Paper, Bones and Chicken Soup

More about stuff, particularly papers. In the recesses of our house, paper is everywhere.  Like my father did, we filed it neatly away, but (I console myself) unlike his piles, ours are out of sight.  Unearthed years later, never perused after set up.  Out of sight, it seems, means out of mind.

Our house was a doctor’s house and has a large floor safe (for doctor narcotics) in the basement.  A steel door exactly the same size as the safe, allows easy entry into the garage. The safe has it’s own closet, six feet across and four feet deep, with deep shelves. A filer’s delight.  It was there, so I filled it. Photo boxes for each pre-digital year, organized by month/event. Every picture holiday card received, personal correspondence sorted by year.  A file cabinet to supplement the safe.  A gift  wrapping section: two four feet dowels for many rolls of ribbon, tissue, gift bags, rolls of paper, a bin of ribbon scraps.

Actually, emptying the safe  was not top of my list, but in task dominoes, it came up next.  The office had surrendered: at least a hundred computer CD games, two shopping bags of assorted cables, six bags of trash, two bins of recycle paper, and 70 lbs. of bank statements and tax returns for the shredder, but the exhumation also uncovered a beautiful drop leaf table, the first antique Mike and I bought, in 1984.

A yearning  to organize important papers crystalizes while settling a loved one’s affairs. Years ago when Mom died, we didn’t know her given, middle name, just her maiden name. And the original will was not in any of Dad’s 27 file boxes, the kind of complication that confounds state bureaucrats.  Time for Mike and me to get our essential papers in one place. So sorting the office paper led to the basement safe.  In theory, that’s where we keep the important stuff. Thus the safe surrendered: 768 bank statements (two separate bank accounts and 32 years cohabitation ), tax returns from the 80’s and early 90’s, multiple mortgage refinances… thirty more pounds for Iron Mountain.

The Cloud will change all of this.  Really, why do we need hard copies?

No safe closet, no ample basement with a full laundry room and side by side freezer at Eco Drive.  Will our freezer in the new house be big enough to have bags of chicken bones?

Chicken Stock  (from the bones and stuff)

Gallon freezer bags for the remains of roast chicken – carcasses, skin and bones – are in our large side by side laundry room freezer, added to until full.  Place into the indispensable Calphalon stock pot with a roughly chopped onion, a few celery stalks and carrots, a handful of garlic, parsley, a few pepper corns and a bay leaf or two. Cover with water.  Simmer slowly, uncovered, for as long as possible, until liquid has reduced significantly, overnight at least…

Turn off heat. Do not cover.(The stock will sour  if covered when hot/warm.) Do not remove the bones etc.  Let all cool completely.  Drain cool stock through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the solids.  Refrigerate stock until fat rises to top.  Skim off fat.  Refrigerate or freeze the gelatinous stock.  (Hint. Freeze in ice cube trays, then remove  a cube at a time as needed for small amounts.)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Heat a glug of olive oil in a stock pot.  Add 2-3 thinly sliced, peeled onions. Cook until golden.  Stir in 4-5  carrots (peeled, cut into small chunks), 2-3 stalks celery (thinly sliced on a diagonal).  Add in 2 quarts of homemade chicken stock, a bay leaf and bring to a boil. Taste broth, add S&P as needed. Drop in 4-6 ounces dry pappardelle noodles (we use Trader Joe’s (Traderjoes.com), broken in to about 2 inch pieces. Serve when noodles are cooked, 10 minutes or so.

Photos were taken at Big Table Farm (Big Table Farm). A wonderful winery in the Willamette Valley in Oregon that we visited on our bike trip in August 2014.