Repotting, etc.

Repotting day is at hand. I have been putting it off for some time now. I can do that no longer.

The peace lily is requiring watering every other day, and has been for the past few weeks. That tells me it needs a slightly bigger home, and more soil nutrients. Ok. Message received.

Both of the flaming lilies need repotting, as well. When I water them, the water flows, either right through the pot, or over the edge, not into the pot.

Yesterday, or maybe it was the day before, (I am so busy I cannot remember what I do from one day from the next,) I made nine quarts of chicken bone broth. When we were in Perote last time, I bought two kilos of chicken feet, and put them in the freezer, just for this occasion.

Also in the freezer were several zippered bags of chicken parts, from previous meals, both cooked, and raw. I took all of that out of the freezer, and got busy. It takes about two full days to boil down all of those parts, plus reducing the liquid a bit for more concentrated flavor, but it so worth the time, and effort.

I do not salt my broth until I use it, making it amenable to however I choose to use it. If it is salted while you are making the broth, you have no way to change that when it comes time to use it. Nope. That is not for me.

I have a large caldron that I use, so, to begin with, it started out almost full of chicken parts, and water. As I was cleaning out the freezer at the same time, and vacuum sealing different things, like the asparagus we bought at Costco recently, I cut off the bottoms of the asparagus and threw them in the broth. Then I added some dried spices, (less is more here), a bit of peppercorns, some onion, and let that simmer for a total of about twelve, or so, hours.

After that, I scooped out the chicken, et. al., and proceeded to put the resulting broth in quart mason jars. After cooling on the counter for a time, they all went into the fridge. Since then, most of the broth has become gelatinous, as it is supposed to do, from the cartilage in the bones, and feet.

I also wanted to show you an interesting thing; natural baby food. In LA, when they start babies eating strained fruits, and vegetables, they take, say, a half an apple, and use a spoon to gently scrape out a bit of the fruit for baby to eat. No need for jarred baby food. Just take it from nature.

One last thing before I go; can anyone tell me what kind of mushroom this is? I saw it at the store the other day, and had to take a photo of it. The stuff in the upper part of the photo is the famous, (in Mexican cuisine, that is ), cuitlacoche, or corn fungus. I am assuming the mushroom is edible, or it would not be in the store. Just curious.

Speaking of cuitlacoche, you cannot find it the US fresh, because of the pesticides used on the growing corn. Here, however, if cooked correctly, it is quite a delicacy; not to everyone’s taste, however. I have eaten it, exactly twice, and found it distinctly different, each time. The first time I had it, it was amazing; the second time, not so much. It was worth trying, and I am sure I will try it again, in the future.

Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Consider one’s natural immunity to the ravaging virus before you get on a bandwagon, denying people their personal freedoms.