• 1 whole chicken
• 1 rib celery, quartered
• 1 small onion,
• 1 carrot, peeled, halved and quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced in half
• 5 sprigs parsley

• 10 pepper corns
• 1 8-ounce pkg. Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing mix, dry
• 1 stick butter
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup

Without peeling the onion, cut the top and root ends off, leaving about a quarter of an inch of the onion intact on each end. Wash whole chicken and place in a large stockpot with celery, onion top and root, carrot, garlic, parsley and peppercorns. Cover with water and bring to a slow boil. Simmer gently for 30–45 minutes, until chicken is just done, skimming the top as it cooks. (This makes for clear stock.) Cool long enough to handle chicken and remove to a plate. Strain stock, discarding used vegetables. Remove chicken meat from the bones and break into bite-size pieces.

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter and combine with stuffing mix in a bowl. Place a layer of the buttered stuffing mix in a 2-quart casserole dish and layer half of the chicken meat over the stuffing mix. Combine the cream of chicken soup and 1 soup can full of the stock in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken in the casserole. Place another layer of the stuffing mix and chicken meat in the casserole. Combine the cream of celery soup and another soup can full of stock in the small bowl. Pour over chicken in the casserole. Top with final layer of stuffing mix. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until top is brown.

The remaining chicken stock can be frozen in 8 ounce freezer-safe bowls; or, pour into ice-cube trays and freeze. This allows you to have chicken stock on-hand at any time.