— MaryEllen Bunce

You know, one of the things I like about veg stock is that it's always a little bit different and it's kind of seasonal and sometimes it's kind of herbaceous and grassy because I've got radish tops and Carrot Tops Etc, you know kale stems. Whatever it is. Sometimes it's going to have that greenish sort of fresh summery color to it other times. It's going to be potato peels and carrot Peels and ends and trim whatever. So I think in some ways that just Embrace variation in that. But one way to add some consistency to it is to look to the herbs and spices that you might use so some toasted coriander seeds. I am a huge fan of bay leaves and I use lots of them as in I buy them by the pound a pound of bay leaves is a lot of bay leaves. It is a bucket about this big so I have died not anything, you know, and by the way, they cost like sixteen dollars and if you go to the store and buy that little, you know, tiny jar of them that's like five dollars. So for three times as much money, I can get a hundred times as many bay leaves or more and then you can just use them with abandon. It's not about cost and you can give them away to your neighbors because you'll have a lot so I throw a whole bunch of bay leaves in fennel seed is another one that I really like that adds just a wonderful depth and richness of flavor to it. But also throughout the season can sort of provide that consistency to it and if you are making your bed stock and you don't have the right Ratio or you're not quite getting the flavor that you want, that's a great way, you know, you can take a tablespoon. You can take three tablespoons and add it in and sort of do that blending and that balance. And in terms of the right ratio, it depends on really what you're looking for out of the stock. If it's just you're trying to use up the scraps because you're combating food waste all the best to you. Great. Thank you for doing that. You're gonna end up with a you know, if you don't have much it's a watery broth that has an a nice subtle flavor to it. Great just boil your pasta in that and you know use it in those ways. If you're trying to make a vegetable broth soup where it stands alone like chicken stock wood and chicken noodle soup. Yeah, maybe you're gonna need a little bit. you know greater density, but generally I would say about a half pound of scraps to two quarts of water would probably be A general issue. So there you go.