sialiasnest

[sialiasnest]

Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.

You can do this. Yes.

First the soup:  buy chicken necks, backs, wings. Don’t bother boiling anything with a lot of meat on it—it’s the bones and skin make the soup. If you can only get a chicken in 8 parts, pull most of the meat off first and fridge it for later, and then boil the carcass.

Anway, start in cold water, add bones, skin and salt. Simmer very slowly, a really long time. For me, easiest thing is to stick it in a slow oven abut 275 degrees for anywhere from 1 to 6 hours while I do other things around the house.

Water should just barely be bubbling–hardly moving even, but warm enough not to be a breeding ground for icky. It’s important that everything be submerged–drop a heat proof dish into the broth on top of the bones to keep everything under water.

If you have time to make this ahead, chill it, then skim off most of the cold fat, then reheat.

In another pan, saute some veggies and then throw them in the soup near the end. Long cook does not improve them much. Carrots, celery, onions, parsnip are traditional, but use what you like, or what you have, anyway. Deglaze the pan with some water and pour that in the soup as well for color and depth of flavor.

Also, if you want more meat in your soup, cut up the meat you stripped from the bones in step 1, and then poach it lightly in the broth for about 20 minutes near the end.

Near the end, taste and adjust the salt, add pepper, thyme, sage, parsley etc. to taste. Or not.

MEANWHILE (and this is the important part) make matzo balls: in a small bowl beat 2 eggs with 2 TBS oil until really well blended.

Then add 1 tsp salt and 2 TBS water (You can use ½ eggshell to measure a tablespoon.) Beat it all smooth before adding in ½ cup matzo meal.

Stir really well, cover, let it sit AT LEAST 15 minutes.

Get a large pot full of salted water boiling and make sure you know where the lid is–you’ll need it. When the 15 minutes are done, start rolling the matzo mixture into walnut sized balls. I use a small cookie scoop to measure them out, and then get my hands wet and hand roll them until they are smooth. Then drop them into the boiling water, [note–drop each one in as you roll it and move quickly so they all hit the water within a short time–don’t try to roll them all out first and then put them in–the early ones will dry out too much] and reduce heat to very low simmer, and put the lid on tight and don’t even think about lifting it to peek for about 20 minutes. IMPORTANT: The water must be boiling before you put them in, and it must not be allowed to get above a simmer after they go in, so use your ears to keep track of what’s going on.  You are poaching an egg gently, not boiling pasta.The lid is important because a matzo ball is partly a steamed dumpling.

When they are done, serve them floating in your soup. (See picture 1.)

If this is your first time doing this, don’t be surprised if you get them too heavy or too loose–the only way to learn the exact measurements is to make a few batches, and pretty soon you’ll know when the mixture “feels right” during the rolling stage. If it’s too dense, it needs a little more water or they come out like lead. If it’s too wet (or the water isn’t boiling) they will fall apart and you’ll get mush. So add some more meal. If you make them too grandiose in size, it’s hard to get them to cook all the way through and you get dry bits in the middle. If the water is boiling too hard, the egg cooks hard before the matzo meal can fluff up, and you get golf balls. (Sounds like I’ve made all of the above mistakes, right?) 

Practice helps.

Go practice.

[sialiasnest]

#bearded iris #bearded #iris #flower #garden #spring #cottage garden

[sialiasnest]

well, let's see about that.

(bites a bunch of mutuals)

Its me, your feral godmother

#stories #fairycore #fairy tales #monsters #monsterfuckers

[sialiasnest]

#dog

[sialiasnest]

In brightest day, in whitest snow

Ohio bruhs will feel me, yo

My ring is fire, most lit it is

Behold my sigma, green skibity rizz

#green lantern #oath #dc comics #green lantern oath #skibbity #bruh #gen alpha

[sialiasnest]

word of the dsy:

Qwertyfaced

what happens when you take an inadvertent nap on your keyboard

"I got completely qwertyfaced trying to finish the report "

[sialiasnest]

Me: What should we have for dinner?

