Project 'Rock' and Chicken Stock

In the Yard:  

When we purchased our house almost three years ago, we were happy with the tidy (albeit boring) back yard.  River rocks flank the east, south, and western edges of the lawn and I originally thought I'd do some planting and give the yard a little more privacy and character.  I know anything yard related is 'easier said than done' but the truth under the rocks wasn't apparent until I started planting a few small shrubs.  The landscaper's paper is falling apart, allowing for weeds and grass to grow through AND the soil under the rocks and paper is a terrible kind of clay/rocky/subsoil that nothing will grow in! 
In addition, the edging (wooden slats) was rotting and housing ant nests, so we had to remove it last year.  ugg...
Anyways...I've decided to remove all the rocks.  

This is the south facing side of the house.  I plan to remove all the rocks and amend the soil enough to grow peppers and tomatoes. 


This is definately one of those projects that is going to look a LOT worse before it starts looking a little better.  Here's what I've got started.  That shed in the back is our old one that I'm considering covering with some kind of vine.  We still need it (along with the new shed)...but it's ugly. 

In the House:

Again, because we are building a shed at my parent's house...not much is going on inside the house. 
This section is getting a little break.  *smile*




In the Kitchen:

This is a follow-up to my Roast Chicken post.  I love making Chicken Stock because is so darn easy and rewarding. 
Remember those chickens I made last week?

I took the meat off the bones and stuck them in a pot with about 5 cups of water.

My chicken stock includes: 
2 onions
2 carrots
1 celery stalk with leaves (we didn't have any this time)
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
2-3 whole cloves
1 tsp dried thyme
4 or 5 cloves of garlic (I usually do whole...but all I had was pre-minced)
1 or 2 tsp salt

Rough chop the onions and carrots...no need to peel or skin onions...the onion skin is what give the stock great color!

Throw everything on top of chicken and simmer for at least 3 hours...

That's what it looks like after a few hours.  Kind of like a witch's brew...

Pour through a colander and discard the solids and keep the remaining stock in a large bowl.  Yes.  This is my salad spinner bowl.  It's the largest one I own.  I thought about getting a bigger bowl...but I would have no place to put it.  Seriously.  Have you seen the size of my kitchen?

It is tiny.  I'm not complaining...I get TONS accomplished in this kitchen.  But I make a few sacrifices:  Fridge is in laundry room (just a few steps away...), we don't own a microwave, and I am very discriminating about what kitchen tools I put in here.  If my salad spinner bowl can serve a more than one function...then I don't need another large bowl to store.    

ANYWAYS.....I let the stock cool overnight in my fridge and then skim off the fat before storing in freezer containers. 

Hurrah!  I have chicken stock....that will last us approx. a week or two.  I can't help it.  I put it in everything.