Expensive goods from cheap ingredients: Bone Broth

Bone broth has become all the rage. Google it up - you'll find plenty of information I leave to you to sift through. 

It's basically stock that's been simmered in a way to draw more minerals and protein out of it's components than the usual pre-soup simmer. The how is pretty simple: addition of acid, and long simmer time. Of course you can buy it (my personal fave), but it gets pricey. To benefit from bone broth, it's supposed to be a frequent, if not daily, treat. Good bone broth is richly flavored but not strong. Good for daily fortifying, and great when you're not feeling well. Also worth noting: it's not the same as bouillon, which is typically high in salt/sodium. 

So, how to have enough bone broth without stealing dollars from your movie budget (hey, priorities!)? Enter: the conversation with your favorite butcher. I found out today that our local fave sells chicken backs for a whopping 50 cents a pound. Squee! 

Chicken backs from the butcher - who knew?!

Setting up to make two batches, because it's a little labor intensive and freezes well. One beef using oxtails, one chicken using chicken backs (I've read you can include chicken feet for extra collagen; maaaaaaaybe I'll get there, maaaaaaaybe not). 

One tray each, light S&P sprinkle only.

First, roast them lightly. I did 25 mins/turn/20mins at 350deg w/convection. Not very scientific, but I'm pushing browning over tenderness. This is going to simmer a very, very, very, very long time, and all I want is the broth anyway.

Roasted up!

Then into the crockpot with some seasoning buddies, water, and trick #1: acid. Include a couple tablespoons apple cider vinegar in the simmer to draw out minerals. Be sure to use the good stuff and not apple cider "flavored" vinegar. 

Seasoning buddies, plus vinegar.

Leading to trick #2: simmer for what seems like an obscenely long time: crockpot low for 36 hours. Some recipes also say 18hrs is long enough, some say go the full monty 48hrs. I say it's flexible. You can do this on the stovetop, but I have a gas stove so I'm not keen on leaving a gas burner running unattended for that long. You probably could speed this up using an InstantPot (which I don't own, yet....). If someone tries/has tried that, please let me know! 

Go time: 1:30pm. Now, we wait. 

_____________________________________________________________

Next morning, still waiting....

____________________________________________________________

Simmering over. 

Beef broth after simmer.

Chicken broth after simmer.

Next: strain the broth, and chill overnight for the fat to settle out and congeal. 

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Lift the fat out - a spatula works nicely. 

I think this would keep in the fridge maybe up to a week (I'm not an expert - use your own judgement). For longer storage, I'm freezing it in glass canning jars. Fill them about 2/3 full to allow for expansion. I figure 1 pint jar is good for a couple days' worth. 

It's not as gelatinous as I expected. I don't know why. I've read including chicken feet really boosts the gelatin content. I think I needed more bones in general. 

Still,tasty, soothing, and surprisingly satisfying on these cold Wisconsin winter days. 

Did someone say snow?

Easter Eggs, Deviled

I decided to decorate Easter eggs for the first time in years. That would explain why in never occurred to me our usual eggs, being brown, wouldn't work...

Enter plan B: make deviled eggs and dye the whites directly. 

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Use actual food coloring. I wouldn't recommend using the typical egg dying tablets. That dye isn't meant to be directly eaten, although it is food safe or you couldn't use it on the eggs at all). 

Step 1: get yo' self some hard-boiled eggs, shelled. Many ways to do this. I use an egg cooker.

Step 2: dye yo' eggs. I left them in about 10 minutes. I used a decent squirt of neon food coloring in each bowl. 

Step 3: drain yo' eggs. And admire the colors (ooh... aahhh...)

Step 4: place yo' eggs in a pretty platter. 

Step 5: fill yo' eggs with deviled goodness, and eat! 

They go particularly well next to a lamby cake with strawberry roses. So much color, and no leftover hardboiled eggs! I really like this whole idea. So much so I plan to try it out green and gold for some football game parties later this year. (GO PACK!!)


This content previously published in On the Table, April 2016.

Hello Hellebore

When I was growing up, the earliest blooms in the garden were always bulbs. First crocus, then daffodils, and then tulips. Sometime around late March, color would return to the garden. 

And as much as I'm amazed by the bulbs that emerge in the spring, I'm in awe of plants that come up even earlier. The hellebore in our garden have been blooming since February. 

Helleborus "Winter Jewels Painted"

Helleborus "Winter Jewels Black Diamond"

Content in this post was previously published in In the Garden, Spring 2016.

Traveling in My Kitchen: Thailand

My chief menu planner hat is a blessing and a curse. The fun of having so many recipes to choose from to try is beleaguered by the hassle of having sooooo many recipes to choose from to try. 

Sigh....


So, this chief menu planner made an executive decision to pick a theme for each month. That way I can focus recipe choices and menus. December 2017 was Comfort Food month, only I didn't take a single photo of any food all month. Well, not entirely true: Christmas Eve family dinner dessert was my first try at a pavlova. 

Not bad...

