Domestic Day

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.

The work of one day 

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…