Chicken Stock

Our lovely neighbors from Blue Gate farm have spoiled us since we've moved here. They've brought us jam and bread and stewing chickens. This is the chicken stock bone broth I made with the first of those delicious birds. The stock was too thin, because I added too much water. An interesting observation I made during the process was that when it came time to remove "scum", a step in the bone broth process, there was so little that it was next to impossible to remove the slight bit. Another observation was that it didn't stink. Every time I (or Dearest) have made broth/stock in the past (with store bought birds) the whole house smells awful. This time the smell was heavenly. 

I didn't make the batch to be frozen, so I used the broth to make chicken noodle soup, as stock for beans and ham, and as a base for my pumpkin soup. There was something uniquely satisfying to make these dishes with my own base ingredients, local meat, and veggies from my own garden (deep freeze).  When the chickens and spices are my own and I can claim a zero mile meal, that will be true success!