Chicken soup and hot tea

Today is day two of hubby doing the hot tea and chicken soup "diet" plan.  The sinus crud hit him pretty hard yesterday morning, and he actually requested the chicken soup.  He had "meh"ed the idea the evening before, as the only time chicken soup sounds good to him  is when he's sick.  So yesterday morning I opened up a pint jar of chicken stock, popped it into a little pot with carrots, garlic, crushed red pepper, and spaetzle from the grocery, and dried Swiss chard and kale for his breakfast.  I figured he'd nibble on that all day ... instead he had that pot done before brunch time and was hungry for corned beef hash and omelette.  After brunch, I made him another pot using a pint of chicken meat from last January that had plenty of "juice" for broth, and a can of store-bought vegetable broth.  Since the chicken was far more chunky, I omitted the noodles.

Hubby says even though he doesn't care for chicken soup unless he's sick, when he is sick the chicken soup I make is the absolute best.  It's even better using birds we raised up ourselves, and canned up here.  The other day, while the man was unloading the lumber delivery, he chatted about chickens since we had a group out in the enclosure.  I found myself once again grasping for a way to describe the flavor of an older chicken, as compared to the little 5 or 8 week old fatty babies at the grocery.  While I still can't really say what it tastes like (other than CHICKEN!  LOL) I have made the comparison to the difference in flavor between veal and beef.  People seem to be able to wrap their minds around that analogy, although that still doesn't tell them what the wonderful flavor of an older bird is.

Hubby expressed a concern this morning about using up the chicken stock in the pantry, but I assured him we are not at that crucial of a level just yet.  If we do run too low for comfort, then I'll just harvest the October hatch cockerels earlier than planned.

More canning and some planting

I managed to wrestle one pic from the digicam's card: the previous canning party involving chicken harvested at the end of last month.  I am finishing up more canning today, after having a 100% seal rate yesterday on the four quarts of meat and three quarts of stock.  Today I finish up the stock (four more quarts) plus a quart and pint of stock from the time before last that didn't seal at room temperature but sealed at refrigerator temperature.  Pretty pic:

pints of chicken meat
and quarts of chicken stock

I do need to go out and put garlic cloves into the dirt - they sprouted on the table after I had given them a mild baking soda solution soak.  At least I know they are viable!  And yes, that is a correct usage for the often overused word viable ... able to live.  I have two cloves of elephant garlic, and two bulbs of regular garlic cloves.

It's supposed to rain today, but the sun is out and right now there are only a few wisps of clouds in the sky.  That could always change in under an hour though.  We kind of wish it would, as it is close to 80F again today.  Cold front is coming ... Friday's forecast low is in the 40s.

Update and early resolution

Bad me ... I am really slacking on both blogs here.  We've been doing stuff - lots of stuff - I just haven't felt much like posting or fighting the digicam for pics.  So, I will make an early resolution ... I will update at least weekly here, pics or no pics.  This morning will be pic-less.

