Chicken feet and some of my favorite things...

You know the phrase "a watched pot never boils". SO TRUE. On the stove is my first attempt at homemade chicken stock. It is supposed to "simmer" for 4 hours. But it took FOREVER to start bubbling at all! I kept watching because I didn't want to get it to too high of a boil and have it spill over. I'm still checking it now again because I had to turn it down and it started to stop simmering again!

But all in all it has been a pretty simple endeavor so far....chicken feet and all.

What's that you say? Chicken FEET? Yes, my friends. Chicken feet. In all their glory.



I ordered these beauties from the poultry farmer where we have been getting our chicken and eggs from. I saved a couple of chicken carcasses and decided today was the day.

So, first I had to boil the chicken feet to get them rinsed off and soft enough to cut the toenails off. Yes. I had to cut. the. toenails. off. Can we say ICK??

But, I did it. I really did. And here's the proof:



Nice, huh? The creepiest part is they kind of looked like an old lady's hand. I felt pretty weird doing it, but at least it was easy and went fairly quickly.

Next, I also boiled the chicken carcasses quickly and rinsed them off. And during this time, I realized there is NO WAY I have a pot big enough for all of this. You would think I would have realized that when I saw that it is supposed to make THREE GALLONS of chicken stock! I called my SIL who does have a bigger pot, but it is now at her new house which is a ways away instead of just down the street....so I decided on two smaller pots and I would just divide up the ingredients.

So I put everything in and of course snapped a picture. Ignore my messy stove. Yesterday was cleaning day and let's just say that didn't happen.



What is everything, you ask? Let's see....carrots, celery, a little bit of white wine, some kosher sea salt, peppercorns, a little fresh parsley and a bay leaf. I think that's it (with all the chicken bones and feet of course).

Now the stock simmers for 4 hours, then I let it sit for 10 minutes before straining it into a glass bowl to cool in the fridge. Then I'll put it in glass quart jars and freeze some of it for use in the next few months. And some will be used in our chicken and potato soup tomorrow night. Yum.

Now what are these favorite things I'm talking about...?

Tomato and Basil soup...


Zucchini bread with freshly made raw butter....



Sirloin steak with a mushroom sauce and baked potato (yes, I love potatoes)


Recipes and more info coming soon, including a post on the reasons we now eat raw, unpasteurized dairy like it's going out of style, and my first attempt at brining a ham (process to start later today...).

Oh no....

I've already dropped the ball on posting and it's been over a week!

Can I blame busyness? And an 8 month old baby who has discovered who "mommy" is and wants all her time? And trying to spend some time away from the computer so I am not quite so attached to it all the time and actually see people in real life? :)

I'll blame it all - but I'm here now!

Part of the reason I haven't posted is I haven't been doing anything spectacular in the cooking arena lately. In fact, I've had a few bombed dinners. But I suppose that's part of the process - sharing the failures and the successes, right?

Anywho, I'll try to get a post with my latest endeavors and another one with an update on hubby's health up asap!

For now, I'll just say that cooking without garlic and onions is just NOT NEARLY as good. I miss them - a lot.