You want domestic? HERE’S domestic! Friday night before I went to bed, I got out both my canners. Into one I plunked two frozen stewing chickens (from the guy from whom we buy eggs) and into the other, a bag of frozen beef bones. I put a couple gallons of water over each, set them on my stove, and turned them on high. An hour or so later they still had not boiled (go figure) so I turned them on low and went to bed. Turned them off in the morning.
A couple of hours later they had cooled enough to handle, and I spent a couple of hours picking meat out of the bones and fat (which the outside vultures…er, CATS are thoroughly enjoying), and then started turning the remains into soup. I canned 14 quart jars of chicken soup (no veggies, but seasoned right to add noodles, veggies whatever when serving time comes). I canned 7 quart jars of beef soup base in a similar way, and then an additional 14 jars of beef SOUP, pinto beans and veggies included. I still have a couple of packages of beef bones in the deep freeze that I’d like to deal with, but I discover that I am out of quart jars. I have lots in the cellar filled with pickles, tomatoes, and fruit, but I did think I had more than this.
It is so handy to be able to pop open a jar of soup for weekday lunches, or on a weekend camping trip over the summer. And it’s especially nice having a few varieties. (I still have a couple of jars of clam chowder, borscht, and a different variety of beef veg soup in the cellar, but we were getting low.) And besides, my kids always like a taste of home.
It’s a good thing it was cold and rainy again this weekend, or this wouldn’t have gotten done. There is a ton of yard work that needs doing whenever it dries up/warms up enough to get started.
Such is life for the farm-dwelling, cooking from scratch kind of person. And you eat the tasteless stuff out of cans? Bah…
Karenee says
I SO WANT some of Grandma’s chicken soup! Did you make her recipe? If you did…
Eeeecckk.
Got drool on the screen.
Send me some, will ya?
Valerie Comer says
It’s better than Grandma’s (honest!) but based on her recipe. Come visit me, I’ll give you some. Come on, you know you waaant to…