Value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
I pull a tattered ziplock bag from the freezer drawer. It’s full of onion skin, carrot chunks, celery leaves, and whatever other vegetable scraps I tucked away in recent months. I dump the contents into a large pot, cover it with hot water from the tap, and set it on the stove to simmer for an hour or so.
Later.
I gently place six quart jars of clear, golden vegetable stock in the pressure canner and twist the lid to lock it. I think, for a moment, that I could go to the store and buy stock, and ask myself why I go to this effort, that’s really no effort at all.
I know what’s in my homemade stock. It makes good use of things I’d otherwise throw away since I didn’t get the worm bin going this year. It’s satisfying to see those golden jars lined up the shelf.
Because I can.
The pressure canner hisses and spits, and I keep a watchful eye on the gauge from my vantage point at the dining table where I’ve spread out books and pens and am working on my Bible study homework.
It’s a good way to spend a few hours on a cool and wet Saturday.
Making soup stock today..we must be on the same wave length! Stock from beef soup bones. Got some nice ones with lots of meat. The meat off these bones is so good. It often does not all get into the soup pot because I cannot resist eating it first!
I just read your blog from December 31, 2015..you were making turkey soup from the carcass of your Christmas turkey. It sounds real tastey. Wish I had the nerve to use a pressure cooker. Bought one once, but was so afraid of it I ended up giving it away without having ever using it!
Ha ha! Must have been a sister thing. 🙂 I’m seriously considering getting an Instant Pot which is a pressure cooker and more. Very safe. You should check it out!
‘ I know what’s in my homemade stock.’ This is one of the major considerations when it comes to preparing the basic requirements for cooking. It is too easy to go to the store/supermarket and pick a box of stock off the shelf. However each time a pot of stock is prepared at home it will possess particular characteristics never to be found in bought stock.
Alphie
Exactly!