We're fixin' to take the pressure canner for a spin this weekend. It will be interesting doing a canning project with Brainiac. Not that he's not usually involved to some degree, if only to calmly listen while I complain about all the tomatoes or peppers or...but this time I want him pretty close by. An inaugural run of any new equipment that involves buttons, a power source, gauges or instruction manuals of any level of complexity is boundto have me too jittery to think clearly. His sciencey, rational demeanor will do be good this first time out.
To prepare I've concocted what looks in the fridge to be a lifetime supply of chicken broth. In reality it's probably less than a month's worth, since it and veggie broth are staples around here. I find store-bought broth to be perfectly acceptable but making my own appeals to my inner frugalista, that secret corner of my personality that freezes carrot peelings.
Yes, it's true. My method for broth making is simple: freeze chicken carcasses (we have a roasted chicken maybe every other month) and also freeze veggie peelings from carrots, onions and the like (including also celery tops, onion sprouts and garlic that's a bit past it's prime). So now you've got chicken(s) and an ever-filling container of veggies. Eventually the twain shall meet and you can 'em all in a pot with water and a couple peppercorns to make broth. Easy as pot pie.
In times recently gone by I'd freeze the broth. With the acquisition of the pressure canner we'll be able to keep the broth while also preserving precious freezer space for something else. Excellent.
Now, I realize that on the face of it, all this is kind of silly. Freezing already-cooked (chicken) or processed (veggies) stuff only to cook it into something else and then process it for storage when more broth than I could ever use is on offer at a perfectly nice store not five miles from me...well, yeah. Silly. That's not the point. Not my point, anyway (although I know it may well be the point for you) and I'm o.k. with that. I like not wasting perfectly good raw materials and knowing what's in the food on my shelves. Realistically, I can't do that for everything but where I can (ha! can? get it?), I will.