It Begins! Plus stockmaking fun, and deconstructed golabki incoming?

Even if no one ever reads this, I totally need somewhere to keep track of my thoughts, because God knows I can barely keep them straight in my head!

I almost don't want anyone to read it. Or do I? Who knows.

Anyway, made stock yesterday. Chicken carcass, a couple of drumsticks, and a couple of thighs that I browned before adding all the water and the carcass and whatnot.
Chilled overnight in the sunroom. Smells like a million bucks. Skimmed off the fat which incidentally also smells good and hopefully I can use it for something cause throwing it out would be like throwing out free flavour.

Did a couple things wrong and I'll know for next time
1. added carcass to warm pot. Should have been cold, apparently, to let the collagen be released. Maybe that's why it's not gelatinous. But... then how would I brown the meat? Like brown the raw thighs and then cool the pot? Maybe. I guess that problem isn't a problem if you use all precooked chicken parts. Or stuff like necks or feet which you maybe don't want to brown.
2. too much water. Finished stock was weaker than soup. Which is actually okay, because some of it will still be good, for, you know, stock. Maybe that's also why it didn't quite gel.
3. should have started with just chicken & water, then boiled, simmered, skimmed scum, THEN added veggies, then more simmerage. As it was, I did see scum at one point. I didn't skim it. Then when I looked later, the scum was, uh, gone. Fat was there... some foam was there... but scum was not so evident. I kind of hope it got, like, absorbed by the veggies or something and it's not sitting there in the liquid. The liquid is pretty clear, so I can have hope.

So tonight I think I'll take some out and save it as stock, and boil down the rest a bit to concentrate it... then KLUSKI TIME!
After some consultation with Babcia, that fount of Polish cooking knowledge, I think I've settled on which kluski "recipe" of the seven or so in The Polish Cookbook that's the one I should be referring to.
That's got nothing on the Polish-language cookbook I saw yesterday at Babcia's, though: half a friggin' page in the index taken up entirely by different varieties of kluski. I guess kluski encompasses anything from loose drop noodles to meat-based potato solid dumplings to everything noodleish, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

Anyway kluski tonight. I have this craving for beans n' weinies, too. Not so Polish. Or homemade. Or arguably real food at all. But I want it. Shhh. It's a secret.

Got some Brussels sprouts. This kind of screwed for my plan for this week which included using the rest of my mixed-up porkbeefriceonion mix for golabki. Like I love cabbage but I don't think three consecutive days of cabbage-related main meals would be too appreciated. And I want to turn these brussels sprouts into a main dish of some sort.

Sooooo, I was inspired, kind of.

What if... I made patties or meatballs out of the golabki mix, browned them up, then in the same skillet sear off the brussels sprouts, then braise them in a little mmmhomemadestock, tomato sauce, then add back the golabki meat patties, and BAM! Deconstructed skillet golabki?

I like it. I wanna try it. My golabki meat is thawing as we speak.