Homemade Chicken Stock + Deseret News Fall Home Show

What you see above is the secret to the best soup you've ever had in your entire life. 

No, really. 

If you're making a chicken broth/stock based soup, making your own stock gives the soup you're serving a completely different flavor. It has a richness that is indescribably heavenly. I wish I could use it every single time I make soup (which as you know, is pretty often here in the Blondie household in these chilly months now and to come).

It's super-low maintenance. Whenever you buy a rotisserie chicken for a recipe, SAVE THE BONES! Save that little carcass and throw it into a pot with the veggie trimmings. I didn't have any trimmings, so I just used the whole pieces of veggies. Simmer it away for the afternoon, strain the whole pieces, and save that beautiful elixir for the next time you make risotto, soup, or anything else like gravy that may need a little bit of liquid to help it along.

xo, 

blondie

Homemade Chicken Stock

ingredients:
leftover chicken carcass from a small rotisserie chicken, broken down into smaller bone pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped in 4 pieces each
1 onion, roughly chopped
carrot, chopped
dried parsley
salt
pepper

method:
1. In a large soup pot, put the chicken carcass and cover with cold water. Add veggies, salt & pepper (about 1/4 t of each).
2. Bring to a boil and then bring down to a simmer. Simmer uncovered at least 4-6 hours.
3. Remove the bones and strain the stock. Store in a mason jar with a tight lid in the refridgerator if using within the next few days. Store in a freezer ziploc baggy in the freezer if longer than that.

BwB original

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Also, this past weekend something exciting happened! The darling sisters over at Six Sisters' Stuff invited me to come preset at the Deseret News Fall Home Show in Sandy, Utah! It was amazing!!! 

I ended up making my Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate, and then showing how to make a moist & fool-proof cake, and how to make my favorite White Chocolate Raspberry frosting. 

Below you'll see I use all three of their KitchenAid mixers. I wanted to adopt each and every one of them. 

I talked my head off, and ran out of time for the actual frosting-the-cake mini demo, but I was able to show off a few of my rosette cakes on stage afterwards.

I was SCARED TO DEATH. At first I thought it would be like on Studio 5 where I just answer questions, insert little tidbits, follow the recipe by memory, and call it good after 5ish minutes.

Nope.

It was for a full hour (I ended up using only 45 minutes for the segment, started late because I took forever setting up), and it was just me! No cohost to chat with. So I did what I do best, and talked... and talked... and talked... and talked.

No, seriously. I was the thing that wouldn't shut up - had to fill in the space! But it was a blast, and I had so much fun doing what I do in the kitchen on a weekly basis: making cakes, baking something, and enjoying every step along the way.

It was such a blast, and I was so grateful to meet the Sisters in person, and to be able to share a little of my love of baking/cooking with those in the audience.