In search of the perfect macaroni and cheese: Darker, Richer beef stock

     So, in my convoluted cooking mind, I have decided to make french onion soup. Why convoluted, you may ask? Well, let me tell the entire back story...
     To start off with, I really love French Onion soup. The first time I can remember having it (I mean, the real deal) is in Paris, France. My friends Gayana, Javier and myself went on a bus trip to Europe in our late teens/early twenties. Europe was going through the mad cow thing at the time, so when it came time to order food in Paris, we went for French onion soup and Duck a'lorange. This was the first time for the soup and the second for ever having duck and I loved them both! The previous time I had had duck was in a Chinese restaurant and it tasted like smelly feet. Anyways, the french onion soup was delicious, and the gobs of cheese and the fresh bread were just amazing!
     The second time I ever had French onion soup was at my ex's mother's house. She served French onion soup and it was as amazing as the one I had in Paris. When I asked about it, I found out that the recipe had used something ridiculous like 6 or 8 cups of onions (8, it turns out) and it came from Julia Child's The Way to Cook. So, years later, I borrowed The way to cook from the library and hand copied out the french onion soup recipe. The only thing that was holding me back was the fact that I didn't have those soup crocks that you could stick in the oven. After another few years, I actually ended up acquiring The Way to Cook from a used book store for about $8! After seeing Julia Child's show on my (then future) mother-in-law's television in Dec. 2010, I rented Julia Child DVDs from netflix. And watched her cook french onion soup. I found out a few things: 1) You don't have to have individual soup crocks. You can just cook it in a casserole dish. 2) Make the beef stock from scratch or you might as well buy the canned stuff (according to Julia) 3) Her recipe on Mastering the art of French cooking (on which the show was based) was different than in The Way to Cook. Finally, this Christmas (2011), I found out something which sealed the deal. My brother and sister in law were sending us french onion soup crocks and a baguette pan that I had put on my wedding registry for Christmas! Now, I had to make it! And I had to make the stock and the baguettes from scratch, of course! So, not being sure when I would make the soup (indeed, I still haven't made it), I decided to make the stock ahead of time so I would have it when I was ready. I used Mark Bittman's How to cook everything as this seemed the easiest and used the "Darker, Richer beef stock" variation. I also decided to use my slow cooker for the first time to make the stock. Here you go:

Basic Beef Stock (Darker, Richer variation)

Ingredients:

3 to 4 pounds meaty beef or veal bones, like shank, shin, tail, or short ribs
1 cup roughly chopped onion (don't bother to peel)
1 cup roughly chopped carrot
1 cup roughly chopped celery
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried thyme
At least 10 sprigs fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt, plus more if necessary
3 or 4 cloves
10 peppercorns
About 4 quarts water (16 cups)

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 500 F. Roast the bones and vegetables in a large roasting pan and put the pan in the oven. Roast, shaking the pan occasionally and turning the ingredients once or twice, until everything is nicely browned. This will take at least 30 minutes, don't rush it.
Use a slotted spoon to scoop all the ingredients into a stock pot; add the remaining ingredients and 3 quarts of water. Turn the heat to high.
Pour off most of the fat from the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan over a burner set to high and add 2 to 4 cups of water, depending on the depth of the pan. Bring it to a boil and cook, scraping off the bits of food that have stuck to the bottom. Pour this mixture into the stockpot (along with 2 more cups of water if you only used 2 cups for the reduction).
Bring just about to a boil, then partially cover and adjust the heat so the mixture sends up a few bubbles at a time. Cook, skimming off any foam that accumulates at the top, until the meat falls from the bones and the bones separate from one another, 2 to 3 hours.
Cool slightly, then strain, pressing on the vegetables and meat to extract as much juice as possible. Taste and add salt if necessary. Use immediately or refrigerate (skim off any hardened fat from the surface) and use within 4 or 5 days (longer if you boil it every third day, which will keep it from spoiling) or freeze for up to 3 months.

Well, I did things a slight bit differently. For one thing, I used my cast iron skillet. It worked beautifully for roasting everything. The house smelled amazing. I got really nice bones from the farmer's market on saturdayforever to cool down! Scott finally had to use his food service knowledge and put it in baking pans in the fridge (lots of surface area) for it to cool down. I just boiled it today to keep it fresh as I still don't know when I'll make the French Onion soup(probably this weekend). The only weird thing is that, when I refrigerated it, it refrigerated to the consistency of jello. I tried to strain off the fat only to realize the whole thing was fat! Then, when I boiled it today, back to liquid! Oh well....