Housemate: I have no idea.

Me: Ooh--Sounds great! I can do that, easy.

Housemate: Wait . . . .what?

Me: Clearly you crave whatever is in that unmarked Tupperware in the freezer.

#whats for dinner #whatsfordinner #funny #food #mystery meat #suspicious stew #tomb of the unknown casserole #leftover roulette

[sialiasnest]

Last night I dreamed I was watching a performance of Man of la Mancha, and Don Quixote was wearing nothing but gray longjohns when he set off on his adventures. When he meets the barber he winds up wearing the barber's drape over them, and after "Golden Helmet of Mambrino," when he puts the shaving basin on his head, it hangs down over his eyes and has 2 pointy legs that stick straight up like bat ears.

Caped Crusader indeed.

All the rest of the script/score was as per canon, but the actor played it as if he were playing Batman for the entire rest of the ride.

Best musical I have ever staged in my sleep.

Wish I had been able to record it.

#batman #don quixote #man of la mancha #musicals #theater

[sialiasnest]

more practice

new-to-me technique I learned from this morning: score the paper before sketching fur

#drawing #tip #score #ear #colored pencil #Instagram #cat #cats #sketching #technique #fur #furry #whiskers #ears

[sialiasnest]

Ahhhh . . . THAT is the question I crave an answer for.

Years of discourse about whether species/racial alignment is an absolute, or just a suggestion.

I think D&D is growing beyond the absolutist essentialisms. Many players & GMs have for their homebrews. In some places, I thought Honor Among Thieves made good, deliberate steps forward in this.

I want to see more of it on screen: good and evil are what you do, not what you were born as.

If Themberchaud could make better life choices, anyone could.

Set them all free, Big Guy.

re: honor among thieves D&D MOVIE:

cannot stop thinking about Themberchaud

i love him

next movie should be entirely from his pov

yes

and Jack Black should do his voice and narrate the whole backstory

yes

yes

Themberchaud is free . . .

#D&D #honor among thieves #themberchaud #dragons #dungeons & dragons

[sialiasnest]

The anniversary card I wish I'd written for my partner:

Thank you for making it weird

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housemate: what are you eating?

me (dieting): 3 bean salad

housemate (skeptical eyebrow): looks like a chocolate brownie with mocha swirl ice cream.

me: Vanilla, chocolate and coffee are all beans.

#mood #food #diet #beans

[sialiasnest]

re: honor among thieves D&D MOVIE:

cannot stop thinking about Themberchaud

i love him

next movie should be entirely from his pov

yes

and Jack Black should do his voice and narrate the whole backstory

yes

yes

Themberchaud is free . . .

#themberchaud #dragon #dungeons & dragons #honor among thieves #i love him #my bestest boy #hang in there baby #dragons #fat dragon #themberchonk

[sialiasnest]

yes! and send pics!

Finished my new spring lanyard

Inspired by these:

Things I learned this time around:

Time spent picking out colors and setting up the warp is time well spent.

For the edges, I like a 4 same threads, or 2 and 2 pattern, but I don’t like the three blue and one violet threading– the interval between the pops of violet are too long.

The color of the weft only shows at the center of the x reverse and the edges. I like it when the weft matches the edges.

Snapped warp threads are a pain. Use strong enough threads.

I tried varying the weight of the threads in a few cards, and it wasnt worth the effort. Or needs to be varied by a lot more.

Lanyards are best with a doublefaced pattern.

[sialiasnest]

Ok, Fine. Whatever.

This one is for you Tumblr:

Vanilla Extract Hamantashen

chag sameach.

#vanilla extract #hamantaschen #hamantashen #purim #jumblr #chag sameach #you're welcome #you monsters #purim 2023

[sialiasnest]

I appear to have fallen

into a world full of pollen

the itching is huge

though they're ever so smallen

#poem #poetry #allergens #allergies #i am allergic to air #i am allergic to springtime #i am allergic to the night #spring aesthetic

[sialiasnest]

Necking