Putting up food for the Winter

"They were all dressed and washed when Pa came in with the milk half frozen in the pail.
     After he had got his breath and melted the frost and snow from his mustaches, he said, "Well, the hard winter's begun"
     Why, Charles," Ma said, "It isn't like you to worry about winter weather."
     "I'm not worrying," Pa replied, "But it's going to be a hard winter."
From "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

     It's turned warm now, for a week or two but I'm still expecting another load of wood any day now.  It's better to be prepared . . .  Perhaps this is "Indian Summer".

     Last week I bragged about saving $50 on this month's groceries.  Then the next week's grocery store flyers came out.  What's this, chicken breasts for .77  a pound!  And pork roast for $1.78 a pound!  I did read a prediction that meat would go down before it went up, the supposition being that farmers would first butcher a little early rather than buy the more expensive feed this fall.  Later the price will go up to pay for the feed.  So I bit and spent another $25.  Then I went home and boned 15 chicken breasts and froze them, and with what we already had that's 25, count 'em 25 approximately 1 pound chicken breasts in the freezer.  As well as 4 pints of chicken broth with chicken bits in, ready to make soup.  That is kind of a big production, and one needs to plan to take off the trash afterwards before it begins to stink!

See the pile of bones and skin on the left?

Note the wax paper instead of lids.  That way the jars won't break when the broth freezes.  After it's frozen, you may replace the paper with lids, providing that the jar wasn't over-filled and conseqently bulging from the top!  If you're going to use them soon, the waxed paper will do fine.  Because I poured rather than ladled, most of the fat is in one jar, but that's all right, I'll use that one to make a cream soup or sauce, adding the flour shaken in a jar with some liquid, broth, milk or water, depending on what I'm making, instead of mixing it with butter to make a roux.  I boiled this broth down to make it flavorful and rich.  I added celery leaves and smoked salt and freshly ground pepper for flavor.  As a diabetic, noodles are not such a desirable addition but I was thinking of beaten egg to make those thin shreds such as in some Greek soups.
While I was at the store, I looked at .17 a pound potatoes.  Two decades ago I liked to buy potatoes for .20 a pound, in 50-pound bags.  So I looked at these sale potatoes.  But they were spotty and shriveled.  Last years potatoes, the last stored ones before the new crop comes in.  I'll wait.  I may pay more but I will have fresh potatoes, thank you very much!


     My daughter in Seattle is missing the mid-west autumn.  We've already had three frosts and windy days and rain so we're a little past the peak but here is a picture of our back yard.  I do love the fall!

I've had requests for the Beef and Barley stew from last week.  It's very simple:
1 # stew beef or chuck, cubed
1 medium onion, minced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 can minced tomatoes
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t smoked salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup whole barley.  I had to buy Bob's Red Mill this time and it wasn't precooked like Quaker, but it was lovely after cooking all afternoon in the crockpot.
1/2 package of mushrooms, about
About 2 quarts of water, home-made stock or boullion.
I don't brown the meat.  I just put everything in the crockpot and turn it on.  Wait, I don't put the mushrooms in until an hour before we eat.  I did this at 10 am and by 6 pm it was delicious.  We ate it with rye toast and butter on the side.   
I have been watching Victorian Cooking on youtube and they recommend browning shin bones in the oven and then simmering them in water with unpeeled onions and carrots, salt and pepper, all day for a lovely broth.  And I will try that just as soon as shin bones go on sale, but a quality boullion is quite acceptable to my way of thinking.