• Eggs: All the splash Silkie pullets started to lay, and two more black Silkie pullets have started about a week ago.  This makes for some tiny eggs!  I decided to just go ahead and work my plan for these tiny pullet bullets: hard-boil then put them in pickled beet brine, which I had been saving up to either put eggs in, or to dye the tablecloth to match the stains.
• Canning up more chicken meat, as I have slaughtered all but two of the slips, and they are only alive because we couldn't fit them into the refrigerator until I do more canning.  I have four quarts of meat, and haven't done up the stock just yet.
• I am collecting eggs for hatching now, from all three breeding groups of Wyandottes plus the older Silkies.  One splash Silkie pullet is camped out in a cubbyhole, tucking any and all eggs she can reach under her.  I take them from her each evening, leaving the poor thing with only two golf balls to set on.  If she's still wanting to set when I go to start the incubator, I'll tuck some eggs back under her to hatch.  This way, if she quits like Bossy did in October, I can pop the eggs into the incubator without losing them.
• Hubby took down a tree in the middle of the back so we will hopefully have enough sunlight to power the fence charger back there.  Large pieces of wood will be next year's heating plan, as hubby got all the needed parts to install the chimney for the wood burning stove.
• I have a rabbit now.  He'll get his own post when I feel like fussing with pics.  I have named him George.
• I am definitely on a list to get a dairy goat in the spring, and her kids as well, so we will be having fresh goat milk soon.  I am pretty jazzed, although not nearly as jazzed as my friend Lynn, who has already volunteered to goat-sit when I go to my son's college graduation in May.
• I have broccoli out in my garden!  This is actually the first time I've managed to grow my own broccoli, and when the rain passes in a couple days, I'll be making a lovely little broccoli and cheddar quiche for brunch on the first cool day.
• The red cabbage ain't doing enough to justify watering it anymore ... I'll pull those and toss to the chickens.  I am going to try Pak Choi seeds next.  I also need to reclaim the greenhouse(s) from those industrious vine plants, and get tomato and pepper seeds starting.  I did get a bag of seed starting dirt from Lynn, so this ought to be doable.

I think that's everything for now.

Cull cockerel harvest

OK, I was able to keep to my self-imposed work schedule for this first stretch of cooler weather, and slaughtered the eight remaining cull cockerels through the week, plus Uno the full capon this morning for Thanksgiving Day dinner.  Of the eight cockerels, two are big and meaty enough to roast whole, Brother, Feyd's larger cross-breed son and one of the Ameracauna cockerels from Luanne.  So, six went into jars: seven quarts of stock (two with a bunch of carcass meat for casseroles) and eight pints of meat.  I'll get pictures later on, as I am waiting for the quarts of stock to cool enough to open the pressure canner and check how many sealed.

The pints of meat canned up SO beautifully!  All I added to them was 1/4 teaspoon of canning salt, and each one ended up with rich golden liquid from the meat - canned in its "natural juices" as the grocery store label would read.

As I hoped, Brother had his sire's big meaty breasts.  He also had nicely fleshed leg quarters, and he'll be frozen whole along with the largest of the Ameracauna cockerels.  Meanwhile, Uno came out not only meaty, but with large deposits of rich golden-yellow fat, not only under his skin but in the abdominal cavity.  I tried to save as much of that as I could, and hubby held open a quart sized zip bag while admiring it as I put it in.  I am trying to decide if I want to render it first, or use it "raw" for making pot pie crust.  I'll need to get a new scale to weigh Uno's whole carcass - he is certainly more than five pounds (the limit on my postal scale).  I'd also like to get weights on Brother and the Am cockerel.  Especially Brother, since he was only five months old.

I am definitely looking forward with eager anticipation to next year's capon batch, from my Wyandotte sires: Feyd, Azar, Tiny, and even Spikey (over whatever remaining red broiler pullets and Feyd's daughters).  This morning's slaughter of my first full capon made all the efforts and slips worth it.

Full speed ahead, as I work towards the goal of consistently producing twelve pound capons!

Homegrown chicken dinner

I think we have hit the magical sweet spot on cooking up cull cockerels!  We had one of Luanne's cull Wyandotte cockerels last night for dinner, and the taste was simply awesome.  First, we slaughtered five Wyandotte cockerels Sunday morning to make room for the new Silkies I had bought Saturday night at the local livestock auction.  The carcasses rested in the back refrigerator for five days, then hubby mostly plucked one Thursday while I drove to an appointment, then he brined it (standard issue 1 cup salt to 8 cups water) until yesterday morning, when he put it into the offset smoker for a couple hours with cherry wood chunks for the smoke flavoring.  Then we moved it to the big crockpot and let it go on low for another three hours.  When hubby went to lift up the chicken after we decided it was done, both drumstick bones came right out and the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender.

