My Culinary Experiment

I like to challenge myself during vacations at home.  I like to try something new.  The kitchen always seems to be the perfect laboratory for that.  So this Spring Break, I decided to make Matzo ball soup from scratch.  My daughter loves Matzo balls and Matzo ball soup.  I happened across some of the soup in a store one day.  Which I found odd.   It's kinda like finding fried okra in New York.  In other words, it's not so common.  Well, she fell in love with it.  I came across a recipe from my Cooking Light magazine and decided to pull out my Dutch Oven I got for VD from the hubby(Yes, it was a great gift!) and give it a shot. 

Step 1:  Roasting the chicken wings and aromatic veggies.....

Cut up some carrots, celery and onion and put them on a tray with chicken wings  in the oven for 40 minutes.  Piece of cake.


Step 2: Scrape all of that into a Dutch Oven ( BTW, could not attempt this before VD, Thanks Hubby!) add 3 cups of water and seasonings and let it simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

The next few steps kinda ticked me off.....

Step 3: I then have to strain it through a mesh sieve and discard the solids ( What?? I have to throw 3 lbs. of chicken away?)  Then cook until it reduces to 6 cups.. Ok, I'm really bad at math, but how the hell do 3 cups of water and some chicken and veggies turn into an amount of liquid that can be reduced to 6 cups!?  I'm pretty sure that I did not have more than 6 cups when I discarded (Really?!?) the solids.

Step 4:  Next I have to combine the chicken stock and 3 chicken leg quarters to cook.  Wait!  WTF?  Didn't I just throw out 3 lbs of chicken wings?  Now I have to add more chicken for the actual soup?  That is messed up!

Step 5: Make the Matzo Balls... ok, this was fun.  This recipe calls for club soda.  I hear that there is a huge debate about whether to use good ole' H2O vs. club soda.  I'm just following this recipe and I reserve to weigh in on that debate until I try it the other way.    So while I'm making these I'm looking at the 5 bottles of club soda I have left because around here the only way you can buy club soda is in 6 packs of 8 oz glass bottles.  An epiphany hits me... hey those MIO liquid water enhancers would turn those into sodas.  Need to share that.

But I digress...

Last step:  Take out the cooked chicken legs and shred chicken to add back to soup...(Ummm, I could have done that with the chicken wing meat you told me to throw out.)  Add Matzo balls, onion,  carrots and celery..... No,  not the onion, carrots and celery that was used to make the stock, new onion, carrots and celery.

So in the end  the soup was very yummy.  However, I should have followed the shortcut  tip ....For a shortcut version, use store bought, unsalted chicken stock instead of making your own.  

To me,  the amount of work and waste involved in making chicken stock was not worth it, but I CAN say that I have made my own chicken stock..

Disclaimer:  I know that there are many recipes for chicken stock and that this is just one of them.  

When should she know?

So my kid has an imagination like you would not believe! She has an innocence that I think every child her age should have.  And yet, she is an anomaly.  You see my kid is 10 years old.  She still believes in Mermaids,  Santa,  the Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bunny.  She doesn't have a cell phone or a Facebook page. She hasn't seen the Twilight movies nor is she allowed to read or see the Hunger Games.  SHE IS 10 YEARS OLD!!!  I want her to keep her innocence as long as she can. I love her innocence and wish I could keep it for years.... to a point. 

But alas, my kid is 10 and  she is pretty smart.  So, I figured that when the "bubble" was going to break it would be with the Easter Bunny.  You see,  I can rationalize Santa...." Santa only brings some of the gifts.  Your parents bring the rest."  and the Tooth Fairy..." I think that there is more than one Tooth Fairy.  And who you get depends on what she leaves you."  and she defends Mermaids..." No one has ever proven that they don't exist."  But the Easter Bunny?  Kind of hard to rationalize why the stores are filled with Easter candy.  And I was so ready to have the conversation with her had she asked, but NOOOOOO! She has to write a note to the Easter Bunny asking of proof that he is real. Nothing like the unexpected!! 

The hubby and I went back and forth as to what to do.  We turned to the Internet and read blog postings as to what to do.  We sent texts to friends.  We both became tearful reading the responses.  Why? Because when it all comes down to it.  Our little girl is growing up.  And that happened so fast!  How did that happen so fast?  We don't want that to happen!  And yet we know it has too. 

So, in the end what we did is write her a note from the Easter Bunny stating ....." I'm as real as you want me to be, and as long as you still believe, I will still visit you!"  and if she asks tomorrow if the Easter Bunny is real... We will respond, "Only if you want him to be."   But in my heart I will feel a tinge of sadness to know that that part of her childhood is gone. 
Growing up is hard!