Hi Everyone,
 
First a disclaimer of sorts--someone posted me to *NOT* feed chicken bones
to dogs, and of course, they are right.  Remember, dogs don't have to chew
things up well to swallow them.  And yes, I think it is more than ok to
feed the bones to the ferrets.
 
Second, someone wrote and said they had better luck grinding the bigger
bones than the smaller ones as in wings.  I can't tell you anything about
this, as I had no luck in using my Grandma's hand grinder.
 
I could not grind up that (*& carcass in the grinder.  My hands are just
not strong enough.
 
But I did find out a few things:
 
If I debone the chicken leaving out only the bones I could not cut through
with my knife, the food processor grinds it up nicely.
 
My little vitronex paring knife works well to debone.  And it goes into the
dishwasher.  I highly recommend this little knifes, only around $5 and very
very handy.
 
If you make bath salts before you make gravy, you don't care about how the
chicken smells cause all you can smell is lavender.
 
The raw chicken is much easier to process than cooked chicken.
 
Next time, I will divide up the fat trimmings *before* I freeze them.
 
Hot water thaws frozen fat pieces fast.
 
Grateful Dead is much nicer to listen to than a yodeling Siamese.
 
My hands are strong enough at the start to tighten the plate on the hand
grinder much tighter than I have the strength to unscrew it with at the
end of the whole mess.
 
Still looks like funky colored chili in the pot.  I plan on running through
my small processor as I feed it (I have an outboard motor stick blender
that does this).
 
Be sure you have enough room in the dishwasher to avoid dealing with as
many gooey kitchen implements as possible.
 
Telling the Siamese that he can have some when it is done cooking, does not
make him shut up.
 
If you wish to really measure it up well, use a measure ladle.  You can get
them at any god gourmet shop or restaurant supply.  If you already have a
ladle, fill it with water and measure the water in a measure cup.
 
Giving the Siamese some when it *is* finished shuts him up.
 
And yes, Miss Stella took right to it.  After it was all cooked, I poured a
little bit of cream in it for her.  And no folks, cream does not give them
diarrhea, providing of course you don't feed a pint a day . ;-)
 
Miss Pookie is eating it too.  But then, Pookie eats anything.  I have a
feeling she has been spoiled somewhere along the way.  Pooks is looking a
little poorly, so I am hoping this helps.
 
Maggie Mae and Her Cooking Crew
[Posted in FML issue 3166]