Vanilla Pavlova with lemon curd whipped cream and fruit

January 2018: Thailand. 
Winter in Wisconsin can be cold. As in, the air hurts your face cold. As in, you could fart snowflakes cold. 

We started with soup. Tom Kha Gai is one of the most traditional and widely recognizable soups from Thailand. I used an adapted version of this one (sub ginger for galangal, no kaffir leaves; recipe halved). What was fascinating was how the smells changed as the broth simmered, and then later as the lime juice and fish sauce were added. Totally forgot to take a picture. Halved, the recipe still made plenty for the two of us. I had thought we would have leftovers for lunch, but no luck. We polished that sucker off. 

Because it's cold outside... 

Let in the fresh air.

Phew! Sure smells stale around here. My apologies. Let's open it up and let in some fresh ideas.

Happy Independence Day folks!!

Weekly Randomness for Friday June 3, 2016

Did someone say June already?!

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• A byproduct of the "Publish or Perish" expectation, which is a byproduct of inadequate funding for science research, which is a byproduct of.... (I could go on...) 
• Another argument for proper livestock farming practices
• Uff-dah! All that bending and kneeling and reaching - I call it Yard Yoga 😜

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Umm.... no.  
• Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...  Turn and face the strange
• So excited so excited - it'll be here soon!!
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Outside: time to map the gardens before I really forget what's planted where.  
• Inside: annual rummage in a few weeks, time to start gathering goods (i.e. de-clutter!)
• Outside: Golf in the evening! So far we've seen coyote, fox, and deer (countless birds). 

Outside wins!

Magnet Monday: Michigan (the other mitten state)

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, May 23, 2016
"Michigan", painted laser-cut wood, circa early 2010's

We spent an extraordinary amount of time outside in the garden this past weekend (outside in general, between gardening and yard work, plant sales, and a round of golf). Oddly enough, despite how much I love to play in the dirt and watch things grow, I have few magnets with any plants on them. 

Huh. 

We picked this one up in Detroit airport on a layover to somewhere. We could have picked up a Detroit magnet, which maybe is a more accurate picture of our visit, but 1) there were no magnets of the Detroit airport, per se, and 2) I'm working on getting one from all 50 states first. Detroit the city will just have to wait. 


Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but a whole lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, May 20, 2016

Finally warm enough to sunbathe outside.

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• This one falls into my "why is this news" category. We've always known green spaces were healthy. ...sigh.... We're not spending time merely re-inventing the wheel, but actually rediscovering it.
• Let's go there, and there, and maybe there, okay maybe not there, but there...   (see them all here)
• I want to know who paid the reviewers on this one. It should never have been published, not because the results are directly contrary to an enormous amount of data, but because the study was poorly designed. 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• When I was a kid (walking to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways), lego only had two shapes, square and rectangle.
• Because now I need one. No one warned be about having to keep track of numbers in my head... 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Some people tailgate for sports. Us, we tailgate for this: SEWMGPS - cannot wait!!  
• Last Concord Chamber Orchestra concert of the season
• Golf! My first full 18-hole round, thankfully on an executive par-3 course (don't want to get ahead of myself here...). 
• And if the weather holds, more mulch. And planting! And mulch. (.... so.... much.... mulch....)

Weekly Randomness for Friday, May 13, 2016

Best way to approach a Friday the 13th

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Min svävare är full med ål ** (and IKEA is coming!!)
• Sadness
• Only Congress gets to decide their own raises... 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• A city growing up
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Brunch and a classic movie at Avalon Theater
• Season opener for the Elkhorn Flea!!!
• Mulch. More mulch. Finishing up planting containers. And mulch. 

** For the Monty Python fans

Bad start to this Friday the 13th for HandyMan.... 

Whole batch of lemon curd-filled lemon cupcakes with lemon-mascarpone icing rendered inedible by pavement and bad luck.... sigh..... 

Magnet Monday: Transit

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, May 9, 2016
"Serial No. 1, c.1903", plastic image, circa 2013

Today the planet Mercury is moving across in front of the sun where we can see it. 

It doesn't actually have anything to do with this magnet, but they're both pretty neat. 

We picked this one up at the Harley-Davidson Museum. Definitely worth the time even if you're not a hog fan.

Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but a whole lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, May 6, 2016

someone is hiding from all that yard work...

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Ugh. Why is this even a surprise?! 
• Technology humbled by the mundane. 
• The big NO is nothing new. 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Be Happy advice always in style.  
• Keep swimming!!
• Everything old is new again, and it sounds.... interesting. 
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Somebody dumped 4 cubic yards of mulch in our driveway... 
• More yard work. 
• Sunday brunch in Janesville with family to celebrate all of us who mother in some way. 

44 years ago today was the first breath of air for my favorite husband. 

Happy Birthday babe!

Magnet Monday: Utah plain and simple

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, May 2, 2016
"Utah: Salt Lake City", laser cut wood, circa early 2010's

In honor of a work colleague visiting SLC this week on vacation. I've never actually "visited" SLC, merely met its airport making connecting flights.  

