Father's Day

I woke up late on this Father's Day. Before I go any further, I want to wish a "Happy Father's Day" to my dearly departed dad, George Otto Goerlich. As his youngest son, we were really worlds apart (he was already in his '40s when I was born) but, I never have forgotten, nor abandoned, his work ethic.

I still remember the time (but I no longer remember why) when he held a stake or fence post or something and I was supposed to pound it in with a big sledge hammer.

I was just a little kid and after two or three swings, I missed and hit his hands. The blood spurted out of his wounds. But instead of quitting, he gripped the stake, or whatever, tighter and told me to try again and be more careful.

Dad, you were an inspiration and I promise to never forget you! Even to this day, I tell people I am a first generation German-American. And, I am damn proud of that!

I finally posted the lengthy Blog entry and then made a full pot of coffee and drank two cups. I folded up the last load of laundry and put it away. Then I stripped the bed and started another load of laundry

I am just whipped, I admit it. I have my usual extensive ToDo list, but don't think any of it is gonna happen today.

I got an email from Jeremy, (at 2:00 AM), who wished me a happy Father's day. So, all my kids have acknowledged me, each in their own way.

I had taken out a whole chicken to thaw Saturday night, but it wasn't completely thawed until afternoon. I swept the kitchen and then went outside to refill the bird feeder and suet cage while I was waiting.

Back inside, I put the chicken in the medium stock pot and seasoned it (lightly with salt, but heavily with fresh ground black pepper). Then I covered it with 1 1/2 gallons of cold water. I added three bay leaves and brought it to a boil, then turned it to simmer. I set the timer for one hour and went to watch "Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World" again.

When the timer went off, I used my tongs to fish out the chicken. I cut off the two perfectly poached chicken breasts and put them on a plate to cool. I put the chicken back in the pot and set the timer for three hours. I put the chicken breasts into a baggie and into the fridge.

I made a tuna fish sandwich out of tuna, Vidalia onions and mayonnaise (I don't have much celery left and need it all for the stock). When the timer went off again, I added my aromatics (garlic, onions carrots and celery) and reset the timer for one hour.

When that timer went off, I turned off the heat and let it cool down. I started watching my Sunday night shows. About 10:00 PM, the pot was cool enough to pick up with just my hands, so I got a strainer and filled up four four-cup containers with stock. Those got labeled and put into the freezer. I picked out the usable chicken meat, put that on a plate, covered it with tinfoil and stuck it in the fridge as well.

I left the remaining mess in the stock pot to put in the garbage in the morning and went in to go to bed.