Chicken stock

okay, remember when we were discussing whether or not to peel veggies, and i advised against it? remember that i further suggested keeping the tips and tops of carrots for chicken stock? remember the deafening sound of all those eyes rolling as they read that post? i do. but really, it can be done, and it's not hard at all. what i do is simple, i keep a container in the freezer (an old yogurt quart or plastic ice cream bucket) and as i go along pulling necks and giblets out of chickens or paring veggies i throw the scraps in the freezer in the bucket, all together. then when i'm ready to make stock i just pull the bucket out, thaw it enough to get everything to slide out and dump it into a pot with a bunch of water. add herbs (bay and parsley for me), pepper corns, salt, and make sure you've got celery, onion, and carrot pretty evenly represented and simmer for a few hours. strain and portion into containers to freeze. i like using those plastic yogurt containers, make sure you don't over fill so the lids wont pop off in the freezer. easy peasy and considering that you got your money's worth out of everything already, since it's made essentially from scraps, pretty much free.