Culinary Creations

As per always, I am venturing out of my box and trying new things in the kitchen.  We purchased 1/12 of a whole cow last week, and I had a TON of bones in my freezer. I did some checking and chose a beef stock recipe from Julia Childs.  Of course, I modified it a bit, but overall it turned out okay.
  I roasted the bones for about 2 hours, then added them to my fabulous, but rarely-used Cephalon stock pot with built-in strainer!!!  In addition to about 16 cups of water, I added carrots, celery, bay leaves, salt, pepper, onion, and thyme.  Then I simmered it for 24 hours.  The smell went from stinky (during oven roasting) to beefy, to delicious.  The broth is now in gallon-freezer bags in my freezer.  I hope it tastes fabulous the next time I make beef stew!

The best part is that the beef is all-natural, and I don't have to worry about antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides in our meat.  Thank you, Gilcrest Natural Farm!

Oh, and yes, the doggies did get the meat scraps and some bones from the strainer!

Next up: Apple Pie

Last Saturday we went with friends for the 6th Annual Apple Picking! This time we went to J and A Orchard.  I will post about that later.  However, here is the first apple pie of the season! (My daughter helped with the top crust!)