We just finished up the leftovers for lunch, and this was the fastest we have eaten an entire cockerel.  My friend Lynn had a leg quarter last night when she came by to get ten guineas.  I asked if she had supper yet, and when she said she hadn't I offered her some chicken.

"Home grown, too.   Wyandotte."

"Oh, now you're talkin'!"

Lynn agreed with hubby that the brine was a little too strong, so when I put it into the last three carcasses I added 2-3 cups more water.  Our plan is to smoke them, then cut them up for canning.  We'll see how many end up in jars, as opposed to the crock pot.  Maybe we'll get pictures this time.  Maybe.

Six pounds of strawberries put up

So, I finished putting up all those strawberries I bought on sale Friday.  Since my recipe had two versions - smooth and chunky - and the recipe uses three pounds of strawberries, it made sense to try each version out.  Neither one came out as jam-like as I had planned.  Each version, I took off the heat a little too soon to gel right, just like the problem with the orange marmalade.  The half-pints are still useful, though.  I'll just use them one things like cheesecake, shortcake, roll cake, and pancakes.  They are more syrup than jam.

smooth and chunky strawberry syrup, not jam

My plan is now to go back to the grocery after we've eaten lunch, and get another three pounds of strawberries to try again.  This time, I will make a batch halfway between smooth and chunky, cutting the strawberries up smaller (recipe recommended whole, I quartered these and they were still huge) but using the set of instructions for the chunky style.  Here's hoping they are still on sale, because I am now determined to make actual jam.

Strawberry SCORE

Just got back from grocery shopping, and our local Winn-Dixie has strawberries on sale for $1.69 per pound!  I haven't seen a sale price that low in a couple years ... we won't mention how many years it may or may not have been since I saw that as a regular price.

Six pounds of strawberries.  A 25 pound bag of sugar on sale.  Two dozen new "quilted" half-pint jelly jars on sale.  The gal running the checkout commented, "You're going to make jam!"  Hehehe.  Then out in the parking lot, one of the baggers walked up and offered me a helping hand, and immediately noticed all the strawberries, the jelly jars, and the big bag of sugar.  "Oh, wow, you're making jelly.  My great-grandma did that all the time!"   When I protested that I am no quite that old, he chuckled and explained: "Great-grandma is a hundred now.  She lived through the Depression, and she had so many skills!"  There sounded like a note of awe in his tone.

So, now a few minutes to rest after my successful hunting trip ... then the processing of the strawberries will commence.

Canning weather

Yes, the cold front made it down this far south.  Since the house is built to dissipate heat instead of retain it, I have been canning yesterday and today.  Yesterday was a second batch of orange marmalade, and I ended up with another 20 half-pints of marmalade.  I had given about six pairs of marmalade away at hubby's grandmother's birthday party on Sunday ... good thing I took that much up, too!  Everyone wanted to take some home to try.

boiled orange slices, ready to marmalade

So yesterday was water-bath canning the marmalade.  Today is pressure-canning up four pints of chicken meat and six pint-and-half jars of rehydrated beans for summer cooking.

The  observant will notice the absence of chicken stock ... that was due to a mistake on my part.  The biggest stock pot didn't fit into the spare refrigerator without moving shelves.  Instead of asking hubby to fix this situation for me, I thought the stock would be fine left out ... but I was wrong.  We didn't get as cold as fast as they originally forecast, and the stock went funky.  I am still a bit annoyed at myself for that.  I wasted four good cockerel carcasses and giblets.  Live, learn ... and compost the mistakes.  As long as I learn from this mishap, hubby says not to fret too much about it - he had been kicking himself last month when one of the carcasses went funky because the storage bag didn't "zip" properly and neither of us double-checked the bags.  That one was cooked up and fed to the various other chickens.