Many observances in May. My favorites this week are National Bubba Day (1st) and the Great American Grump Out (4th). Neither of which have anything to do with this magnet.

Not as cheesy as some magnets. Rather bland actually. I picked this one up while passing through SLC, and if I remember correctly, there weren't many choices, the others being flat plastic picture magnets. I liked the 3D nature of this one. 

Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but a whole lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, April 29, 2016

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Sounds like I shouldn't feel guilty about donating those super-well worn old t-shirts.
• I've never thought about the idea that it's harder to think like an eighteenth century servant than we realize. 
• Access demands accountability. Food for thought: could it change the way we think about engaging in conflicts? 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• As if I needed another reason to visit Japan.
• Philosopher-turned-musician Boethius' "The Consolation of Philosophy"
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• hometown Earth Day cleanup and recycling: proceeds from recycling "any electronic item with a plug" will buy trees for the city! 
• More golf, if the weather holds (or at least warms up!)
• Possibly a movie: they're showing Purple Rain for $5 😊

Magnet Monday: Rosalind Franklin

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, April 25, 2016
"disney castle", painted 3D resin, 2011

Work with me on this one. 

This is National Princess Week. Yes, that's apparently a thing. Even Julie Andrews is in on it. We all know at least one Disney princess, so even if you can't tolerate the shameless merchandising that is modern Disney, at least think fondly of your favorite princesses. 

It's also National DNA Day. What do DNA and princesses have in common, you may ask? This magnet! 

In honor of Rosalind Franklin, one of our "rejected princesses*". Without her work in X-ray crystallography, Watson & Crick would never have gotten the credit for determining the molecular structure of DNA. 

This charmer was picked up by our own princess, on a high school choir trip. 

*Rejected Princesses: Women too Awesome, Awful, or Offbeat for Kids' Movies is updated Wednesdays and well worth checking out. 

Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but a whole lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, April 22, 2016

Sometimes it snows in April

Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad

Sometimes I wish life was never ending,

And all good things, they say, never last

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Another re-examination of old theories, and another lesson in humility to the data
• A presidential kind of graveyard

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Used to be foodie heaven was only during the growing season. Now it's year round if you know where to look. Here's the guide.  
• One-man-band, rather Seussian to me, don't you think?
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Earth Day is our anniversary. Best gift? Go clean up something! 
• Speaking of anniversary, looks like Deadpool!
• Hitting the links for the first time if the weather holds. And hope I don't embarrass the sport...

Have you ever used: Plantain Fufu Flour

I take pictures when I go to the grocery store. That probably sounds odd. I take pictures to remind myself of foods I don't know how to use or would like to try somehow. Maybe that's still odd...

Anyway, I've been exploring alternate starch sources, and on one visit I found this: 

I had no idea what fufu flour is, or knew that you could make flour from plantain. Or maybe I never really thought about it, because now that I think about it, why couldn't you make a flour from dried plantain? It's starchy enough. 

Sources (i.e. Wikipedia) state that it's a traditionally West African food eaten mostly like a dumpling. The term fufu can refer to dumplings made from a number of flours, including plantain. It's often served with soups or stews, and I imagine it would be good alongside anything saucy. 

I found two recipes to start out with, this one seems more traditional, Plantain Pancakes completely not. I think I'll pick up a box next time I'm there and give it a whirl. 

Have you ever used plantain flour? 

Vegas Baby! Magnet Monday

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, April 18, 2016
"Las Vegas", painted vinyl in relief, circa early 2000's

In honor of friends who were married this past weekend in Vegas, by Elvis. 

Happiness and blessings my friends!

This was one of the first magnets in the collection, received from a friend who moved to Vegas and lived for a time (she's still living, just not there anymore...)


Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but a whole lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness for Friday, April 15, 2016

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Everything old is new again. Again. 
• Beautiful, but you're still not building that by my back door
• We could wonder about a lot of leaders in history

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Interpretive jiggery-pokery (in honor of the late great himself. I'm inclined to think he would have found humor in ASSoL) 
• Best combination of fascinating and creepy
• Smell-ements... Clearly the authors never suffered the sulfurous after-effects of cabbage... 😜
• My Pinteresting Randomness

Weekend Aims

• Estate saling - for the thrifter in me
• A wee drive for eats at Oakfire
• Finally warm enough to spend some much-needed time on the yard!

Winter Omelet

Nothing beats cold weather like a big breakfast!

Asparagus*, mushroom & swiss cheese omelet with maple-linkies** alongside.

*Yes, I do recognize that asparagus is not technically winter food... but a girl can only go so long with something green on her plate!
Well, something that's supposed to be green. 

**We are hooked on Jones Dairy Farm sausage goods - must try if you can. It's a reason to stay in Wisconsin. Doesn't quite make up for the cold... comes close.

My apologies...

for the stale aroma hanging around here... 


We all get too busy, because life. 

Newness is on its way - thanks for stopping by today!