Stuffing from scratch

You may or not know this about me, but now you will: stuffing is one of my FAVORITE foods ever. I tend to forget about it once summer rolls around and all I eat are hot dogs and hamburgers and watermelon, but as soon as it starts to get chilly, I start dreaming about stuffing.

Tonight I had the idea I would have stuffing and chicken, but realized on the way home I don't have my usual stuffing seasoning (Bells). So I checked out the Joy of Cooking and used the basic stuffing recipe in there, with some additions/subtractions (math!). And, obviously, with gluten free bread.

Stuffing from scratch
I guess this isn't technically totally from scratch, since I didn't make the bread. Shh.

1 1/2 loaves gf bread of your choice
2 carrots
2 ribs celery
1 onion
3 cloves garlic, smashed
4 T butter (1/2 stick)
fresh herbs, about a tablespoon of each: sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley
1/2-1 c chicken stock (or vegetable if that's what you have/want)
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350. Cube up the bread and spread between two cookie sheets, and pop in the oven. Bake about 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until your bread is toasty. Remove from the oven and set aside. Chop up all your vegetables, and melt the butter in a large pan. Cook the vegetables until starting to soften, about 10 minutes.

Toss in the herbs. Slowly pour over the stock, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir. Add as much broth as you think you need, but be very careful not to over-moisten or the bread will fall apart into (delicious tasting) mush.
Bake, covered, for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 minutes to brown the top. Serve with chicken, turkey, pork, whatever. And cranberry sauce.