Using every last bit: Ham bone stock

Something that I try to be mindful of in my day to day life is using every last bit of everything that I can.  Today I made use of the ham bone left over from a ham that I baked last week.  I trimmed all the extra meat that I could and then put the bone in a large stock pot and covered it with water.  To the water I added fresh celery stalks, carrots, onions, garlic and a couple of bay leaves.  I brought it all to a boil then reduced it to a simmer and let it cook for hours on the back burner.  The aroma that filled my house today was amazing!

At the end of the day I turned off the heat and let everything cool for a few hours.  Before I went to bed, I put the stock in the fridge to cool even more overight.  The next day, I strained the chilled stock into a bowl then returned it to the now clean stock pot to be simmered for a few more hours to concentrate it a little bit more.  After it cooled down again, I transfered the stock into freezer bags for long term storage.  I had a total of 12 cups of stock when it was all said and done.

The scraps left over from the stock, including the ham bone went to the chickens.  They happily gobbled up every last bit and picked the bone clean.  I think they were some very happy chickens today!  They left me seven eggs instead of the usual three or four!