Good Day for Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup

2-3 lb. whole chicken
2 stalks sliced celery
3 peeled and sliced carrots
1 whole diced yellow onion
salt
pepper
3-4 chicken base or bouillon cubes
2 large peeled and diced potatoes
extra-wide egg noodles

Wash chicken and place whole chicken in a stock pot.  Cover with cold water.  Add celery, carrots, and onion.  Season with salt, pepper, and chicken base or bouillon cubes.  (If using bouillon cubes be careful not to over season with salt.)  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the chicken from the broth.  Place the stock pot with broth and vegetables into an ice water bath to speed up the cooling process.  Refrigerate the broth until fat forms on the surface.  In the meantime, remove the skin from the chicken.  Next, remove the chicken meat from the bone and cut into bite size pieces.  Refrigerate.

Gently remove the fat from the broth, add the potatoes, and re-heat.  Once the potatoes are tender, add the chicken meat pieces.  Taste and add additional seasoning if needed.  At this point, the soup can be frozen to be eaten later.

Prepare the extra-wide egg noodles as directed on the package.  When ready to eat, place the chicken soup into a bowl and add the noodles.