Stock thoughts

I love to read about food. It always gets me to cooking and reinventing, unlike requests from my significant other for sustenance. For this purpose I've always enjoyed Jerry Steingarten's writings, his passion for food is simply intoxicating.

I've lent my copy of "The Man Who Ate Everything" to my father, unfortunatly, but I do have his second book, "It Must've Been Something I Ate". I purchased this book new, for about 20 dollars, and it's showing some signs of being well loved. I'm pretty sure that's espresso that's staining the cover.

I don't feel that most people really appreciate their food, and appreciate using every bit of the food that passes through their kitchens. I've only recently gotten into making my own stock, and it's amazing how little goes to waste when you're making it. Practically everything goes into the pot, even your garlic peelings!

How easy is it to save all the peelings, trimmings, and bones from a nice roast dinner, pop them into water and boil them for a couple of hours? It takes almost no time at all to prepare, and you're left with a delicious stock that can sit in your freezer for up to 3 months! It contains almost no salt (compared to the powdered stock most of us buy) and is chock full of flavour. This experiment just might be the turning point in my cooking career. My poor children.