Hello, Saturday

[alpharaposa]

The cub is sick. The whole family is a little under the weather, but only the cub actually has a cough and runny nose. It's a pretty rough cough.

Short-term disability was approved. I have been off work for two weeks and feel better with all the extra sleep. Also, I spent a lot of the last two weeks reading, which went a long way to restoring energy reserves I'd spent down to the last. I feel like I can think and focus again without having to set myself in crisis mode first.

I've done a lot of cooking as well. I've had to switch to a low salt diet, which is difficult because so many "quick" things are full of sodium in order to keep them ready to be eaten at any time. I can't even go pick up a box or can of broth to make soup. So, last week I made some very good chicken broth, and this week I turned it into a large amount of homemade chicken noodle soup just in time for everybody to get sick. Um, yeah. Also, the local farmer's market gets different varieties of apples in through the season (20 different types!), so we've been trying a few out. We bought Cordtlands and found that they had a lovely spicy tart taste, so we turned a bunch of them into apple butter, with a few Fuji apples for sweetness. I'm pondering making some pie crust and turning some of the remaining Fuji apples into dumplings. Maybe. Depends on energy and time, like always.

There's a big harvest fair at the farmer's market today, so in spite of feeling sick, we're going to go and see the fun. There'll be pony rides and farm animals to pet, and I'm planning on picking up some wildflower honey to help sooth a certain sore throat. No sourwood honey so far this year, which was a disappointment, but the apiary will have a booth at the fair, so maybe we'll get lucky.

Comments

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Because if you cook the meat more than about 10 hours, it turns into mush. I like having it around to toss into other dishes. Remember, when the stock is done, you strain everything out, so you have to pick the meat if you're keeping it anyway.

And a slow cooker on low does a good job without tying up a burner for a day or more. You can get a decent broth in 10 hours, but the longer you steep and cook, the more minerals you'll pull out of the bones. If you're lucky enough to have chicken feet available, I hear that adds even more goodness to it, but that's a rare commodity outside of an asian market.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Good to know! I'll keep that in mind if I wind up with chicken bones somehow... Or want to take a stab at it sometimes.