For all the work that hosting Thanksgiving dinner is, the payback–in addition to the great company and food on the big day itself–is that you get your choice of leftovers!
Since I’d cooked a turkey and a ham, I had lots to share and sent packets home with nieces and nephews. In fact, the Hefty people had recently sent me more of those Serve N Store containers and this was a perfect use for them. Never mind that they were in Christmas red: they were perfect for packing up leftovers and sending them home safely without losing any of my good containers!
Turkey Sandwiches
Yesterday I made up my first batch of turkey sandwich spread. This is so simple but my kids love it and it tastes great. Chop up some turkey, add enough mayonnaise to moisten, and chopped dill pickles to taste plus a bit of salt. We used up some of the leftovers rolls and made sandwiches for lunch, topped with leftover cranberry jelly. Mmmm!
French Toast
One of my guests had brought brie and sourdough bread. Lots! As good as it was, I was left here with several loaves of really good sourdough bread. This morning, I sliced it up and made French Toast with all of it, freezing what we didn’t eat at breakfast. You hardly need a French Toast recipe but here’s about what I did:
Turkey Soup
I have not yet made my turkey broth. By the end of the day on Thursday, I was too tired to deal with it so I packed up all the bones and such and threw it in the freezer. One day this week I’ll make turkey broth, refrigerate it overnight, skim the fat, and then make soup with some of it and freeze the rest for another batch of soup later.
I might make ham and bean soup first in fact. We’ve been nibbling on the ham. I’ll dice and freeze the rest today, in portions suitable for soup or scrambled eggs and ham, or quiche.
I also still have some leftover mashed potatoes. I’ll most likely make these into potato pancakes and fry them up for breakfast. Most other side dishes have disappeared in lunches and dinners by now. In the past I’ve added leftover scalloped potatoes, onions, green bean casserole, and roasted vegetables to soups. Those are often the best soups–and yet are never quite the same twice.
Edited later
I did make ham and bean soup. I also made creamed turkey and served it over the leftover mashed potatoes.
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