Final thoughts on the goose economy

So I have a bowlful of goose fat - which I really ought to weigh, come to think, just to satisfy my curiosity - and a couple of litres (boiled down to about a cup, for storage) of good strong stock, and it all feels very worthwhile.

But then I started counting back; and the roast bird fed four of us on Christmas Day, followed by risotto for two on Boxing Day, with enough left over for my lunch the day after; and then goose-and-mushroom pie, which we only ate half of the first day, and finished yesterday; and there's still enough bits for some kind of goose-and-potato hash tonight, with fried egg toppers and kale on the side. That's, um, thirteen meals?

Well done, that goose.

[EtA, since you ask: forty-five bucks, for an eleven-pound free-range goose.]

Goose economy: really truly the last word. And numbers.

I have 950 grams of goose fat in the fridge. Bearing in mind that I've used some already, call it a good kilo, then. Well in excess of two pounds - and Dittmer's sells goose fat at $18.99 the pound. That's almost the cost of the goose, then, regained in fat-value.

Now I just need to put it to good use. Gosh. Did you know there's a Goose Fat Information Service on the internets? Of course there is.

Also, there is a search engine for your cookbooks. My cookbooks. Everybody's cookbooks. Eat Your Books has indexed thousands of the little darlings; you sign up, you list the books you have, and hey presto, you can search them for a particular recipe or ingredient or method. It's the index I've always wanted, and I don't have to prepare it myself. The only apparent drawback is the need to pay for it. Is it worth $25 a year, I wonder?* I don't know. I do get frustrated when I know I have a recipe somewhere and I just can't find it. On the other hand, that doesn't happen often; and physically searching the collection offers its own benefits in serendipity and side-discoveries. I wouldn't want to lose that. I'm thinking about it...

*The free iteration only allows you five books. Five books? That's insane. Inutile. I don't know how many cookbooks I have in my still-delayed shipping, but it's safely more than 500. Might be a thousand. We'll find out as and when they eventually arrive, if they've survived storage and steerage and the sea and Mexico and US Customs too...