My
mom was part of the generation of Americans born during The Great Depression
and, like most of that group, it affected how she thought about things. Growing up hungry resulted in her making the
most of available food items such as getting 3-4 meals from Sunday’s pot roast. I’m confident many of you born around the
same time as me had a similar experience.
I
don’t recall Mom making broth often or how she did it but I knew her and
believe she would have made it something like this.
For
thanksgiving, our turkey gravy was made from stock that was made from roasted
turkey wings.
The
crock pot stuffing was made using the meat from two rotisserie chickens and the
meat from the above wings.
The
scraps from the chickens and the wings went into a plastic bag along with the
giblets and back from the spatchcocked turkey and all went into the fridge on
Wednesday.
After
our Thanks giving dinner, the meat was removed from the turkey bones, then,
along with the skin, they went into a 16 quart pot along with the bones from
the bag in the fridge, got covered with water, and simmered all night with a
lid on the pot.
The
next morning, after cooling, we removed the bones and meat and strained the
broth.
We ended up with 8½ quart bags of tasty liquid that we labeled as Herbed Chicken Broth – since it had the herbs from the turkey skin and other flavors from the chickens and wings.
Bev also picked about a quart of meat out of the scraps for our dogs so very little edible stuff went into the trash. I’m pretty sure some good things from all of our parents got passed on to Bev and me.
One last round of baking (cookies) with Meme, Matthew, and Sophia.
Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.
Larry
11/29/13 meal date
My parents were from the Depression era too and taught me to use and take care of everything. Great job with the broth Larry & Bev. I don't believe you let one tasty morel getaway. Matthew & Sophia are adorable helping their Meme bake cookies.
ReplyDeleteSam
My grandma was the same way... nothing ever went unused. I think because of the conveniences we have these days, people don't hesitate to throw things out that they could be using.... this is great reminder for us all!!!
ReplyDeleteLarry, My best food memory from my grandmother was her frying up fresh cake donuts! Wow...they were sure good! Hats off to you guys for making your own chicken broth! Ours comes from Swanson...the lazy wastrels source of broth! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteMy folks are the same way. I love making homemade broth - it tastes so much better than store bought!
ReplyDeleteI never thought of putting broth in ziploc bags. We just had turkey soup with our 2 carcasses.
ReplyDeleteI woulld be on of those. And I have so many habits passed down from those Depression habits. One that always sticks out is reusing tin foil after it was rinsed dried and saved in a drawer. And by the way, those wing tips you had me save in the freezer made the best chicken broth. :)
ReplyDeleteMy grandma saved everything and used it until it couldn't be used anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think we can from the same kind of background, Larry. Two days after Christmas I made a huge pot of stock and froze containers of it for future use. I have a large container in my freezer where I save leftover vegetables for the stock pot. My German parents and grandparents grew up during the Depression and never wasted a thing. As far as I'm concerned that stock is liquid gold.
ReplyDeleteMy mom, being a WWII survivor (Germany) taught me that it wasn't nice to waste food. I love a good turkey dinner, but I also love a good turkey soup. I never, EVER waste the carcass. There is nothing like homemade broth. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember my mom or grandmother making stock either and I think it's because you and I never noticed since they were just doing it so often.
ReplyDelete