Nothing will make more of a difference in your Holiday cooking than making your own stock. It's really easy and you can do it days ahead of time. I have a 6 quart pot that I make stock in and I usually end up with about a gallon. 6 quart pots are pretty standard. You can make this any time, I will usually make it and put it in ice cube trays and freeze it, then pop the cubes out and put them in a ziplock bag. Then I can take 4 or 5 out at a time and throw them in pan sauces and all that good stuff.
If you're not sitting at home deboning chickens for 10 of your closest friends, you'll probably need to buy some carcasses. Don't worry, you can find chicken carcasses at your grocery store. If you've never looked for them before, they're by the gizzards and stuff in the case where no one usually ventures. And they're super super cheap.
I am pretty chill about making stock, I don't see any need to skim the top every 20 minutes or anything like that. All I do is throw everything in the pot, pour in water as close as possible to reach the top of the pot. Then turn it on low and simmer it for 4 hours. When it's done, slowly pour the stock over a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. This gets rid of all the scum that can collect on top (it all sticks to the vegetables, bones and strainer) Then ladle the stock into storage containers (or ice cubes trays if freezing it). It will keep in a fridge for about 5 days, 3 months if frozen.
4 lbs chicken carcasses
2 large yellow onions, quartered
4 large carrots carrots, cut into 6 pieces
4 celery stalks, cut into 6 pieces
1 tablespoon dry thyme
1 tablespoon dry parsley
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 garlic cloves, peeled
