up using mine within the week but I could go to town and make gallons of at once!
ReplyDeleteSummer projects here in MA include:
Hanging various wall art on our bare walls
Making and canning sauce made out of the 50,000,000,000 tomatoes my parents grow every year.
Pie. 'nuff said.
Planning a trip to Seattle?!?! :)