So I did make cookies. Go me. The cookies were the gialetti (my first blogged recipe). They turned out all right, but I forgot that I was using unslated butter and then forgot to add a pinch of salt. So, they’re a wee bland. Still pretty damn tasty, though.

And stock! Woohoo! But almost better than the stock is the fat… mm. Jon will probably make French onion soup with some of it, and I’m thinking I might make matzoh ball soup with the rest. It doesn’t matter that Passover’s done with, matzoh ball soup tastes wonderful all the time. And chicken fat makes wonderful matzoh balls. I’ve never made the real thing, just the Manischewitz mix (which I actually have a box of on my counter). My dad, who likes his matzoh balls made out of… let’s say tungsten, says that the secret is to refrigerate the dough twice, once before and once after shaping into small balls.

I have to offer an apology to Alton Brown. After some pondering, I have found that there are three of his recipes that work for me, and three that don’t. So he comes out sort of neutral. Recipes which work: pizza dough, croutons, chicken stock. Recipes that don’t work: tomato sauce, clam chowder, broiled chicken. Here is his chicken stock recipe.