how to roast a chicken (vegetarians beware)

I confess that for too long I have been a member of the "I only cook with boneless skinless chicken breast" club. It's just so easy to cook with and not very messy. For a Mennonite, this is a sad confession indeed, as I should be able to use every possible part of a chicken (I believe my dear grandmother is especially fond of chicken hearts). I finally faced my chicken cooking deficiency when my good friend Hilarie came to visit recently. She and her husband have become champion chicken roasters--it's much cheaper to buy a whole chicken and roast it, then eat the leftovers, than to keep buying the boneless skinless stuff. We bought a whole chicken without the giblets (sorry, grandma), and together roasted it for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to prepare. She cut out the backbone with kitchen shears, then flattened the bird on a roasting pan. We stuffed pieces of garlic and rosemary under the skin, then drizzled the whole thing with lemon juice, olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. Surrounded by potatoes, zucchini, carrots and onions, the whole thing roasted for 50 minutes or so at 400 degrees. It was delicious. Yesterday I used the leftovers to make a yummy chicken vegetable soup, adding fresh sage, parsley and thyme from my garden.