Speaking of chickens ... we lost two of the younger Wyandotte chicks overnight.  One, a very small pullet, was no surprise since she was acting down yesterday so we medicated her and hoped for the best.  The other, a cockerel, was of a decent size and had shown no indication of weakness ... plus it looked this morning like he had been on the bottom of the pile-up and just got squashed.  We tarped all the tractors the past few nights, first to keep off the rain, then to keep out the wind and keep at least some of the heat in for the chicks.  This is another good argument for having broody hens and chick-rearing capons here in the future.

Orange and grapefruit marmalade

Otherwise known as "kitchen work - review."  I did not get everything accomplished on Tuesday that I had hoped, but I did get a good enough start on all but the bread pudding to finish up yesterday ... and still have time to crash out for a nap in the afternoon.  Both marmalades are finished and water-bathed.  The orange marmalade was my first time doing up a marmalade of any kind, and it's a bit thin because I took it off the heat just a couple minutes too soon.  The grapefruit marmalade is the perfect gel consistency, and it has that distinctive grapefruit tang/bitterness to it that may just be the perfect glaze for grilled meats.  Oh, I am now officially out of half-pint jars again.

grapefruit marmalade ready to be water bathed

orange marmalade in the water bath

No pics of the ketchup or barbecue sauce, as I have done a post on those previously.  I also did up the flour tortillas.

cooking the flour tortillas

kneaded flour tortilla dough resting before rolling out

My neighbor Maria gave us the grapefruits and oranges.  I'm pretty sure she said her sister has the trees, and had a good crop again this year.  This is really getting me excited for when our citrus trees finally start producing!  I have orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, and sweet kumquat trees out there still growing.

Now, time for a different sort of chore today: slaughtering the three cockerels.

Kitchen work

Today is an all-day cooking marathon here.  Already started orange marmalade two days ago, and have a crock pot going with ketchup, some of which will be further converted to barbecue sauce.  Also on the list are grapefruit marmalade, flour tortillas, and ... bread pudding with orange-soaked dried cranberries.  I'll also zest the peels and juice the rest of the oranges.  We had to toss some out due to fungus/mold/whatever fuzzy growth, so I need to get my (*donkey*) in gear and get them put up.  Live, learn, and compost the mistakes.

Canned chicken and stock

As promised, pics of the pressure canned Cornish-Rock chicks - three pints of leg and wing meat, and seven pints of carcass meat and stock with a carrot and a couple cloves of garlic sliced up and simmered with the carcasses.

ten total pints of canned chicken and stock

leg and wing meat in the wide mouth pints
stock in regular pints

I had two lids not seal - one wide mouth and one regular.  I am not yet sure why, but that is a poor rate of sealing (80%).  We'll just use those two up quickly.  Right now they are in the refrigerator.

Preparing to can up the nuggets

Now that the cold front has dissipated, and we can both move without too much creaking and cricking, I am putting up the three skinless nuggets plus the giblets from all five and a previous nugget I had started to simmer for stock but has been chilling on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

Since we raise these chicks ourselves, and slaughter them ourselves, it just makes sense to try to get the maximum use and absolute least amount of waste possible.  I have tried to make the most of chickens for at least my adult life, on the notion that what is in the grocery used to be a live animal that died for me to eat.  When you raise them up from cute little day-old foof-balls to roasting pan size, it really hits home on a visceral level.

So, the usual method I use/have used for years is: cut off the breast meat, take off the legs and wings, simmer the remaining carcass with the neck and giblets for soup stock.  This time, I have taken the meat off the leg quarters and wings to raw-pack in wide mouth pint jars ... and each nugget filled a pint jar just about perfectly, with a smidge over an inch head space left.  The skinless chicken breasts are in freezer bags and already in the freezer, for use in tacos, enchiladas, stir-fry, or whatever else may strike our fancy in the future.

It should be interesting to see just how many pints of stock and carcass meat from four bodies, three sets of legs and wings, and six sets of giblets.

Pics later, when everything is in jars and ready to go into the pressure canner(s).