Happy Thanksgiving and How To Make Homemade Stock

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is one of my favorite holidays. What's better than a day devoted entirely to cooking and eating delicious food with your friends and family? My mom and I spent most of yesterday cooking and preparing for the big feast today. As with any big dinner party, we like to get most of the work done ahead of time so we can actually enjoy the company of our guests. We will start the day with a Turkey Trot in my parents' neighborhood followed by an afternoon of hanging out, watching sports and getting the meal together. We usually eat around 5pm - late enough to be nice and hungry but not so late that we go into an immediate food coma afterward.

Since I'm getting ready to head over to my parents' house, I'll make this quick. I just wanted to share some tips on making homemade stock so that no one makes the tragic mistake of throwing away all of those delicious bones leftover after the turkey has been devoured. So after everyone has eaten - and before the calming effects of tryptophan have taken over your body - take all of the meat off of the bones and keep it to be used later for turkey soup or pot pie (more on that to come). Then store the bones separately to be used tomorrow morning for homemade stock. A clean trash bag works really well for this if you don't have any giant, turkey-sized Tupperware on hand. After you have those nice turkey bones all ready to go, all you need is a few simple ingredients to make a delicious homemade stock. Use it all for leftover turkey soup or freeze it for later use this winter.

Homemade Stock

• Bones of a turkey or chicken, meat, skin and fat removed
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 3-4 celery stocks, chopped, leaves removed
• 3-4 carrots, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 8-10 parsley stems, leaves removed (save the leaves for another use)
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Water

In a large stock pot, combine bones, vegetables and herbs.
Pour in enough cold water to fully cover everything.
Bring stock to a boil and then reduce heat to low.
Simmer slowly for 4-5 hours, skimming the fat and foam off of the top every once in awhile.
The stock should be a golden color and taste like turkey/chicken.
Strain the liquid out and let it cool before storing in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer. This stock won't be salted like most store-bought stocks, so adjust future recipes accordingly.

For a printable recipe click here