re-gifting?

About 5 years ago or so, dd15 had pretty much stopped playing with her vast American Girl doll collection after years of enjoyment. She had a bitty baby as well as the big doll collection. When her collection started to only gather dust, she and I decided it was time to pack it all away for hopefully a granddaughter someday??

Only God knew at that time that He had another daughter for us.

DD15 and I dug out part of the collection out this Christmas for another special little girl to enjoy. We reminisced about those days when she was just a little girl and played and played with these dolls for hours on end. A certain girl who is not so little anymore had great fun going through all of her old things.

The greenhouse went up yesterday. I'll keep you posted on that this year, I know you can hardly wait...

A nursery we like was having a great sale this week, tulips were 75% off. So we planted more tulips.My mother in law, cooked a turkey on Christmas Day. She gave me the leftovers, so I made lots of turkey stock, then turkey noodle soup. I wasn't planning on taking a picture of this but then when I saw the carrots, onion and celery looking so pretty, well....

Now I have stock of stock for the freezer. Which I love to have on hand to make soup. I am allergic to MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is in many store bought chicken broths/stocks. I can't always find the brands that don't have msg, like Kitchen Basics-which I love but can be a bit pricey. So homemade stock is a really good thing.

I know most of you have probably made stock but for those who haven't and want to try, here is how you do it;

Chicken or Turkey Stock

Pull off all meat (save for soup) and place carcass in a large stock pot. Cover with cool water. Wash and chop, but don't peel a few large carrots, a few stalks of celery and 2 medium onions. Add some whole peppercorns and 1 or 2 bay leaves. Bring to boil and reduce heat and let cook on stove for 6-10 hours. Refrigerate overnight. Take out and skim off fat.