Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hungry Heart

As the leaves on the trees in my yard start to turn and the air gets a little more crisp, I begin to feel the need to hoard food like a squirrel. So, last weekend, I began the process of restocking my freezer with the things that I must have when the weather gets cooler.


First, I made red sauce:

In the middle of making red sauce, I was stung by a yellow jacket, so I ended up taking Benadryl. That knocked me out for most of the rest of the day, so the following day, I continued my work. I started with chicken stock, which took most of the day:

While the chicken stock was cooking, I started some French bread:


Next, I made lasagna. Here is a helpful hint for those of you with gassy dogs: if you drop a piece of lasagna meat, do not, under any circumstances, allow your dog to eat even the smallest piece of it. You will regret it for days.


Several hours later, I had two loaves of French bread:



Another day later, I had chicken stock ready to freeze:



Then, I used the chicken that I had roasted previously (the bones, skin, etc. went into the stock) to make individual chicken pot pies in these super cute pie pans that I bought at the grocery store this week:



For the filling, I just used about two cups of shredded chicken along with potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, chives, and parsley. I made one recipe of pie crust and divided it into eight pieces because I like a double crust on my pot pies.



Lids on, vented, brushed with egg wash, and sprinkled with salt and pepper:



I baked one for dinner and then froze the other three (I dropped this one on the way to the baking sheet, so it isn't very pretty):



Finally, I have everything I need. Frozen strawberries and blueberries from this summer, extra pot pie filling, lasagna, chicken stock, red sauce, pot pies, and plenty of bread.


I thought that I would start making baked goods to freeze for October, when I am expecting a lot of visitors who all want to come "before it snows," but I don't know where I would put any of that right now. I guess I'll have to eat some of this first.

3 comments:

Leah said...

What the hell kind of red sauce were you making that involved the use of yellow jackets?

Also, I want chicken pot pie now. Trouble causer.

Ken said...

Good question! You'll just have to find out when you visit. It's my secret recipe ;-)

Anonymous said...

Your pot pies made me hungry, too. I have some chicken parts I saved in the freezer, so I should start a stock pretty soon. I can't believe you did all that cooking in two days!