It is now that time of year when many of us have a Turkey Carcass left from the Family Holiday Dinners. What do we do with this?

1.  We throw it away.
2. We try to take off as much of the meat that is sticking to the bones
3. We make Stock out of it which we can use for Soup, Stews or Gravy.
4. Take that carcass and put it into your largest pot along with an Onion (with the peel on), Some freshly washed Carrots, (unpeeled) and the top of a (washed) Celery Stalk which usually has plenty of leaves on it.  Put that leafy Celery along with a couple of stalks which have also been washed and cut up.
5. Add some herbs such as Parsley, fresh Bail and Oregano and whatever else you like.
6. Cover everything with Cold Water up to within a couple of inches of the top of the pot.
7. Set on a medium/high flame until the liquid starts simmering, then turn down the flame to low.
8. Allow this mixture to simmer all day or until you have the desired strength of flavor that you want.
9. Once the cooking period over, move the pot to a cold burner and allow it to cool until you feel that you can handle it safely.  Place a large Colander over a large Vessel (large pot or huge bowl and pour the cooked stock through the Colander into the Vessel.
10. Use the finished stock for Soup right away or pour into smaller containers and freeze until you are ready to use.  This stock will be great for Soups, Stews or Poultry Gravy.

I usually use the stock to make a superb Vegetable Soup which is great for Cold Weather Dining.  Your needs and taste buds will direct to use this Stock for your own special purposes.

When I was teaching Foods Classes in High School, the students didn’t mind stripping off the meat from the carcass which we then used to make Turkey Ala King or Turkey Salad or Mac and Cheese with Turkey.  Stripping off the meat takes a little bit of patience which probably most of us don’t have but if you have a couple of Kids around (over the age of 10) who wouldn’t doing it you can stretch that turkey even further you could have imaged.

Sorry there is no photo here – for some reason I was not able to post a new one.  Will render the situation as soon as possible.